Pak Economy

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

Overseas Pakistanis sent home remittances worth $17.841 billion during July-May 2015-16, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 5.6 per cent, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Friday.

Remittances stood at $16.898bn during the same period of the preceding fiscal year.

However, this year’s growth rate was much lower than the 17.9pc recorded in the 11-month period of 2014-15.

Remittances are expected to touch $19bn during the outgoing fiscal year, with the addition of another $1bn this month.

The country’s dependence on Arab countries for remittances has further increased this year. Of the total, about $11.505bn (64.5pc) was remitted from the region.

The region is the biggest importer of manpower from Pakistan but the trade with the region is highly imbalanced and is vastly in favour of Arab countries.

The 11-month remittances were higher than the foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP built on borrowing from international financial institution (IFIs) and raising dollars through selling of bonds in the international market.Read More »Remittances growth slows to 5.6pc

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has unveiled a budget with a total outlay of Rs 4.39 trillion for the fiscal year 2016-17, indicating 7% increase over the outgoing year. The government has set an ambitious growth… Read More »Highlights of Pakistan Budget 2016-17

Following are highlights of Pakistan Economic Survey for the outgoing fiscal year 2015-16, launched by Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar here on Thursday:- • Major achievements of outgoing fiscal year includes: picking up economic… Read More »Highlights of Pakistan Economic Survey 2015-16

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Monday announced a Rs488 billion budget for FY2015-16 in the KP Assembly today.

The budget, which is referred to as ‘poor-friendly’ by KP Finance Minister Muzafar Said, allocated a greater portion of funds to health and education.

Total outlay for the FY15-16 budget is 21 per cent greater than that of the outgoing fiscal year.Read More »Highlights of KPK Budget 2015-16

• Ten per cent relief allowance has also been announced on basic pay for all Sindh government employees.
• The revised estimates for the total receipts of the province for the current financial year are Rs617 billion.
• Developmental expenditure of the province is estimated at Rs214 billion. This includes a provincial Annual Development Programme (ADP) of Rs162 billion.
• The estimated current revenue expenditure of the province is at Rs503.34 billion.
• With a 10-15 per cent increase, the allocation for education sector has been tipped to go up to Rs133-Rs144 billion.
• Health sector is expected to get an allocation of Rs53 billion.
• Rs106 billion in the education budget has reportedly been earmarked under the non-development head.
• 503 billion are being allocated for education secretariat and Rs2 billion for unforeseen expenditure.
• Rs65 billion is being earmarked for law and order with allocation for the police to be at Rs60 billion and the Sindh Rangers at Rs2.44 billion. The Frontier Constabulary will get Rs1 billion in addition to Rs5 billion meant for procuring modern weapons.
• Annual Development Programme is estimated to be at Rs200 billion to complete the 2,370 ongoing schemes and execute 590 new schemes.

Read More »Highlights of Sindh Budget 2015-16

The Punjab government on Friday presented a Rs 1,447.2 billion proposed annual budget for the fiscal year 2015-16 before the provincial Assembly on Friday.

According to details of the budget read out by the provincial finance minister, the provincial government is eyeing a revenue target of Rs160bn from provincial taxes and other sources.Read More »Highlights of Punjab Budget 2015-16

*Rs 253 billion new taxes imposed in budget for 2015-16*Rs 120 billion exemptions given under different SROs in customs, sales and income tax withdrawn

Presenting the budget, Finance Minister Ishaq said total resources have been estimated at Rs 4.168 trillion and the government has to bear the deficit of Rs 1.328 trillion despite imposing new taxes of Rs 253 billion during the next fiscal year. He said an estimate for the current expenditures during the next fiscal year is Rs 3.128 trillion while the revised estimates for the outgoing fiscal year are Rs 3.151 trillion. The deficit is likely to stay at 4.3% of the GDP for the coming financial year, down from 5% in 2014-15.Read More »Pakistan budget 15-16 focuses on taxation

حکومت کی جانب سے یکم جولائی سے شروع ہونے والے نئے مالی سال 16-2015 کے لیے تقریباً 43 کھرب روپے کا وفاقی بجٹ قومی اسمبلی میں پیش کیا جا رہا ہے۔

وفاقی وزیرخزانہ اسحاق ڈار اسپیکر ایاز صادق کی زیرصدارت جاری قومی اسمبلی کے اجلاس میں آئندہ مالی سال کا بجٹ پیش کياRead More »پاکستان بجٹ – 16-2015

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar while presenting the budget for fiscal year 2015-16 on the floor of the National Assembly said a growth rate target of 5.5pc had been set for the upcoming year, which he… Read More »Highlights of Pakistan Budget 2015-16