Weekly News Roundup

December 29, 2019 (MLN): The last week of the year 2019, witnessed several important developments among which the most important one was the decision taken by Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited to restore Re-gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) supply to industrial sector from Tuesday.

Another important development was the abolishment of the fee by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), on payment of government taxes and duties through Alternate Delivery Channels (ADCs) and Over-the-Counter (OTC) from January 1, 2020.

Furthermore, to provide relief to the farmers, the government decided to collect FPA charges in six months on Agriculture Tube Wells.

Meanwhile, President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday promulgated the Tax Laws (Second Amendment) Ordinance 2019, further amending certain tax laws. The Ordinance XXVI of 2019 promulgated on Thursday and issued on Friday, will come into force at once, is called Tax Laws Second Amendment Ordinance, 2019.

On the upside, International Monetary Fund’s Resident Representative for Pakistan, Teresa Daban Sanchez expressed satisfaction on overall macro-economic performance of the government. She expressed these views during a conversation with relevant stakeholders on first quarterly review of 39-month arrangement made under the Extended Fund Facility for Pakistan, in Islamabad.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Imran Khan welcomed investment interest of the Al-Tamimi Group in food processing, dairy and livestock and meat processing sectors of Pakistan.

On Tuesday, Federal Cabinet decided to reduce prices of eighty-nine medicines, including life-saving drugs, by fifteen percent with immediate effect to provide relief to people.

In addition to this, Abdul Razak Dawood, the prime minister's adviser for commerce and investment, said Pakistan is considering offering tax breaks to various industries with export potential as the country looks beyond textiles to boost outbound trade. In this regard, an export policy will be announced next month.

On Monday, Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet approved a technical supplementary grant equal to Rs 4.05 billion funds lapsed during the financial year 2018-19 under the Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Programme (SAP).

Another positive development was a hydrocarbon discovery in the first exploratory well, Margand X-1, in Margand Block (2866-4), made by Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL).

Lastly, a forecast by ministry of planning and development revealed that the contribution of Gwadar's smart port city in Pakistan's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will rise to US$200 billion to $300 billion by 2050 and the contribution of Gwadar in Pakistan's economy would rise to $6 billion in short term by 2025 and $24 billion in 2035.

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