News

18pc sales tax on local cotton set to go

The government has, in principle, agreed to withdraw the 18 per cent sales tax imposed on the local sale of cotton, yarn, and grey cloth, provided the International Monetary Fund (IMF) permits it, to ensure a level-playing field for both local and imported cotton and its products. Dawn has learned that the committee of federal ministers and secretaries, formed on the directive of Prime Minister

Loss-making Discos told to put house in order

The federal government on Monday censured the managements and boards of directors (BoDs) of three state-owned loss-making power distribution companies (Discos) from Sindh and Balochistan for poor performance and directed them to immediately correct course. In separate letters to the chief executives and BoDs chairmen of the Sukkur, Hyderabad and Quetta electric supply companies, the power divis

Govt confirms princely salaries of Nepra top brass

The government has confirmed that the chairman and members of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) unilaterally increased their salaries early this year without the cabinet’s prior clearance. Despite earlier objections from the Cabinet Division, the government implicitly approved the salary increases, which had been deemed unauthorised and called for a written explanation.

ECC approves supplementary grants worth Rs92bn

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet on Monday approved a total of six supplementary grants worth Rs92 billion, including utilisation of Rs54.5bn received from UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) for the Daanish school project. A meeting of the ECC, presided over by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurganzeb, “approved a proposal for a technical supplementary grant (TSG) of Rs54.5bn t

Regulatory approval for Starlink services awaited, NA body told

Only a provisional licence has been granted to Starlink to provide satellite-based internet services in the country and the final regulatory approval was still awaited, Federal IT Minister Shaza Fatima said on Monday. The statement came during a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on IT & Telecom, chaired by Syed Aminul Haque. The minister said Starlink services were expect