Investment & Economy

In a move that may eventually force influential people to disclose their offshore beneficial ownerships, a Senate panel on Wednesday proposed an amendment to the Companies Bill to make it binding on non-resident and dual-national Pakistanis to disclose their monetary interests abroad.

The Senate Standing Committee on Finance amended Clause 452 of the under discussion Companies Bill 2017 that deals with companies’ global register of beneficial ownerships. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) also endorsed the committee’s proposal, which will ensure that the government backs the new amendment at the time of final voting in the National Assembly.

Read moreOverseas Pakistanis may be forced to disclose monetary interests

At a time when remittances to Pakistan slow down, a leading mobile financial services company has partnered with a global digital money transfer firm to attract 5% of total remittance flow to the country.

Announcing the formal launch of digital remittance services, in partnership with UK-based WorldRemit, Mobilink International Remittance Mobile Financial Services Assistant Manager Hamza Islam said, “We are targeting to attract $1 billion in remittances in the first year.”

The remittances sent home by overseas Pakistanis have dropped 2% to $10.95 billion in the first seven months (July 2016 to January 2017) of the current fiscal year compared to $11.15 billion in the same seven months of previous year.

Read morePakistan, UK firms join hands to offer digital remittance services

Lahore: As the remittances have registered a decline of more than 36 percent, the All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF) has suggested the government to announce incentives for oversees Pakistanis so that the drop in foreign remittances could be controlled, besides boosting investment in the country by Pakistani expatriates. APBF president Ibrahim Qureshi said that Current Account (C/A) deficit has expanded to US$591mn in July 2016, where US$575mn deterioration was largely owing to US$745mn (or 36% MoM) decline in Workers’ Remittances.
Remittances sent by overseas Pakistan dropped 20 per cent annually to $1.33 billion in July. The oil-rich Arab countries account for almost 65 percent of entire remittances sent by overseas Pakistani workers. Ibrahim Qureshi said that the fall could be a setback for Pakistan as it largely depends on remittances to meet its foreign obligations and reserves. In July, the inflow of remittances from Saudi Arabia dropped by 20 percent, but it was still the highest at $379 million. What is more concerning is the plunge in remittances from the United States and the United Kingdom as inflows from these countries fell by 33.5 and 38 percent, respectively. Remittances from US and UK dropped 6 percent and 8 percent, respectively, in the preceding fiscal year.

Read moreAPBF suggests incentives for overseas Pakistanis

Pakistan Customs on Thursday issued the procedures for importers to file online import form (I-Form) through the online tax system, Web-Based One Customs (WeBOC).

The I-Form is a joint initiative of Pakistan Customs and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to curb under-invoicing and tax avoidance. “This initiative will help in prevention of import related frauds and provide direct interface between customs and banks,” a customs official said.

The I-Form’s filing is now mandatory for importers for subsequent filing of goods declaration and getting the consignment cleared.

Online filing mechanism will be launched as pilot from August 15 and will be functional from September 1. After that, the manual filing of payment details will not be available and the customs authorities will deny clearance of any consignment.

Read morePakistan Customs issues procedures for online import form