Latest news with #Rs185
Express Tribune
13-07-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Anti-hoarding push puts brakes on runaway sugar price
Mounting pressure from industry stakeholders and calls for a crackdown on hoarding have brought a halt to the recent surge in sugar prices, with both retail and wholesale rates showing signs of decline. According to Abdul Rauf Ibrahim, Chairman of the Wholesale Grocers Association, the retail price of sugar has dropped from Rs200 to Rs195/kg in recent days. Similarly, the wholesale price has fallen from Rs185 to a range of Rs178-180/kg. Rauf attributed the price correction to growing scrutiny over speculative hoarding. He claimed that around 2.6 million tons of sugar are currently being held back from the market for profiteering and smuggling. Rauf also cautioned against proposed sugar imports, saying that domestic production is sufficient to meet local demand. He warned that importing sugar at this stage would be economically detrimental, potentially costing the country more than $265 million in foreign exchange at a time of severe fiscal strain.
Express Tribune
09-07-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Sugar prices and imports
Listen to article The past few weeks have seen sugar prices soar, reaching a staggering Rs200 per kilogram in Karachi and surpassing Rs185 in most major cities. Retail prices have surged by as much as 50% in some cases, despite overall inflation having come down significantly. Most experts note that the crisis stems not from genuine scarcity but from a toxic cocktail of export miscalculations, hoarding and regulatory failure. The government's decision to approve 500,000 metric tons of sugar imports — waiving 53% in duties — is at best a desperate corrective measure, and at worst, a direct cash handout to sugar barons. Keep in mind that the decision comes just a few weeks after Islamabad approved the export of 765,000 tons of sugar, earning Rs114 billion while triggering domestic shortages. The food minister may claim that low yields due to climate change, rather than exports, are to blame for the shortage, but this argument suggests the government lacks the foresight to prepare for a poor crop, despite several years of erratic weather patterns requiring any half-good policy planner to factor these in. In fact, the decision to import could violate our international commitments, as the finance ministry reportedly argued quite loudly that Pakistan is supposed to avoid agricultural imports as a measure to reduce the trade deficit. The government's counterargument that the shortage has created a food emergency is almost comical. It's because the government is itself responsible for the shortage, since the import authorisation is significantly less than the exports allowed, and even with the poor crop this year, blocking exports would have kept the net shortage at a negligible level. Given the wide-ranging political influence of sugar barons, it is unsurprising that the parliament has had little to say about the failure of the sugar export policy. But without proper market regulation and policymaking, sugar will remain a bitter symbol of economic injustice — a commodity where policy failures sweeten profits for a few and sour lives for millions.
Express Tribune
31-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Rs223m sought for Raja Bazaar cabling project
As part of the underground cabling and beautification project in Raja Bazaar, adjacent to the historic Fawara Chowk, utility agencies have issued demand notices totalling Rs 223.3 million to the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC). The agencies include the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO), Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), and Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL). Following the completion of a similar project in Saddar's commercial areas and the conversion of Bank Road into a pedestrian-only street, the RMC has approved similar plans for Raja Bazaar and Commercial Market. In the first phase, IESCO issued a demand notice of Rs185 million, SNGPL Rs30 million, WASA Rs5 million, and PTCL Rs3.3 million. Work on civil infrastructure and network shifting will commence once payments are made, after which beautification efforts will be undertaken by the municipal corporation itself. Meanwhile, demand notices for the Commercial Market project are yet to be received. Separately, the corporation has floated tenders worth Rs950 million for carpeting, expansion, and redesigning of 14 roads across the city, with work set to begin after Eidul Azha. In another development, the old Rose Cinema building — constructed before the creation of Pakistan and located in front of Fawara Chowk — has been demolished after lease expiry and the lifting of a court stay. The site, measuring one kanal and eight marlas, is now under the corporation's control and has been earmarked for a multi-storey parking plaza. The proposal has been sent to the Punjab government for final approval. Additionally, another five-storey parking facility is planned on the site of the former municipal office near Fawara Chowk, where an incomplete three-storey RDA parking plaza already exists. The structural design for the new facility has been prepared, and cost estimation is underway. With three parking plazas in the Fawara Chowk vicinity, the corporation anticipates improved traffic flow and enhanced parking options for shoppers in the commercial district. Chief officer Imran Ali stated that the corporation is focused on upgrading road infrastructure and completing the two ongoing underground cabling and beautification projects to provide citizens with improved facilities.
Express Tribune
12-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Magistrates fail to rein in runaway prices
The district's 60 price control magistrates appear ineffective in curbing inflation, as the prices of essential items continue to rise amid shortages in sugar and cooking oil supplies. Current market rates show live chicken selling at Rs415/kg, chicken meat at Rs610/kg, eggs at Rs277/dozen, mutton at Rs2,400/kg, and beef at Rs1,400/kg. Sugar is priced at Rs185/kg, while ghee and cooking oil range from Rs510515 per pack. Pulses and dairy prices have also surged. Chickpeas at Rs380/kg, mash at Rs550/kg, milk at Rs220/litre, and yogurt at Rs240/kg. Fruit and vegetable prices remain high, with bananas selling for Rs200250/dozen, mangoes and guavas at Rs200250/kg, and cherries at Rs500/kg. Among vegetables, potatoes are Rs60/kg, onions Rs70/kg, garlic Rs350/kg, and ginger Rs650/kg. Prices may ease slightly starting Monday, May 12, as wholesale markets reopen. The Federal Minister for Planning, Ahsan Iqbal has directed relevant departments to ensure that sudden price spikes are not reported before Eidul Azha and the essential commodities remain reasonably priced. However, his directives seem to have had little impact. The federal minister was chairing a meeting on Wednesday to review the current price trends of essential commodities across the country. Iqbal directed relevant departments to ensure five essential commodities, namely sugar, ghee, potato, onion, and tomato, are reasonably priced.
Express Tribune
13-02-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Income tax surges Rs100b in 7 months
Listen to article ISLAMABAD: The salaried class's income tax payments have jumped to Rs285 billion in seven monthsRs100 billion more than the comparable periodas Minister of State for Finance Ali Pervaiz Malik hints at reducing the burden in the budget. Also, nearly Rs100 billion more in income tax that the salaried people were forced to pay from July through January was Rs25 billion more than the government's estimates for the full fiscal year. "The tax burden on the salaried class is more than its capacity to pay, and some of it will be shifted to other sectors in the budget," said Ali Malik while speaking at a seminar on Navigating Ease of Doing Business in Pakistan. The Minister of State said that despite the reluctance of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Rs75 billion in additional burden had to be passed on to the salaried class in the last budget for the sake of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. However, during the JulyJanuary period of this fiscal year, the salaried class paid close to Rs285 billion in income tax compared to a little over Rs185 billion paid in the same seven months of the last fiscal year. In just seven months, the salaried class paid Rs100 billion, or 53%, more in the midst of a high cost of living with no social benefits in return. In the last fiscal year, the salaried class paid Rs368 billion in taxes. The state minister on finance said that the PM had reluctantly accepted putting Rs75 billion in additional burdena figure that has already been surpassed with five months still left until the close of the fiscal year. The details showed that non-corporate sector employees paid Rs122 billion this yearhigher by Rs36 billion or 41%. The corporate sector employees paid Rs86 billion in income taxhigher by Rs28.6 billion or 50%. The provincial governments' employees paid Rs48 billionRs23 billion or 96% more. The federal government employees paid Rs29 billionRs11 billion or 63% more. The government has failed to get due taxes from wholesalers and traders. The at-source tax deductions from non-registered traders are shown as the criterion for success. The National Assembly on Tuesday delayed approval of a bill to ban economic transactions by ineligible persons to support the real estate sector. While speaking at the seminar organised by CORE and the Baby Food and Nutrition Council, Malik admitted that high taxation on the beverage industry was also resulting in an increase in the size of informal production. The organisers displayed smuggled and locally produced unregistered children's nutrition products that were two times cheaper than those produced by registered businesses. These products were also posing health risks, while the provincial food authorities and the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) remained inactive. "Below-quality infant formula products are a ticking bomb, and it's time that regulatory agencies wake up," said Dr Usman Bhatty, a representative of the Baby Food and Nutrition Council. "Food and nutrition goods are smuggled from Iran, and we can't do much about it," said Asif Khan, Director of the Balochistan Food Authority. SIFC expands Jameel Qureshi, the Secretary to the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), also spoke about his organisation's role in attracting investment and removing barriers to business. Qureshi said that the council was also working to make the Pakistan Sovereign Wealth Fund operational. The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government had enacted the Pakistan Sovereign Wealth Fund Act in 2023 to transfer shares of seven profitable entities and then sell them overseas to raise money. These entities include Oil and Gas Development Company, Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Mari Petroleum, National Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan Development Fund, Government Holdings (Private) Limited, and Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Company. The IMF has raised objections to the governance structure and the legal mandate of the sovereign fund to directly sell state assets to foreign nations without a competitive process. The Wealth Fund is dormant after the IMF objected to its law and proposed sweeping amendments. The finance ministry had agreed in writing with the IMF that by December 2024, it would amend the Act. However, it has not amended the law. The legal amendments could not be introduced due to differences between the IMF and the finance ministry over the mode of those changes. The government saw no need to bring legal amendments for the governance structure, which could be done through rules and regulations. Qureshi said that the SIFC was working on reducing electricity prices, optimising the use of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), and preparing feasibility studies for 100 bankable projects. "Bureaucracy doesn't properly guide investors, and this is where SIFC comes in," said the secretary. The SIFC was working on eight areas that are imperative for long-term growth. Qureshi said there is a need to transition to an export-led growth model and implement a long-term economic roadmap. The secretary said that prompt decision-making was also needed and that for sustainable growth, there is a need to separate good foreign investment from bad investment. He said that the SIFC was working to increase domestic production, address tax-related matters, and strengthen dispute resolution mechanisms. Qureshi said that the chief justice of pakistan would this month name the Investment Ombudsman for dispute settlement. He said that a reduction in energy prices and interest rates was also imperative for long-term economic growth.
