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LAHORE: A day after its decision to reduce power tariffs to provide relief in electricity bills, the Punjab government on Wednesday said the relief will be financed with billions in profits hitherto harvested by two government-owned power companies, the Quaid-e-Azam Thermal Power Private Limited and Punjab Thermal Power Private Limited. The provincial cabinet had decided to cut the power tariffs of these two plants by 30-40 per cent to reduce electricity bills. This move is similar to the federal government’s, which recently renegotiated contracts with independent power plants (IPPs) to reduce tariffs. The provincial government said that both power companies…

• Lender wants agri tax enforced, takes exception to plan to sell surplus power at cheaper rates • Fund calls for strategy to stop tax evasion, financial leakage; opposes provincial energy subsidises ISLAMABAD: Amid final consultations on the budget, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants strict compliance with programme requirements, including the coverage of agriculture income tax in provincial budgets to ensure effective collection starting no later than September 2025. The Fund also does not agree with a plan for incentivising enhanced power consumption desired by the federal government to absorb surplus capacity. Informed sources said the IMF wanted a…

• NEC approves plan with consensus as govt eyes 4.2 per cent growth in next fiscal year• Centre to finance projects worth Rs1 trillion amid 29pc PSDP cut, provincial allocations to fund the rest• Sindh, KP ‘unhappy’ with exclusion of projects from federal budget• Premier, all CMs to meet today on Indian moves against Pakistan’s water ISLAMABAD: Fuelled by a 22pc increase in provincial allocations, the National Economic Council (NEC) on Wednesday approved with consensus a record Rs4.22 trillion national development outlay for the next fiscal year to upgrade growth rate to 4.2pc from 2.7 this year, despite an IMF-decreed…

Hong Kong stocks rose for a third day on Thursday, putting the benchmark on course for its longest winning streak in four weeks, after a private report on China’s services industry allayed concerns that the economic recovery has stalled.The Hang Seng Index added 0.9 per cent to 23,880.49 at 10.05am local time. The Hang Seng Tech Index gained 1.5 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index both retreated 0.1 per cent.Alibaba Group Holding gained 2.7 per cent to HK$117.70 and Tencent Holdings advanced 0.2 per cent to HK$513. Short-video platform Kuaishou Technology rallied…

Hong Kong stocks rose for a third day on Thursday, putting the benchmark on course for its longest winning streak in four weeks, after a private report on China’s services industry allayed concerns that the economic recovery has stalled.The Hang Seng Index added 0.9 per cent to 23,880.49 at 10.05am local time. The Hang Seng Tech Index gained 1.5 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index both retreated 0.1 per cent.Alibaba Group Holding gained 2.7 per cent to HK$117.70 and Tencent Holdings advanced 0.2 per cent to HK$513. Short-video platform Kuaishou Technology rallied…

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — At least five people, including a one-year-old child, were killed in a Russian drone strike on the northern Ukrainian city of Pryluky overnight, regional governor Viacheslav Chaus said Thursday.The attack came just hours after Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Trump, Putin “very strongly” said that Russia will retaliate for Ukraine’s weekend drone attacks on Russian military airfields.Six more people were wounded in the attack and have been hospitalized, Chaus said. According to him, six Shahed-type drones struck residential areas of Pryluky early Thursday morning, causing severe damage to residential buildings.Hours later,…

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Tax Ombudsman Secretariat (FTO) on Wednesday conveyed to embassies and foreign missions that vehicles purchased from the local market and subsequently used by Foreign Missions are not subject to further duties upon resale. The Federal Tax Ombudsman Secretariat (FTO) held the second session of the Diplomatic Grievances Redressal Cell (DGRC) at FTO Head office. This session brought together representatives from the embassies of South Africa, Philippines, United States of America, Poland, Ireland, Denmark, Qatar, Romania, and Kuwait. Representatives from the United Nations World Food Programme were also in attendance. This event was chaired by Federal Tax Ombudsman…

KARACHI: The Pakistan Business Forum (PBF) has called on the federal government to exempt yarn and fabric from the 18% General Sales Tax (GST) in the coming Federal Budget 2025–26, warning that the failure to do so could push the country’s textile industry toward total collapse. PBF Chairman South Punjab, Malik Talat Suhail emphasised that the Export Finance Scheme (EFS), introduced to phase out subsidies and promote exports, has instead proven detrimental to the textile sector. Under EFS, imported raw materials are exempted from both sales tax and customs duty, while local inputs continue to be taxed at 18%. Though…

ISLAMABAD: Telecom sector has proposed the government to reduce sales tax on telecom services from the current 19.5 percent – highest compared to other sectors to 16 percent in the upcoming budget 2025-26, besides harmonise across the country whereby all provinces and federal capital should have same rate. IT and Telecom sector submitted the budget proposals to the government which also proposed Advance tax may be reinstated to improve the purchasing power of customers as majority of the customers are below taxable limit. The sector proposed abolishment of advance income tax at 10% under Section 236A of ITO 2001 on…

KARACHI: Kot Addu Power Company Limited (KAPCO) has signed a Tri-Partite Power Purchase Agreement (TPPA) with Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA-G) and National Grid Company of Pakistan Limited (NGCPL). The development was disclosed in a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday. Last month, on May 20th, The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) approved the tripartite agreement, governing electricity sales from KAPCO’s 1,600 MW power plant in Kot Addu, Punjab. According to KAPCO’s notice, NEPRA granted approval of the TPPA on May 19, 2025, subject to certain conditions being met. The conditions include conducting an Initial Capacity…