Iramb Zusha

SINGAPORE: Oil prices slipped on Thursday, weighed down by rising supply going into a market in which consumption is expected to slow down amid a glum economic outlook. Front-month Brent crude oil futures were trading at $65.88 per barrel at 0441 GMT, down 24 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $55.96 a barrel, down 29 cents, or 0.5 percent. Since early October, oil prices have lost around a quarter of their value as supply soars just as demand is expected to slow down along with an economic downturn. “Asian refiners and consumers we speak with are mentioning initial concerns of slowing demand,” said Mike Corley, president of Mercatus Energy Advisors. U.S. bank Morgan Stanley said in a note on Wednesday that China’s economic “conditions deteriorated materially” in the third quarter of 2018, while analysts at Capital Economics said China’s “near-term economic outlook still remains downbeat.” China is the world’s biggest ...

KARACHI: Successful negotiations for a new International Monetary Fund programme would reduce external financing risks for Pakistan, credit rating agency Moody’s said in its “Global Emerging Markets: Outlook” report issued on Thursday. The government of Pakistan has recently secured $6 billion package from Saudi Arabia including $3bn in deferred payments on oil and $3bn to be deposited in Central Bank, the report said. The government is seeking all sources to avert the imminent balance of payment crisis, the report observed. The central bank foreign exchange reserves have fallen to their lowest levels in four years reaching $7.5bn, which could not meet the bill of two months’ imports, the report said. The rating agency report has kept the outlook for global emerging markets (EM) “broadly stable” but warns of risks from “higher rates, politics and trade tensions”. The report highlights that “although the share of [Pakistan’s] foreign currency debt is relatively low at around 35pc of tot...

T-Mobile US’s Chief Financial Officer said there is a possibility that its $26 billion acquisition deal of Sprint will close as early as the first quarter of 2019. T-Mobile, majority owned by Deutsche Telekom AG, agreed in April to buy wireless carrier Sprint and the deal was initially expected to close in the first half of 2019. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Justice are currently scrutinizing the deal. “The only remaining thing that is happening is depositions with the DoJ, which have started and will be completed in a few weeks,” CFO J. Braxton Carter told the Morgan Stanley TMT Conference in Barcelona. “At this point, it’s more pointing to the second quarter as more probable (but) it could still be first quarter,” Carter said. Read More: T-Mobile, Sprint say $26 billion deal would give US tech lead over China Both the agencies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The agreement between the third and fourth largest U.S. wireless carr...

ISLAMABAD: Muhammad Hammad Azhar, one of the youngest ministers in Pakistan’s new government, is the latest in a long line of officials to face a problem that undermines his country’s development: getting people to start paying income taxes. Ending a culture of rampant tax evasion is expected to be high on the agenda in negotiations this month with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as cash-strapped Pakistan seeks a second bailout since 2013. As state minister for revenue, Azhar, 37, says he is planning for long-term reforms. But first, he is banking on improved technology to allow the government to tap existing financial databases to help identify tax dodgers in a nation where less than 1 percent of the population even files income tax returns. “There is a lot of catching up to do,” Azhar told Reuters in an interview. One of the world’s lowest tax collection rates partly help explain the shoddy state of Pakistan’s hospitals and schools, and why the illiteracy rate hovers above 40 p...

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of Pakistan Britain, Scotland business councils on Friday shared the proposal about establishment of a network of hospitals across Pakistan with Finance Minister Asad Umar during a meeting. The delegation of Pakistan Britain Business Council and its sister organisation, Pakistan Scotland Business Council led by Julian Hamilton Barns and Rashid Iqbal was received by Asad Umar in Islamabad. The delegation said the network of hospitals would be aimed at providing quality healthcare to the people. Read More: PM discusses proposals for economy uplift with business leaders The councils could muster financial support from Pakistani diaspora, international financiers, philanthropists and other financing institutions towards this end, the delegation said. The delegation also apprised the finance minister about the councils’ interaction with the Pakistan diaspora in the UK and in other countries and said they were especially keen to invest in Pakistan. Asad Umar welcomed ...

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Maritime Affairs has affirmed that the existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals have been positioned without any detailed study related to safety vulnerability, therefore, the government is preparing to reallocate these terminals to other appropriate sites with safety measures. According to sources, the government has commissioned the Ministry of Maritime Affairs to prepare a cost-benefit analysis and a detailed study for shifting the existing LNG terminals to some other place, keeping safety in mind. It is also directed to carry out study in discussion with the Petroleum Division to evaluate the conditions for setting up new LNG terminals in the country. Also, the ministry is consigned the duty of safety of ports and regulation of matters related to hazardous shipments. In a latest meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), officials of the ministry stated that the Port Qasim Authority (PQA) board, in its meeting on May 7, 2011 and August 10...

The Ritz-Cartlon and other five-star hotels in China apologised after a video exposing unhygienic cleaning practises went viral online this week in the latest health and safety scandal to rock the country. Despite their luxury standards and high price tags, cleaning staff were shown wiping down in-room cups with the same towels and sponges used to clean showers and toilets. Since the video was posted to Twitter-like Weibo on Wednesday, it has racked up more than 30 million views. The video clip was apparently shot by hidden cameras set up in hotel bathrooms and titled “The Secret of the Cups”. The video creator, who goes by the pseudonym “Huazong”, claims he has stayed at 147 five-star and boutique hotels over the past six years. The outcry also attracted the attention of regulators, who promised an investigation. It follows a scandal this summer that rocked the country when a manufacturer of rabies vaccines was found to have produced sub-standard vaccines. The Ritz-Carlton in Shanghai...

LAHORE: Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed on Saturday said his ministry will seek help of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the matter of occupation over its [railways] lands. Briefing the media here in Lahore after chairing a meeting at Railways headquarters to review the progress of PR, he said his ministry is going to facilitate physically challenged people, in order to make their railway journey easier. The minister in yet another big announcement from Pakistan Railways said” there will be 50 percent discount for the students, in the wake of winter vacations (from December 25 to January 10) aimed at to attract them to utilize railway for their trips during vacations. Mr Rasheed said steps are being taken for the revival of the PR with the help its officers and labourers, adding recent induction of 10 new trains is the ministry’s fleet is its “proof.” Moving one step further for the revival, Sheikh Rasheed also announced to set-up a...

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Asad Umar on Saturday chaired a meeting of the Economic Advisory Council’s (EAC) Sub-Groups on National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) and Fiscal Sector in Islamabad. The meeting was attended by all major stakeholders and members of the sub-group from the Ministry of Finance, State Bank of Pakistan, Federal Board of Revenue and Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Tariq Bajwa presented a National Financial Inclusion Strategy to improve quality and increase access to financial services in Pakistan. He outlined targets and necessary policy actions to be taken at various levels in the coming years to achieve these targets. The discussion revolved around fast-tracking digitization of financial services to reach out larger number of consumers, small and medium business and newly emerging entrepreneurs throughout country. The minister appreciated the strategy and emphasized on diligently time-lining the goals, ta...