Updates Regarding Business!
Eighty new cases of COVID-19 have been reported across the country during the last twenty-four hours.
According to National Institute of Health, 196 patients are in critical condition whereas no person has died of the disease during the period. A total of 21, 233 tests were conducted.
Source: Radio Pakistan
IT export remittances including telecommunication, computer, and information services from July 2021 to March 2022 have surged to $1.948 billion growing by 29.26% in comparison to $1.507 billion during the same period in FY 2020-21.
According to the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication’s data, in March 2022, ICT export remittances were $259 million at a growth rate of 23.92% when compared to $209 million reported in March 2021. They were also $58 million higher than export remittances of $201 million during the previous month of February 2022.
Net exports for the period July 2021 to March 2022 during FY2021-22 were $1.472 billion which is 75.56% of the total $1.948 billion in ICT exports. Last year, for the same period the net exports were $1.126 billion which was 74.72% of $1.507 billion in exports.
Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haq has directed the PSEB to take every possible step to achieve the target of IT exports remittances. He said that under the prime minister’s vision of “Digital Pakistan”, it is vital to take forward all the matters related to information technology and connect the youth especially students to the digital world.
Source: Pro Pakistan
Minister for Finance and Revenue, Miftah Ismail, while speaking with the delegation of the US Pakistan Business Council (USPBC) at the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington DC, said that the US corporate sector had a very long and productive relationship with Pakistan.
The Finance Minister said attracting US foreign investments in all sectors of Pakistan’s economy was the government’s top priority. The government was focused on creating a business-friendly environment and would welcome all the suggestions.
Miftah identified various areas in Pakistan’s economy, particularly agriculture, tech sector including fintech, pharmaceutical and health sectors, and digital banking where the US companies could enhance their investments in Pakistan.
Esperanza Jelalian, President of USPBC congratulated the Finance Minister and the Minister of State on assuming office. She said that a USPBC delegation would be visiting Pakistan soon to explore further opportunities for investment.
Jelalian assured that USPBC will continue to engage with the government of Pakistan to seek mutually beneficial ways of enhancing cooperation. In their introductory remarks, the USPBC members briefed the meeting on their businesses in Pakistan and plan to enhance their presence in the Pakistani market.
Ambassador Masood Khan welcomed the participants at the Embassy. The introductory remarks were followed by an interactive session during which the Finance Minister answered the USPBC delegation’s various queries.
Source: Pro Pakistan
The customers of the United Bank Limited have found themselves clueless lately as they are receiving messages of fund transfers, bill payments or online purchases without their knowledge or consent.
Apparently, scores of the customers of one of the leading banks of Pakistan have complained that they have lost their money in the last couple of days as the banking services are facing a technical issue.
We do not know the reason behind such incidents, but strong speculation is that the UBL data got breached.
Another possible reason could be debit card hacking, which is done by hijacking ATM machines. In such instances, information on debit cards is duplicated when inserted into the machine. Key pins of the card are also stolen through key loggers installed and then these cards are used on the internet.
The aggrieved customers were briefed by the bank’s representatives that services are being faced with issues and that bank is trying hard to fix the issues.
Customers further reported that their cards were blocked on a temporary basis.
Informed sources told ProPakistani that UBL’s data has been compromised due to which these transactions happened. These claims were, however, not verified independently.
Many customers even took to Twitter and other platforms to discuss the issue.
ProPakistani contacted a spokesman of United Bank Limited for their comments on this issue but they have not responded yet.
Since UBL hasn’t responded to our questions, neither it has updated its customers through social media, it is hard to ascertain the scope or type of damage done.
In the recent two years, as the use of digital banking has been increasing, the issues of data breaches have surfaced very frequently in Pakistan, despite the banking regulator and relevant ministry issuing a strict policy on cybersecurity.
Not only banks but various departments including the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Ministry of Finance have also faced data breaches in the past six months. Financial institutions in the public and private sectors should come up with a comprehensive strategy to protect their customers and systems from hacking attempts.
Source: Pro Pakistan