KARACHI: Fearing stiff resistance in parliament, the Government of Pakistan has given legal shelter to the recently announced tax amnesty scheme through the presidential order, paving way for those hiding assets to declare.
The president of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain on Sunday signed four ordinances including “Foreign Assets (Declaration and Repatriation) Ordinance 2018” into law, giving legal cover to the Economic Reforms Package (ERP).
Other ordinances are Voluntary Declaration of Domestic Assets Ordinance 2018, Income Tax (Amendment) Ordinance 2018, and Economic Reforms (amendment) Ordinance 2018.
With the promulgation of president ordinances, the names and identities of those availing the scheme by declaring local and offshore assets would remain confidential.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had announced a five-point tax reforms package on Thursday, which included a tax amnesty scheme for undeclared foreign and domestic assets, and reduction in individual income tax rates.
The purpose of the government’s incentive package is to boost the country’s declining foreign exchange reserves and increase the number of income taxpayers, which stands at 1.2 million at present.
The ordinance would now enforce the five-point tax reforms package and the tax amnesty scheme for undeclared foreign and domestic assets.
According to the ordinance, the officials appointed by the government for the implementation of the ordinance would be empowered. The provisions of the ordinance shall apply to all citizens of Pakistan wherever they may be, except holders of public office including politicians, their spouses and dependent children.
The foreign assets declared and repatriated into Pakistan within a given time will be brought under the tax net by paying 5 percent, while those holding assets abroad will be able to declare by paying 2 percent charges.
The prime minister had announced that the government will monitor the financial records of citizens and issue notices if it finds tax evasion.
Abbasi announced that all 120 million national identity card holders would be assigned tax numbers.
Pakistan is facing measures from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the country is scheduled to be gray-listed in June this year. In an email to the government of Pakistan, the FATF has expressed its concerns over the whitening of assets by violation of anti-money laundering laws. However, Pakistan has assured that tax amnesty scheme does not violate money laundering laws.
“Pakistan’s tax amnesty scheme adheres to all international anti-money laundering laws,” said Miftah Ismail, the adviser to prime minister on finance who received the email said, according to local Geo TV.
Ismail shared that he has received an email from the global money-laundering watchdog, FATF, calling for global needs and the agreed-upon guidelines to be respected.
“The FATF has stressed upon strict monitoring of money laundering and terrorist financing activities,” the Pakistani premier’s financial adviser said.
Many political parties had voiced against the tax amnesty scheme, calling it against the honest taxpayers. The government, fearing furious opposition, has decided to implement the scheme through the presidential ordinance.
“The tenure of presidential order ends after 90 days, which means the government will have to go through the parliament to get it approved,” senior lawyer and former president of the Income Tax Bar Association, Abdul Qadir Memon, told Arab News.
President Mamnoon Hussain signs ordinance for tax amnesty scheme
President Mamnoon Hussain signs ordinance for tax amnesty scheme
- Identities of those declaring local and offshore assets will remain confidential under the new law
- The scheme has been opposed by various parties, calling it against the honest taxpayers
Pakistan says ‘expects’ full US security for cricket team at World Cup following Daesh threat
- The statement comes after Daesh Khorasan called for ‘lone wolf’ attack against the Pakistan-India match in New York
- The foreign office spokesperson says Pakistani authorities are in contact with US officials to facilitate the team’s visit
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office said on Friday it expected the United States government to ensure full security for the national cricket team during the upcoming World Cup after a high-profile militant group threatened to target their match with India on June 9.
Media outlets around the world reported on the possibility of a “lone wolf” attack on the cricket stadium in New York after Daesh Khorasan released a message calling for independent attackers to act.
The 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to be co-hosted by the West Indies and the US from June 1 to June 29. The Pakistan team is expected to arrive days ahead of their first match against the USA on June 6 in Dallas, Texas.
The players have just finished their tour to England where they lost the T20 series 2-0 to the home team.
Asked about their safety, foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told her weekly media briefing the Pakistani authorities were in contact with the US authorities to facilitate the cricket team’s visit.
“We expect the government of the US to fully provide security to Pakistan’s cricket team and Pakistani nationals who live in the United States,” she said.
Daesh Khorasan is a regional affiliate of the Daesh group that operates primarily in Afghanistan, though it is also suspected to have a presence in Pakistan and other parts of South Asia.
The group has been involved in various attacks in Pakistan, targeting public spaces, religious minorities and government installations, contributing to regional instability.
Their operations are part of a broader campaign to establish their influence and demonstrate their reach beyond the Afghan borders.
Pakistan’s planning ministry forecasts growth at 3.6% for next year
- The ministry anticipates inflation to decline to 12 percent in its annual plan review
- The Pakistan government is expected to present this year’s budget on June 10
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Planning Ministry said on Friday that the economic outlook for the next year was positive, with a growth target of 3.6 percent, while inflation was likely to moderate to 12 percent.
Pakistan will present its annual budget on June 10, three days later than expected, two government sources said on Friday, as markets wait for details of plans seen as crucial to securing a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan. Pakistan’s fiscal year starts on July 1.
“The growth prospects hinge upon political stability, exchange rate, macroeconomic stabilization under IMF’s program and expected fall in global oil and commodity prices,” the ministry said in its annual plan review.
Earlier in May, in its half-yearly report, Pakistan’s central bank said the economy was grappling with structural bottlenecks exacerbated by political uncertainty, despite some improvement in macroeconomic indicators. It predicted real GDP growth of 2 percent-3 percent for fiscal 2024.
The Planning Ministry said the fiscal deficit would narrow on the back of fiscal consolidation measures, and that domestic average inflation was likely to moderate to 12 percent owing to falls in global inflation.
Pakistani inflation is set to come in between 13.5 percent and 14.5 percent in May and to ease further to 12.5 percent to 13.5 percent by June, the finance ministry said on Wednesday in a monthly update.
Pakistan has been beset by inflation above 20 percent since May 2022, registering a high of 38 percent in May 2023, as it navigated reforms as part of an International Monetary Fund bailout program. However, inflation has slowed over the past few months.
The planning ministry added that the Annual Plan Coordination Committee had approved an estimated 1.22 trillion rupees ($4.39 billion) for public sector development spending during the next fiscal year, lower than the 2.8 trillion rupees ($10 billion) requested by the ministries, due to fiscal constraints.
Protests mar sixth anniversary of Pakistan tribal region’s merger with northwestern KP province
- Tribal elders call May 31 a ‘black day,’ say the integration experiment has not benefited the people of the area
- Tribal leaders say they are planning to hold a grand jirga on June 21 to determine their future course of action
PESHAWAR: Six years after the merger of Pakistan’s northwestern tribal territories with the adjoining Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, protesters in Khyber tribal district observed May 31 as a “black day” on Friday, saying they wanted people to know on the anniversary of the event that the integration had “totally failed.”
The merger of tribal areas, officially executed in 2018, aimed to integrate these historically semi-autonomous places into the national mainstream. These regions, collectively known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), were used as a buffer by the British colonial rulers to mitigate the threat of the Russian Empire during the “Great Game.”
The buffer was governed through the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR), often criticized for legalizing harsh measures such as collective punishment, which allowed British-appointed political agents to settle disputes and deal with potential threats without formal court proceedings.
The merger of FATA with KP in the wake of the threat of militancy from the area in recent years was viewed as a significant step toward bringing governance and development to its residents. However, the transition faced numerous challenges like limited financial resources that hindered rapid progress.
Speaking to Arab News, a tribal elder, Malik Hazrat Wali Afridi, said that protesters were observing May 31 as a black day, calling for the reversal of FATA’s integration with KP.
“The new system that has replaced our tribal system has totally failed and collapsed here because of zero homework or taking the tribal people into confidence,” he said. “It has not brought any positive changes to the lives of people.”
“The government has neither provided the promised development funds of Rs10 billion [$35.71 million] annually to the merged districts nor have we got the three percent share in the National Finance Commission (NFC) award during the last six years,” he continued, referring to a constitutional arrangement outlining the distribution of financial resources between the federal government and the provinces.
Another tribal elder, Malik Yar Muhammad, said the merger was forced upon the residents of the tribal areas.
He said a grand jirga, with representatives from Bajaur, Khyber, Kurram, Orakzai and North and South Waziristan tribal districts, would be held on June 21 to decide the future course of action of the tribal population of the area.
“In our upcoming grand tribal jirga, we will decide whether to approach the Supreme Court of Pakistan or hold countrywide protests and sit-ins against the FATA-KP merger,” he added. “We have a one-point demand, which is the reversal of the FATA-KP merger, and nothing else.”
Speaking to Arab News, Aamer Raza, a political analyst who teaches at the University of Peshawar, said one of the demands of protesting tribesmen regarding the judicious use of the resources of their area to benefit the locals was justified.
However, he noted this did not require the reversal of the merger, adding that legislation could be enacted to ensure employment opportunities for the residents of the area along with a fair share of their resources.
“It would have been better if a system design approach had been taken [before the integration] where the impacts of the change could be studied before the initiative was taken,” he added.
Asked about the protest, the provincial government spokesman, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, declined to comment, saying the matter fell under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
Arab News tried to reach out to federal information minister Attaullah Tarar for a comment but did not get a response.
Improving energy resilience in Pakistan may avert 175,000 deaths by 2030 – UNICEF
- UN agency’s latest report says resilient energy supplies for schools can reduce dropout rates in Pakistan
- It says Pakistan has abundance of renewable resources that can be tapped to help children across the country
ISLAMABAD: A new study by the United Nations children’s agency says developing resilient energy systems to power health facilities in Pakistan could avert over 175,000 deaths by 2030.
UNICEF said improved energy resilience would also contribute $296 million to the country’s fragile economy over the next 20 years by reducing maternal, adult, and infant mortality.
The study, conducted by UNICEF’s Economist Impact Unit and released Friday, comes as Pakistan is experiencing an intense heatwave that has sickened thousands of people, further burdening the country’s health care system.
Temperatures in various parts of Pakistan soared as high as 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) on Friday. Authorities are urging people to stay indoors, hydrate, and avoid unnecessary travel. Demand for power has surged because of the high temperatures, putting a strain on existing electricity sources.
UNICEF said resilient energy refers to reliable, flexible, accessible, and quality power supplies that can withstand and recover quickly from unanticipated shocks, such as power outages and floods.
It said more resilient energy supplies for schools would reduce dropout rates and improve children’s learning so they can earn more in the future.
“Children depend on schools, health centers, and safe drinking water for their survival, yet these facilities often don’t have the electricity supply to function optimally. As the current heatwave grips the country, electricity needs have skyrocketed, leading to shortfalls that can endanger children’s health,” said Abdullah Fadil, the UNICEF representative in Pakistan.
UNICEF said 3.5 billion people live without reliable power worldwide.
It said climate change is contributing to the disruption of generation and distribution of energy in Pakistan, where floods triggered by climate-induced monsoon rains in 2022 killed 1,739 people. It said almost half of the water infrastructure, such as storage tanks, wells and supply lines, was damaged by the floods.
This year, Pakistan recorded its wettest April since 1961 with more than double the usual rainfall for the month. Heavy rains last month killed scores of people and destroyed property and farmland.
Daytime temperatures in May have soared as much as 8 C (14 F) above average temperatures for the month over the last 20 years, raising fears of flooding in the northwest because of glacial melting.
UNICEF said it helped restore water systems for 350,000 people in 375 locations after the 2022 floods and has also implemented several solar electrification initiatives in Pakistan.
“Pakistan has an abundance of renewable resources and by investing in them we are tapping into a goldmine to help children,” Fadil said. “We need the private sector to play a bigger role as public sector resources will not be enough. This is everybody’s business.”
Pakistan PM to strengthen economic ties, meet top investors in China next week – foreign office
- Shehbaz Sharif will start his four-day China visit from June 4 to set the ‘future trajectory’ of the strategic ties
- PM will hold meetings with the Chinese president, senior officials and members of the business community
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s upcoming four-day visit to China next week will prioritize meetings with top companies and investors, Pakistan’s foreign office said on Friday, highlighting the focus on strengthening economic ties between the two nations.
Earlier today, the PM asked Pakistani officials to carve out a “comprehensive plan” for business-to-business (B2B) engagements during his visit to China on June 4-8 as the South Asian country seeks to woo Chinese investors.
Sharif’s visit comes at a time when Pakistan is looking to boost foreign investment to support its fragile economy after averting a default last year, thanks to a $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout.
“An important aspect of the PM’s visit will be meetings with corporate executives of leading Chinese companies dealing in oil and gas, energy, ICT [information and communication technology], and emerging technologies,” foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said.
She informed during her weekly media briefing Sharif would visit Beijing, Xi’an and Shenzhen, adding he would hold delegation-level talks with President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Li Qiang, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Zhao Leji and heads of key government departments.
She said the PM would also address the Pakistan-China Business Forum attended by leading businesspeople, entrepreneurs and investors from both countries. He would also visit the economic and agricultural zones in China.
Baloch noted the cooperation between the two states during the visit would set the future trajectory of the Pakistan-China strategic partnership.
COUNTERTERRORISM
Asked if Islamabad had officially urged Beijing to talk to Kabul about the terror threat Pakistan faced, she said both countries had several channels of communication where everything including terrorism was discussed.
“So, these talks continue,” she said. “I am not in a position to share internal deliberations and privileged diplomatic conversations. Pakistan and China have been discussing issues relating to terrorism, relating to security of Chinese nationals in the country.”
The spokesperson informed the two countries had agreed to further strengthen cooperation in counterterrorism and security through a comprehensive approach.
“We have made a clear public statement about how we will work together to combat terrorism,” she added. “No attempt to undermine our cooperation and friendship will ever succeed.”
Earlier today, Pakistan’s interior secretary Muhammad Khurram Agha held a meeting with Afghanistan’s interim deputy interior minister Muhammad Nabi Omari in Kabul and shared with him findings of a March 26 suicide attack in northwest Pakistan that killed the five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver.
The Chinese workers were killed when a suicide bomber rammed his car into their vehicle while they were on their way to the Dasu hydropower project in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Islamabad blamed the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for the attack, with Pakistan’s interior minister saying last week the bombing was coordinated by TTP members from Afghanistan, asking Kabul to arrest and hand over the suspects involved in the crime.
