ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s said on Monday that the Indus Waters Treaty governing the sharing of river waters with India remains legally binding and cannot be revoked or amended by either side unilaterally, as tensions over water rights between the nuclear-armed neighbours continued to simmer more than a year after New Delhi suspended the accord.
Economy
Tax officials grilled over missing tobacco revenue data, Rs40 bln in unpaid dues
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) failed to produce data demanded by a Senate sub-committee on tobacco taxation on Monday, prompting lawmakers to order a 20-year accounting of the industry’s tax payments, factory registrations and outstanding dues that officials say could total billions of rupees.
Pakistan taps Reko Diq miner for $390m bridge loan to revive decrepit Balochistan rail line – report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan plans to finance the rehabilitation of a near-derelict 996-kilometre railway line through Balochistan with a $390 million bridge loan from the Canadian-Pakistani mining venture developing the country’s giant Reko Diq copper and gold deposit, documents reviewed by Dawn newspaper show, with the arrangement drawing pointed scrutiny from the country’s top planning body over repayment risks and an unusually large security bill.
Pakistan eyes Iranian crude as US sanctions waiver opens supply window
LAHORE: Pakistan is weighing the purchase of discounted Iranian crude oil and gas following the easing of US sanctions on Tehran under a landmark ceasefire agreement brokered by Islamabad, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said on Sunday.
AGP report lays bare scale of Pakistan’s fiscal leakage — from arms licences to oil royalties
ISLAMABAD: The Auditor General of Pakistan has identified financial irregularities, unrecovered revenues and procedural violations running into hundreds of billions of rupees across federal ministries and state-owned enterprises, according to a 399-page audit report that singles out the country’s tax authority and energy sector for the most serious lapses.
AJK traders, transporters abandon proscribed JAAC, say movement strayed from economic mandate
MUZAFFARABAD: Traders and transport operators in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s Muzaffarabad division announced on Saturday they would end weeks of commercial paralysis from Sunday, formally distancing themselves from the proscribed agitation body whose expanding political demands they said had overstepped the concerns of ordinary business.
Pakistan pushes for developing world voice in digital finance rules at Zurich forum
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top digital assets regulator used a high-profile Zurich gathering of central bankers and financial policymakers this week to demand that emerging economies help write the rules governing tokenized finance, warning that developing nations risk being sidelined as wealthier countries race to set global standards for digital money.
Government debt growth hits 15-year low, finance adviser says
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s central government debt grew at its slowest pace in 15 years in the fiscal year ending June, the country’s finance adviser said on Friday, citing improvements in debt sustainability that he said had meaningfully reduced repayment risks in one of Asia’s most financially stretched economies.
Petroleum minister Malik defends fuel price freeze, promises consumer relief “soon”
ISLAMABAD: The petroleum minister on Saturday defended the government’s decision to keep petrol and diesel prices frozen at near-record levels, promising consumers that relief was likely in the coming days while dismissing accusations that Islamabad was shielding the oil industry at the public’s expense.
After wartime rollercoaster, Islamabad freezes pump rates as global oil rout deepens
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan held petrol and diesel prices unchanged on Friday, pausing weekly wartime fuel revisions that have swung costs at the pump by as much as 320 rupees a litre since a US-Iran conflict choked off oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, as global crude benchmarks sank more than 10% on the week on mounting evidence that the vital waterway is recovering.