Category: Industry

Creditors are expected to soon restructure TeleCard’s outstanding TFC loan of Rs. 700 million, which would pave the way for the regulatory approvals for the planned IPO of its subsidiary, Supernet, the company sources said. The company had raised Rs. 2.4 billion through its TeleTFC, paying back Rs. 1.7 billion to the creditors so far.

The company has been in discussions with its TFC holders for the said restructuring for the last few months. “The company has the support of its board and the TFC holders for the restructuring and is now in a position to quickly complete the formalities,” they said.

A recent bourse filing by the company, stating that it is in a process of renegotiation its TFC with the creditors, had spawned concerns among investors about its financial capacity to settle the outstanding obligation, with its share losing more than 20pc of its price. There were also concerns that it would delay its upcoming plans listing its subsidiary on the PSX.

“Telecard decided to explore the option of a separate listing of Supernet Limited, its 100 percent owned subsidiary, in April of this year. We see that an IPO of Supernet will help the company in accelerating its growth trajectory, expanding its business lines, and creating value for all stakeholders.”

“TeleTFC has been an outstanding issue for a while. The issue was previously restructured in January 2016 with an expectation that it would be repaid in full by December 2020. However, due to challenging business circumstances faced by the company in that period, the liability could not be discharged,” the company sources claimed.

“The company has the ability to pay the outstanding amount out of its own consolidated cash flows and expects to do so under the restructured terms. Furthermore, the IPO of Supernet (SNL) is in line with our efforts to expand the business, seek new revenue streams and create fiscal space and value for its stakeholders.”

In the last two years, all the listed IT companies, including TeleCard, have performed well. TeleCard’s share price has gone up from a low price of Rs. 1.35 to a 52-week high of Rs. 25.1. “TeleCard and its subsidiaries have expanded their business to provide voice, high-speed data, and internet connectivity through multiple technologies and offer Cyber Security Solutions, Cloud Services, and IT Infrastructure Services, Security Surveillance, and Power Systems to its customers. The Telecard group is well poised to go beyond connectivity and is well placed to take advantage of global digitalization and emerging technologies and business.”

TeleCard’s financial performance has improved substantially over time, evident from a negative EPS of Rs. 0.25 in FY20 to an EPS of Rs. 1.12 in the first three-quarters of FY21 to March. “Pakistan is experiencing exponential growth in Digital Startups and Fintech with huge export of services potential. Coupled with a pool of talented human resources in IT and digital technologies and services, the country is experiencing a renewed interest in startup funding through foreign funds and interest in BPO outsourcing. All this requires digital infrastructure and backbone. TCL Group has positioned itself to be an enabler for those enterprises interested in being part of this upswing in digitization and BPO outsourcing services.”

 

 

Source: Pro Pakistani

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has issued instructions to all Large Taxpayers’ Units (LTOs), Medium Taxpayers’ Offices (MTOs), Corporate Tax Offices (CTOs), and Regional Tax Offices (RTOs) to extend office hours for 29 September and 30 September to facilitate taxpayers in payment of duties and taxes and filing of income tax returns.

They have been directed to extend office hours tomorrow till 9 p.m and the day after till midnight.

The FBR has notified all Chief Commissioners for Inland Revenue to establish liaison with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and authorized branches of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to ensure transfer of tax collection by these branches on 30 September 2021 to the respective branches of State Bank of Pakistan on the same date to account for the same towards the collection for September 2021, as per State Bank of Pakistan’s letter dated 28 September 2021.

Pursuant to the FBR’s request for opening banks’ branches for extended hours on dates mentioned above, the following instructions have been issued:

• The SHP-BSC offices and NB!’ branches (A, B, and C category) shall observe extended banking hours till 08:00 pm and 09:00 pm on 29 and 30 September 2021, respectively, for collection of government taxes and duties through manual mode as well as ADCs mode at Over-the-Counter (OTC) facility

In order to ensure same-day settlement of tax collections on 30 September, the following special clearing and settlement will be arranged through the M/s NIFT and ILink:

• M/s NIFT shall arrange special clearing at 07:00 pm on 30 September 2021 for the same-day clearing of payment instruments.
• Ws 1Link shall arrange to provide the settlement batch of transactions executed through the ADCs platform till 10:00 pm on 30 September 2021 to the SBP for settlement in government accounts.

It has been informed that NBP branches will settle their transactions of 30 September 2021 with respective SBP-BSC field offices/head offices latest by 10:00 pm the same day, i.e., 30 September 2021.

Further, in order to eliminate the issue of spillover of tax receipts, NB!’ shall ensure that no instrument concerning government receipts, lodged in aforesaid office hours, shall remain unattended at any NBP branch and shall be settled in the value date of 30″ September. 2021 through special clearing.

 

 

Source: Pro Pakistani

Pakistan’s external debt has increased up to US$ 26 billion during the last three years government tenure of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, as it is over US$ 122 billion.

This was revealed in a briefing by Additional Secretary Economic Affairs Division Zulfiqar Haider to the meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, held with Mir Khan Muhammad Jamali in the chair, at the Parliament House on Tuesday.

The Committee was informed that the total external debt of Pakistan in June 2018 was $96 billion and it increased by more than $26 billion in the last three years. Now, the volume of the external debt owed to Pakistan is over US$ 122.44 billion.

In his briefing, the Additional Secretary said the total debt of the Paris Club was $3.785 billion, out of which the debt was more than $2.97 billion and the interest rate was $814 million. He informed the Committee that the Paris Club had given relief in repayment of debt due to the COIVD-19 pandemic.

The Committee members expressed their concerns over the increase in the external debt and unanimously recommended convening a special meeting to discuss the matter. The Committee decided that the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) would also be invited to the next meeting.

It directed the Economic Affairs Division to furnish the details of disbursement of funds for the ongoing portfolio to the Secretariat.

The Additional Secretary further informed the Committee about the establishment of ‘Joint Commissions’ for bilateral ‘Joint Economic Global’ phenomenon. He said that 67 JMCs and other bilateral commissions had been established since 1970. The Committee also directed the Economic Affairs Division to provide the details of external loans for the years 1972, 1985, 1999, 2008, 2017, and 2021 with the comparison of the dollar exchange rate at that time during the first month of each year.

On the other hand, Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz commented that comparatively, the dollar was Rs. 50 cheaper when this relief was given. He said that due to the Rupee devaluation, the country had to pay according to the new exchange rate. He added that the Rupee devaluation caused huge losses to the country and Pakistan’s external debt increased manyfold, causing pressure on the economy.

 

 

Source: Pro Pakistani

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is all set to conduct a spectrum auction in the 1800 MHz band in Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) on Tuesday.

All of the four cellular mobile operators of Pakistan, viz. Jazz, Telenor, Zong, and Ufone, have been notified as qualified bidders and they would participate in the auction process. The auction would start at 10:30 am at PTA headquarters and would continue until all the auction proceedings and processes are completed.

The base price for a 2×1 MHz (1 MHz paired) spectrum in 1800 MHz band is $0.87 million. However, no auction would be conducted in the 2100 MHz band in AJ&K and GB and the spectrum would be awarded to the single bidder i.e., Telenor Pakistan at a base price of $0.87 million.

PTA had invited applications from cellular mobile operators for 16 MHz paired spectrum in the 1800 MHz band, and 30 MHz paired spectrum in the 2100 MHz band for technology-neutral Next Generation Mobile Service (NGMS) in AJ&K and GB.

The current spectrum auction will provide improved quality of service to the consumers of AJ&K and GB and enhance coverage footprint for Voice and Data services. This will positively impact the tourism sector of AJ&K and GB. Total revenue generated and final auction results will be declared after completion of the auction on September 28, 2021.

PTA is conducting the auction process with the assistance of internationally reputed consultant JV Telconet/ Frontier Economics who was onboard since April 2021 and conducted thorough consultation with the cellular industry and other stakeholders.

Source: Pro Pakistani

Esther Perez Ruiz, the nominated Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), paid a courtesy call on Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin at the Finance Division on Monday.

Ruiz, currently visiting Pakistan on a pre-assignment mission, was accompanied by the outgoing IMF representative Ms. Teresa Sanchez. The Finance Minister felicitated the nominated Resident Representative and expressed his best wishes for her upcoming assignment beginning in November 2021.

Finance Minister stated that Pakistan was firmly committed to pursuing an all-inclusive and sustainable economic growth with a focus on a “bottom-up” approach to uplift marginalized segments of the society. “To this end, the government intends to engage development partners to broaden economic development through fiscal consolidation and prudent economic measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic and in the post-COVID-19 scenario,” he underlined. He commended IMF for extending timely assistance during testing times.

The Finance Minister underlined the key initiatives of the government to provide maximum relief to the masses. He stressed that the government was taking a range of administrative, policy, and relief measures to absorb the upward pressure on prices of basic food commodities due to the pandemic.

The government has adopted a multi-pronged strategy to enhance revenue collection and to broaden the existing tax base, he said. He highlighted the commendable performance of FBR in surpassing revenue collection targets in recent months despite the ongoing COVID-19. The broadening of the tax base is one of the key priorities of the government, he added.

The Finance Minister assured the IMF representatives that the government was committed to the IMF program and it hoped to successfully complete the upcoming review as well as Article IV consultations. He said the implementation of track and trace for tobacco was being started from October 1, 2021, as it was one of the requirements under the IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program. He stated that reforms were being carried out in the power sector to address the issue of circular debt. It is worth mentioning that Pakistan is in IMF’s extended fund facility EFF program since July 2019 for 6 billion dollars.

The new representative of IMF commended the efforts of Pakistan in managing the spread of the virus through a series of smart and targeted lockdowns to strike a balance between lives and livelihoods. She expressed a hope to work closely with the Government of Pakistan during her tenure.

The Finance Minister assured Ms. Ruiz of full support and facilitation from the government and wished her well with her new assignment.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The enhancement of Minimum Support Price (MSP), along with a number of other measures taken by the government, has yielded results by helping the country harvest the highest crop of 27.5 million metic tons.

Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam made these remarks while chairing a meeting of the Wheat Review Committee on Wheat Crop of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research on Monday.

Representatives of all provincial food departments, PASSCO, and senior officials of NFS&R attended the meeting. The minister was apprised of the latest wheat production estimates, wheat stock positions, wheat carry forward and procurement progress, and updates on wheat release price and MSP.

The Minister said that every year, almost five to six million people were added to the country’s population, which increased the total demand for wheat in the country. He added that by managing the controllable factors, including the availability of high-quality, rust-resistant, and certified seed, effective utilization of water, and proper usage of fertilizers and pesticides, the overall production of wheat can be significantly increased. He stressed that both the overall area under cultivation and the per hectare yield needed to be increased.

Federal Minister sensitized the provincial food departments about the need for timely finalization of the MSP. He emphasized that MSP should be finalized before the sowing season of wheat in order to make it effective. He was briefed that the provinces had submitted their MSP proposals and were awaiting cabinet approvals.

Fakhar Imam was briefed that Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had finalized their wheat release policies at Rs. 1950/40 kg, whereas the retail price would be Rs. 1100/20 kg. He was further told that Sindh was yet to get final approval from the provincial cabinet for its wheat release policy.

The Federal Minister was apprised by the provincial agricultural departments of the latest production figures of wheat. Punjab’s production, he was told, was estimated at 20.9 MMT, and Sindh’s production at 4.04 MMT, whereas the KPK and GB production estimates stood at 1.45 and 1.15 MMTs. The total wheat stock available with Punjab stands at 3.86 MMT, Sindh’s at 1.26 MMT, KPK’s at 0.18 MMT, and Baluchistan’s at 0.085 MMT, he was informed.

Fakhar Imam said that the government was focusing on the availability of certified seed and for the upcoming season, around 530,000 metric tons would be available including 160,000 tons rust-tolerant varieties.

Fakhar stressed the need for announcing the MSP well before the start of the sowing season. He said that a variety of factors, including an enhancement of MSP from Rs. 1,400 to Rs. 1,800, favorable weather conditions, availability of certified seed (513,000 ton), availability of fertilizers and irrigation water, etc, helped the country achieve a historic production, as it had the highest wheat yield of 27.5 million tons.

Fakhar Imam said that the government planned to formulate a policy, under which all the stakeholders would be heard and all their concerns to be addressed. He announced that an informed policy would be made before the sowing season to enhance wheat productivity and overall production. He made an assurance about Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K) that the federal government was fully willing to supply wheat to the wheat deficit areas from the PASSCO’s stock.

Source: Pro Pakistani