Overseas Pakistani Friends

Investment from Abroad

The Principal and profit accrued on a certificate issued/account opened, against foreign

Investors from abroad may send applications along with remittance of the desired amounts either directly to the Director General or concerned Director/Joint Director or to the National Savings Centres, where investment is desired to be made. The remittance of the amount may be made either through a cheque or bank draft in the official designation of the concerned payee. The certificate shall be issued/account opened after the remittance accompanying the application is enclosed and credited to Government account.

DOWNLOAD COMPARISON CHART OF PROFIT RATES

  national-savings-chart Continue Reading »

Following is the chart of rupee exchange rates against US dollar. It is interesting to see that between 2001 and 2007, the exchange rate remained almost the same but with the start of rise in oil prices and lawyers movement in Pakistan, the rupee totally collapsed.

In my personnel opinion, the major contributory factor in damaging the Pakistan economy is the lawyer’s movement otherwise, we would have managed to cope with the high oil prices and world economic crisis.

In coming days and months, a lot of money inflow is expected but I am afraid, the financial mismanagement will eat up all those resources as well. Continue Reading »

Rate cut would apply to new investors only.

Existing investors would not be affected by the reduction.

By Mehtab Haider

ISLAMABAD: The government plans to generate Rs240 billion through the National Savings Schemes (NSS) in the new fiscal year 2009-10 and automate 44 of the busiest centres of Central Directorate of National Savings (CDNS) by allocating Rs68 million.

The fiscal deficit target of 4.9 per cent of gross domestic product, equivalent to Rs722.5 billion, depends on resource inflow through domestic and external sources and the NSS, which is targeted to generate Rs240 billion. Continue Reading »

The government has set a target to electrify 7,000 villages, which cannot be electrified by grid, through solar energy in the next five years, says Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervaiz Ashrraf.

He was addressing the representatives of more than 120 countries in the second session of the preparatory commission of IRENA, held in resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, says a message received from Cairo and released by the Ministry of Water and Power.
Continue Reading »

The federal government has reduced the rates of profit on ‘National Savings Schemes’ effective on investment received on or after July 1st, 2009. As per the press release, issued by the Central Directorate of National Savings, the rates of profit on Special Savings Certificates (Registered)/Accounts, Regular Income Certificates, Bahbood Savings Certificates/ Pensioner’s Benefit Accounts and Savings Accounts have been cut to 11.67%, 12.00%, 14.16%, and 8.50% per annum respectively. The rate of profit on Defence Savings Certificates i.e. 12.15 per cent pa and the value & number of prizes on prize bonds remain unchanged. Continue Reading »

More than 20 per cent construction work of ‘airside infrastructure’ of the new Islamabad International Airport which includes pavement works (Runway, Taxiway, Apron etc.) has already been completed as commenced in August last year and this airport will become functional by the end of 2011.

According to a senior official of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Phase-I of the project which includes site preparatory and earth works has already been completed in April last year. According to details, the new Islamabad International Airport is being constructed at Tarnol-Fateh Jang road equipped with all facilities of international standard and would be completed in the stipulated period as set end of 2011. Continue Reading »

By Mansoor Ahmad

LAHORE: The Worldwide Governance Indicators 1996-2008, released on Monday by the World Bank, reveal that the level of government control in fields vital for the well-being of a nation is the lowest in Pakistan among regional countries.

Six governance indicators, which are crucial for the economic and social well-being of people, are voice and accountability, political stability and absence of violence/terrorism, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law and control of corruption. These indicators are measured in units ranging from -2.5 to 2.5 with higher values denoting better governance outcomes. Continue Reading »

The world suffers a lot, not because of the violence of bad people but because of the silence of good people; said Napoleon. Words are more important than actions. What we do comes latter than what we say. Actions can be forgotten but words are ever living. The most painful thing regarding the present day media men is that they sometimes pay least attention to the credibility of their words. Misreporting and disfigurement of the facts has become a professional requirement. Continue Reading »

Mehmood-Ul-Hassan Khan

Pakistan a second home

Pakistan is like second home to us. It is a beautiful country with rich heritage and culture. People are brave, tolerant, cooperative and above all open-minded. We respect their social values which is dynamic also.

Tajikistan President

Brotherly Muslim country

Moreover, Pakistan is our brotherly Muslim country. We share many cultural and societal similarities. The strength of cultural lies in our divine faith. Closed cultural ties make bridges of better understandings, trust, harmony, peace and above all equality. It promotes connectivity, decency, tolerance, and guarantees good bilateral diplomatic relations. Visit of dynasty and free interaction of dynamics, religious scholars, exchange of business and cultural tours and above all student exchange programs may be vital to enhance our cultural ties in the days to come. Continue Reading »

Revised versions of the policy guidance for tier 4 of the points-based system, and of the PBS dependants policy guidance, have now been published.

The key changes that are included in the revised guidance are highlighted below: Continue Reading »

The British High Commission yesterday issued a statement about the UK visa application process, including the current processing times, and a warning about the activities of unscrupulous agents.

“We decided to make this announcement because we are aware that unscrupulous agents are exploiting some applicants and giving them misleading visa information. These agents are taking money to arrange appointments at the visa application centres and encouraging applicants to submit fraudulent applications. It is important that our customers know that there is no charge for appointments and fraudulent applications will be refused and mean longer processing times for everyone” said Director of Visa Services, Peter Chaplin. Continue Reading »

By Shaheen Sehbai

WASHINTGON: At least 11 big and small, known and unknown, lobbying companies have been hired by Pakistan and state-owned Pakistani organisations in the US, paying them hundreds of thousands of dollars every month, some of them having mysterious names and almost dubious credentials.

Although lobbying is a legal profession in Washington, the way it is conducted has earned it the nickname of “officially certified corruption” and what the Pakistan government, Pakistan Embassy and Pakistani organisations are doing may come close to this unofficial definition, analysts say. Continue Reading »