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August 29, 2016

Pakistani elite must stop abusing power

If nation is to progress, says outgoing UNDP country chief

Marc-Andre Franche, the former country director for United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pakistan, has said that a critical change in the country can happen only when the elite, the politicians and the wealthy sections of society sacrifice their short term goals and stop abusing their power to enrich themselves, or favour their friends and extended families.

Franche, who had been the UNDP country director for the last four years, bid farewell to Pakistan to take up the position of Chief of Financing at the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund. He made these remarks during an interview to a Pakistan daily shortly before his departure.

“If there is one thing I leave with, it is a sense that the only way a critical change will happen in Pakistan is when the elite of this country, the politicians and the wealthy sections of the society, will sacrifice their short term, individual and family interest, in the benefit of the nation,” Franche said.Read More »Pakistani elite must stop abusing power

Pakistan Property transfer business nosedives since last budget

The business of property transfers has nosedived since the announcement of the new evaluation system and imposition of fresh taxes on real estate sector in the budget for 2016-17.

Property dealers told The Nation on Sunday that the new system introduced by the federal government had totally halted registration of properties all over Pakistan, causing frustration among applicants and huge losses of revenue to the government.

Senior Vice Chairman of Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) Arif Yousuf Jeewa said that the registration of properties had completely stopped throughout the country due to rigid attitude of the registrars, who now asked the applicants to produce stamp duty according to property valuation notified by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) instead of DC rates.

“All registrars, throughout the country, are rejecting those property cases presented on the basis of DC valuation, saying that they will only accept those applications having stamp duty according to immovable property valuation fixed by the FBR.Read More »Pakistan Property transfer business nosedives since last budget