Economic and Business Updates From March 8 to 14, 2010

• THE government has not given any assurance to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank that it will definitely enforce the Value Added Tax system in the country, says Chairman Federal Board of Revenue Sohail Ahmad

• THE country’s trade deficit narrows by 19.45 per cent in the first eight months of the current fiscal year with reduced imports and increased exports compared to the same period last year.

• THE consumer price indicator rises by 13.2 per cent in February on higher electricity and energy rates, it is learnt.

• PAKISTAN and Turkey agree to raise bilateral trade volume to $5 billion, says Babur Hizian, Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan.

• PAKISTAN receives remittances of $5,786 million during the first eight months of the current financial year as compared to $4,918 million during the same period last year.

• OVERALL sale of cars, excluding Suzuki Bolan, surges by 42.3 per cent in July-February 2009-10 to 68,307 units from 47,982 units in the same period last year.

• PAKISTAN is to allow the Chinese Geological Survey to explore oil, gas and other minerals on its soil after formal approval of the Federal Cabinet, and signing of memorandum of understanding with the Geological Survey of Pakistan, it is learnt reliably.

• THE operator of a $3 billion joint venture copper and gold project is hopeful the project will go ahead despite a government threat to scrap it because of misgivings about share of benefits.

• THE Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet approves import of 400,000 tons of urea to meet the Rabi and Kharif shortages, and issues directive to subsidize its sale by Rs600 per bag.

• WHILE trying to remove apprehensions of the business community about the value added tax, Member Direct Tax Policy, FBR, Asrar Rauf says all major agricultural crops will stay out of the VAT ambit till processing stages.

• THE profit of cement sector declines by 115 per cent on year-on-year basis in the first half of the current fiscal year 2009-10 against the corresponding period of last year.

• TUWAIRQI Steel Mills Limited, the country-arm of Saudi Arabia’s largest private sector steel producer, Al Tuwairqi Holdings in Pakistan, signs a contract with the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation for adding 14MW of electricity to its power utility network.

• THE government may fix revenue collection target for 2010-11 at Rs1,711 billion, against Rs1,380 billion for current 2009-10 reflecting an increase of Rs311 billion.

Source: Dawn News paper