SC seeks list of loan write-off beneficiaries
The Supreme Court has asked to submit list of those whose loans have been written off during last two years. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Ch. Said that the loans have to be returned if waived illegally.
In the hearing of the case about write-off loans, lawyer Khawaja Haris told the court that almost Rs 50 billion were written off during last two years and most of the loans were waived off by commercial banks. It was also told to the court that Rs 154 billion loans were written off from 1971 to 2000. On this, the court demanded list of loans waived off during last two years. The CJP said that Governor State Bank and Sindh Governor might be called if needed. He said that the circular that waived loans would be scrutinized. He said that State Bank has no authority to issue circular under Article 33.
Governor SBP resigns
KARACHI: Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Salim Raza has resigned from office, Geo News reported Wednesday night.
According to official statement, President Asif Ali Zardari has accepted Salim Raza’s resignation. It said the Governor SBP had tendered his resignation due to personal reasons on May 6.
Deputy Governor Shaikh Yasin has been made acting Governor SBP.
Committee formed to take up recommendations with IMF
ISLAMABAD: Government has formed a four-member committee to take up more recommendations with IMF on Sunday, Geo news reported.
The committee has been directed to finalize recommendations latest before return of Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, which will be discussed with IMF during next round of talks.
According to sources, the committee comprised of Federal Ministers Raja Pervez Ashraf, Syed Naveed Qamar, Advisor to PM Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Governor State Bank of Pakistan.
The committee will present before IMF recommendations to woo it not to hike electricity tariff besides briefing over the running loans on various national institutions.
It may be mentioned, IMF demanded Pakistan government to cut 0.5 percent of fiscal deficit from 6.5 to 6.0 percent of the current financial deficit.
It also urged government to increase electricity tariff and to charge proposed Value Added Tax (VAT) surcharge to slash 0.5 percent from prevailing fiscal deficit.
Already the IMF has handed Pakistan 6.54 billion dollar loan from its pledged 11.20 billion dollars while after receiving fifth trench of the loan worth of 1.20 billion dollars, the aggregate value of loan will become 7.74 billion dollars.
Sources said, next round of talks is likely to be held in forthcoming month whereby the government may seek two trench of loans together, subject to acceptance of Pakistan’s recommendations.
IMF, finance ministry talks remain inconclusive
ISLAMABAD: The dialogue between International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the officials from Finance Ministry remained inconclusive on Saturday, now another round of talk is likely soon, Geo news reported.
Finance ministry sources told Geo news, the matters relating to electricity subsidy, fiscal deficit and inflation came under discussion but the dialogue came to deadlock, however, another round of talks will likely be held soon.
Finance Advisor Hafeez Sheikh, Governor State Bank represented finance ministry at the meeting, sources said.
SBP To Launch Credit Guarantee Scheme For Small Enterprises
Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Syed Salim Raza will launch a Credit Guarantee Scheme for Small and Rural Enterprises, under the Financial Inclusion Programme (FIP) at a ceremony being held at SBP Learning Resource Centre Auditorium on March 19.
According to a statement of SBP, Raza will also announce a Refinance Scheme for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
These schemes are aimed at enhancing the flow of credit to the SME and agriculture sectors with greater emphasis on revitalisation of business activities in the troubled areas of NWFP and FATA, beside Gilgit-Baltistan.
Political Turmoil Harming Pak’s Progress: IMF
WASHINGTON : Pakistan’s economy is showing some signs of recovery but delays by donors in handing over promised aid threaten its ability to meet targets under its International Monetary Fund loan program, Pakistani finance officials said in documents released by the IMF on Thursday.
In a memorandum to the IMF dated Dec. 11, 2009, Governor State Bank of Pakistan Salim Raza and Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said the aid delays have increased pressure on the budget and domestic financing, and could limit scope for more necessary spending at a time when security needs are growing.
Pakistan and the IMF have urged donors to follow through on the $5.7 billion in aid promised at a conference in Tokyo last April.
To raise its revenues, Pakistan plans to introduce a Value Added Tax. The officials said they remained committed to regulations to implement the tax by July 1, 2010.
The IMF bailed out Pakistan in November 2008 to avert a balance of payments crisis and in July increased the loan to the country to $11.3 billion from an initial $7.6 billion.
In a staff report also released on Thursday, the IMF said Pakistan’s performance under the IMF program was uneven but credited it for moving forward on most key reforms despite difficult security and other circumstances.
It also raised concerns about delays in aid disbursements to Pakistan, saying the amount of aid projected to be disbursed in 2009/10 has been revised by some $900 million less than expected.
The IMF said that Pakistani officials had reaffirmed their commitment to an annual fiscal deficit of 4.9 percent of gross domestic product. However, if the Tokyo aid pledges were a lot lower than projected, the deficit would need to be reduced further, possibly by up to 0.4 percent of GDP, staff said.
They said “a fluid” political situation, security issues and the lack of broad support for economic reforms raised risks to Pakistan’s IMF program and affected investor confidence.
They said underlying vulnerabilities to Pakistan’s economy were high and had increased in some areas including revenue shortfalls, weak credit performance, energy subsidies and dependence on commodity imports.
Meanwhile, Pakistani banks were well capitalized but nonperforming loans are growing, according to IMF financial soundness indicators at the end of September.
The 2009/10 outlook for economic growth in Pakistan is unchanged, with inflation year-on-year rising to 11 percent from 9 percent reflecting a rebound in fuel prices and increases in electricity tariffs, the Fund added.
Political Turmoil Harming Pak’s Progress: IMF was first posted on January 8, 2010 at 3:42 pm.
