KP police uses teargas to disperse PPP rally
PESHAWAR: Police fired teargas shells into the participants of the 'Save KP' rally organized by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) against corruption, lawlessness and bad governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday.
Hundreds of PPP workers from across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa gathered at historic Jinnah Park to stage the protest. They included a large number of women and children. Chanting slogans, they marched towards the Provincial Assembly.
Addressing the rally, the provincial president PPP Syed Mohammad Ali Shah Bacha accused the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for massive corruption, lawlessness and bad governance.
He said that though the PTI is ruling Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since last 12 years, but it had miserably failed to deliver and guarantee financial transparency and indulged in corruption. He especially criticised the PTI government for Rs.40 billion accounts scam in Kohistan and solarisation of Masaajid.
After the addresses of the PPP leaders, police started firing teargas shells to disperse the protestors. There were brief skirmishes between the police and the protestors. There were reports of alleged attack of PPP workers on a camp set up by the PTI workers for the release of the party founding chairman Imran Khan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
23 minutes ago
- Business Recorder
Taxing savings – a recipe for stagnation
EDITORIAL: The tax bureaucracy's propensity of coming up with measures that purportedly aim to enhance revenue collection, but instead end up producing crippling economic outcomes reveals a dangerous cycle of incompetence, where basic economic principles are routinely ignored. There is an entire history of the FBR resorting to knee-jerk taxation measures that squeeze the compliant, reward the untaxed and sabotage economic growth with depressing consistency. The latest in a long line of self-defeating proposals under consideration is to hike the tax rate by two percent on interest income from commercial bank deposits and savings schemes in the upcoming budget. This proposal risks further weakening of a key pillar of economic stability that is already the weakest in the region, i.e., national savings. By discouraging savings, the FBR will be essentially starving the economy of vital capital, reducing investment levels and crippling long-term economic growth, all while doing very little to widen the tax net. It is pertinent to note that the current tax rate on interest income for filers of tax returns is already a pretty hefty 15 percent. For non-filers, the rate is even higher at 35 percent. Moreover, for filers, the 15 percent rate applies only to interest income of up to Rs 5 million annually. Any income beyond this threshold is taxed at the applicable slab rate on the individual's total income, including interest earnings, further squeezing those who are already part of the tax net. A further two percent hike in the tax rate would only deepen this distortion. Pakistan already has one of the lowest savings rates in the region — a structural weakness that has severely undermined the country's economic uplift. With insufficient domestic savings, the economy relies heavily on external borrowing to meet its needs, creating a dangerous cycle of debt dependency. Increasing the tax rate on interest incomes from bank deposits and savings schemes effectively amounts to penalising the act of saving, as people will think twice before parking their money in formal financial instruments, and will instead opt for untaxed or low-tax alternatives, further shrinking the formal savings pool. The result will be an even greater reliance on borrowing and an even more urgent need to raise additional revenue just to service the growing debt. Far from strengthening public finances, this policy would be profoundly counterproductive. The fundamental challenge confronting the economy is the glaring gap between expenditures and earnings, and addressing this deficit should be the government's singular focus. While curbing expenditure is one way forward, however, options on this front are limited. Debt servicing, by far the largest outlay, is a pass-through item of expenditure, while cuts in defence spending are also unlikely in the near term, given regional tensions, and the turmoil in Balochistan and parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Still, the government can trim its substantial current expenditure levels in other areas. At the very least, a leaner cabinet, with fewer ministers and advisors is both fiscally prudent and symbolically necessary. The authorities can't credibly preach austerity to the public while maintaining the glaring optics of an indulgent state apparatus. On the revenue side, Pakistan needs a tax system that effectively taxes incomes and consumption and not assets and savings. Instead, we have a regime that disproportionately taxes transactions. Businesses are forced to navigate a labyrinthine withholding tax structure, where multiple tax rates apply at different stages of business transactions. On top of that, virtually every economic activity faces a minimum tax on turnover regardless of profit or loss. The convoluted tax system, therefore, actively discourages compliance while punishing law-abiding taxpayers, with this dysfunction starving public coffers and leaving critical areas of the economy underfunded. The proposed tax on savings if implemented would simply double down on this same flawed approach. The finance minister's stated goal of bringing a budget of structural reforms cannot be met through a measure that is fundamentally at odds with economic vitality. Government policy must encourage savings, not drive them underground. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
23 minutes ago
- Business Recorder
Indian aggression: Gandapur felicitates nation for befitting response
PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, while addressing a jirga in Peshawar, extended felicitations to the entire nation for a befitting response to Indian aggression and said that founding chairman PTI Imran Khan, despite being unjustly imprisoned, united the entire nation against Indian hostilities—proving himself a true leader. Expressing his gratitude to Imran Khan and his supporters, Ali Amin Gandapur said their unwavering stand was instrumental in defending Pakistan. 'We have demonstrated national unity above political differences for the sake of the country's sovereignty and integrity,' he said. The Chief Minister also called on the federal government to avoid imposing taxes on the erstwhile FATA and PATA regions, arguing that the local population is not financially capable of bearing such burdens. 'These areas have been severely affected by the war on terror and require significant investment,' he emphasized. Highlighting the sacrifices of people from merged districts, the chief minister urged the federal government to fulfill all promises made to them. He demanded immediate release of compensation funds for displaced persons from these regions and called for an end to drone strikes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, citing civilian casualties. He also demanded for the immediate inclusion of the merged districts' share in the National Finance Commission (NFC) award. 'We are not asking for another province's share—we're demanding our rightful due,' he said. The Chief Minister further urged the federal government to release all pending dues owed to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including net hydel profits and the province's full share in the tobacco cess. 'These are the rightful entitlements of our people,' he asserted. In his address, the Chief Minister urged the reinstatement of the traditional jirga system to sustainably resolve disputes in the merged districts. He also demanded Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's inclusion in peace talks with neighbouring Afghanistan, warning that excluding the province would render the negotiations incomplete. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
23 minutes ago
- Business Recorder
CCP imposes Rs375m fines on six major fertilizer makers, FMPAC
ISLAMABAD: In a landmark decision against cartelisation, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has imposed fines totaling Rs 375 million on six major fertilizer manufacturers and their trade association, the Fertilizer Manufacturers of Pakistan Advisory Council (FMPAC), for colluding to fix the retail price of urea across the country. The penalties follow a suo motu inquiry launched by the Commission, which concluded that the manufacturers — in coordination with FMPAC — had jointly issued a public advertisement setting the maximum retail price at Rs 1,768 per 50 kg bag. The CCP found that this was not a routine awareness campaign but a coordinated act of cartelization, violating Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2010. The order was issued by a CCP bench comprising Chairman Dr Kabir Ahmed Sidhu and Member Salman Amin. The six companies fined Rs 50 million each include Engro Fertilizers Limited, Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited, Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited, Fatima Fertilizer Company Limited, Fatima Fertilizer Limited, and Agritech Limited. Their association, the FMPAC, was fined Rs 75 million, bringing the total penalty to Rs 375 million. The Commission's investigation noted that despite significant differences in gas pricing, economies of scale, and input costs, all companies charged the exact same price — a clear indicator of collusion rather than coincidence. The manufacturers attempted to defend their conduct by invoking the 'state action doctrine,' arguing that they acted under a federal government directive to educate farmers about urea prices. However, the CCP bench found no formal instructions compelling the companies to set a uniform price. Instead, the companies misused the government's communication to justify a cartelised price-fixing strategy. The bench observed that actions taken under the pretext of public interest effectively undermined the forces of supply and demand and distorted competitive pricing mechanisms. The Commission expressed concern that despite repeated warnings issued in 2010, 2012, and 2014 — including findings that two companies had engaged in joint advertising to influence market prices — no long-term corrective measures were taken by the companies or FMPAC. The recurrence of such behavior signaled the ineffectiveness of prior warnings and reinforced the need for stronger enforcement and deeper structural reform. While announcing the order, the CCP reiterated that business associations like FMPAC have no legal authority to set or recommend prices. Their involvement in coordinated pricing decisions undermines market competition and consumer welfare. The Commission warned that any such action — particularly from entities that have long benefited from government subsidies — will not be tolerated. The CCP's order also touched upon broader policy concerns. Pakistan's fertilizer sector, once heavily subsidized to promote local production, continues to operate under the outdated Fertilizer Policy of 2001. That policy had extended 20-year gas supply contracts at concessionary rates to fertilizer plants commissioned after 2001. Although these subsidies expired in July 2021, pricing across companies has remained inexplicably aligned. According to a study by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), the government has been spending approximately Rs 200 billion annually on fertilizer subsidies — yet the intended benefit has largely failed to reach farmers, who continue to face high prices and supply shortages. The Commission stressed that this uniformity in pricing, even after deregulation and subsidy withdrawal under IMF conditions, raises serious concerns about the lack of true market competition. Despite differences in technology, plant age, and gas costs, the six companies maintained identical prices, suggesting that collusion — not competition — drives pricing in the fertilizer sector. Separately, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has reserved its verdict in a related case concerning the CCP's direction for fertilizer companies to submit cost audit reports. As part of its investigation, the Commission had required these reports to assess pricing behavior. However, the companies challenged the directive in court, claiming that cost audit data was confidential and could not be disclosed. In response, CCP's legal representative argued that all companies are already required to submit cost audits to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), and questioned why the same data could not be provided to another statutory regulator. The court has now reserved judgment after hearing both sides. It is also worth noting that in a separate case involving Dalda Foods, the Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld the CCP's jurisdiction to seek information, monitor market conduct, and conduct investigations—further reinforcing the Commission's legal mandate. Under the Competition Act, any agreement or practice that fixes prices, limits output, or divides markets is prohibited. Violations may lead to fines of up to 10% of annual turnover or Rs 75 million, whichever is higher. Repeat violations can result in criminal prosecution under Section38 of the Act. The CCP has urged the federal government to comprehensively review the Fertilizer Policy 2001, disengage from price coordination through trade bodies, and let market dynamics—not collusive agreements — govern the industry. The Commission reaffirmed its commitment to promoting open markets, safeguarding consumer interests, and holding violators accountable. To report cartel behavior or anti-competitive practices, members of the public can contact the CCP's Market Intelligence Unit at 0304-0875255 or email [email protected]. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
