Page 130 - Pakistan

Pakistan to impose new taxes to reach out for IMF loan, avoid default

Cash-strapped and nuclear-armed Pakistan will impose new taxes of 170 billion rupees this month in a bid for a massive bailout, officials and analysts said Monday, even as they warned the new taxes could accelerate the country's spiralling inflation. The dire outlook from economists and political analysts comes after the International Monetary Fund delayed the release of a crucial USD 1.1 billion portion of a 2019 deal worth USD 6 billion, on hold since December over Pakistan's failure to meet the terms. The latest round of the talks between Pakistan and the IMF concluded Friday with the fund recommending steps including imposing new taxes. "The imposition of more taxes means tough days are ahead for the majority of the people in Pakistan who are already facing higher food and energy costs, but there is no other way out if Pakistan needs the IMF loans, and Pakistan desperately needs it," said Ehtisham-ul-Haq, a veteran economist. The stalemate in talks between IMF and Pakistan was .

Pak, US to hold defence talks in Washington to boost security ties

Pakistan and the US are set to hold defence talks in Washington on Monday to explore various options for ramping up bilateral military and security ties, the foreign office here has announced. The talks that would last from Monday to Thursday will be the second round of the Pakistan-US Mid-Level Defence Dialogue after the first round was held in Pakistan in January 2021, it said in a statement on Sunday. "Pakistan's inter-agency delegation, led by the chief of general staff, will comprise senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Joint Staff Headquarters and three services headquarters. The US multi-agency team will be represented by the office of the undersecretary of defence, it said. Ties between the two countries have improved recently and the defence talks are kind of its manifestation, it added. The Dawn newspaper reported that US State Department Counsellor Derek Chollet in an interview with the paper emphasised the need to assist Islamabad in fighting terrorist

Imran Khan blames negligence of forces for spike in terror attacks in Pak

Imran Khan has said the outlawed Pakistani Taliban was allowed to flourish because of the negligence of the country's security forces, as the former prime minister underlined the importance of working closely with Afghanistan to jointly combat terrorism in the region. Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, who was ousted from power in April 2022, made these comments in an interview with the Voice of America website on Saturday. In the interview Khan, 70, strongly defended his government's move to greenlight negotiations with the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) terrorist outfit. Well firstly, what were the choices [the] Pakistani government faced once the Taliban took over and they decided the TTP, and we're talking about 30, [30,000] to 40,000 people, you know, the families included, once they decided to send them back to Pakistan? Should we have just lined them up and shot them, or should we have tried to work with them to resettle them? We had a meeting, and the idea w

Wikipedia ban shows attempts by Pak authorities to restrict internet access

The Wikipedia ban in Pak shows the inconsistent and recurring attempts by authorities to restrict internet access, a concerning pattern that undermines the country's nascent knowledge economy

'System can't work if authority is with army chief, responsibility with PM'

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan believes that a country's system fails if its elected government doesn't have both responsibility and authority, a local media outlet reported

Pakistan must set its house in order: Global experts on its economic crisis

Pakistan is facing an unprecedented diplomatic and economic crisis and even its friends in the Islamic world now recognise that the country has to set its house in order and not support radical Islamic groups to operate from its territory, global strategic experts said. They were also largely in agreement that the Pakistani "deep state" is "shaken up" and does not know how to handle or control the frankenstein that it created in the form of terrorist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Pakistan has been reeling under a massive economic crisis with the country's rupee recording a historic low of 275 to the US dollar, inflation rising to over 27 per cent and foreign exchange reserves dropping to the lowest level since 1998 at around USD 3 billion which is not enough even to cover a month's imports. The problem has been further exacerbated by a series of terror attacks, including a major suicide bombing in the northwestern city of Peshawar on January 30 that killed more than 100 ..

Four killed, 22 injured in suicide attack in Pakistan's Waziristan: Police

At least four soldiers were killed and 22 others, including employees of a petroleum company, were injured in a suicide attack in Pakistan's restive northwestern region on Saturday, police said. The incident happened in the country's North Waziristan tribal district when the suicide bomber riding a tri-wheeler laden with bomb hit the vehicle of security forces that was escorting employees of a petroleum company. The suicide bomber riding a tri wheeler hit vehicle of the security forces on duty with MPCL Petroleum Company in Khajori Chowk in North Waziristan tribal district bordering Afghanistan. Four soldiers were killed and 22 others which included 15 employees of the company were injured, a senior police official said. The employees of Petroleum Company were on their way back to their rest place under tight security after duty hours when the bomber ambushed one of the force's vehicle escorting them. The MPCL Company is engaged in exploration of oil in the area.

Pakistan govt approves new tax on electricity to meet IMF conditions

Pakistan is moving swiftly to pacify the IMF with the approval of a new tax on electricity users, including farmers, to raise an additional Rs 170 billion in revenue to meet the conditions of the global lender, according to a statement. The International Monetary Fund delegation held 10-day marathon talks with Pakistan officials here to release the next tranche of USD 1.1 billion out of an already agreed loan but left on Thursday for Washington without signing a staff-level agreement. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who had led the Pakistan side in talks, told the media on Friday that prior actions were needed as the two sides would resume the talks in virtual mode from Monday. Hours later, the minister chaired the meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet which approved the imposition of a special financing surcharge of Rs 3.39 per unit in average power tariff in addition to quarterly tariff adjustments of up to Rs 3.21 per unit for one year and recovery of ..

Pakistan, IMF fail to reach common ground on $1.1 billion bailout loan

The $6 billion bailout package has been repeatedly stalled after former Pakistan prime pinister Imran Khan-led government reneged on subsidy agreements and failed on its tax collection commitments out

A profligate state: The financial cul-de-sac that confronts Pakistan

With a narrow industrial base and dysfunctional politics, and a counter-productive national security agenda, Pakistan could well remain an "international migraine", writes T N Ninan

Alarm bells in Pakistan as country's forex reserves drop below $3 billion

Pakistans foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank decreased by 5.5 per cent or $170 million to $2.91 billion in the week ending February 3, the State Bank of Pakistan said on Thursday

Pakistani Taliban refutes former Pak PM Imran Khan's assassination claims

The outlawed Pakistani Taliban has refuted former prime minister Imran Khan's claim that the outfit's militants from South Waziristan province were hatching a plot to assassinate him. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) asserted that it was waging a war against Pakistan's security forces and intelligence agencies and was not against any political personality. We have received information that the head of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in a meeting with the party's provincial spokespersons claimed an assassination attempt was being planned by the TTP, and South Waziristan residents have been tasked with executing the task, the Dawn newspaper reported, quoting a TTP statement on Wednesday.

Pak drone spotted near IB in Punjab, returns after BSF troops open fire

A Pakistani drone was spotted close to the International Border in Gurdaspur district of Punjab, a BSF official said on Thursday. The unmanned aerial vehicle flew back to Pakistan after the Border Security Force troops fired at it. The drone was spotted near Adia border outpost in Gurdaspur at around 9:40 pm on Wednesday, said the official. The BSF troops fired 16 rounds at the Pakistani drone and also used an illumination bomb, said the official. A search operation was underway, said the official.

Pak minister urges export-oriented policies to accelerate economic growth

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal made the remarks during a roundtable with the country's exporters to review the progress of the exports and issues being faced

Pakistan: 30 killed, 15 injured in road accident in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The rescue officials said that the rescue teams were facing difficulties in rescue operations due to darkness. Pakistan President Dr Arif Alvi has condoled over the loss of lives in a bus accident

'Harbours deep sense of insecurity', India slams Pak over Kashmir at UN

India has slammed Pakistan for raking up the Kashmir issue in the UN, saying Islamabad harbours a deep sense of insecurity and orchestrated hatred for India and its secular credentials. Responding to Pakistan's raising of the Kashmir issue during a UN General Assembly (UNGA) meeting, Counsellor in India's Permanent Mission to the UN, Rajesh Parihar, said on Monday that Islamabad repeatedly utters falsehoods about India. "I'm constrained to take the floor to respond to the frivolous remarks made by the representative of Pakistan against my country. While such a statement deserves our sympathy for a mindset, which repeatedly utters falsehood, it is important for me to set the record straight, he said in the UNGA. Parihar said irrespective of what the representative of Pakistan believes or covets, the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were, are and will always be an "integral and inalienable" part of India. We expect nothing new from this delegation that harbours a dee

Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to be buried in Karachi

Pakistan's former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf will be laid to rest on Tuesday in the Army Cantonment area here, officials said. Musharraf, the architect of the Kargil War in 1999 and Pakistan's last military ruler, died on Sunday in Dubai after a prolonged illness. The 79-year-old retired general was living in the UAE since 2016 in self-exile. He was undergoing treatment for amyloidosis in Dubai. Musharraf's mortal remains arrived here on Monday on a special flight from Dubai. His wife Saba, son Bilal, daughter and other close relatives arrived with the body on the special aircraft of Malta aviation arranged by the UAE authorities. The aircraft touched down at the old terminal area of the Jinnah International Airport amid heavy security with the former President's family and body taken to the Malir cantonment area, officials said. "Arrangements have been completed at the Malir Cantt where he will be buried at Karachi's Old Army Graveyard. The funeral prayers will tak

Pakistan lifts ban on Wikipedia after PM orders immediate restoration

Pakistan has lifted the ban on the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia after the country's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to restore it

Pak blocks Wikipedia, says it hurt Muslim sentiments, critics slam the move

Pakistan's media regulator said Monday it blocked Wikipedia services in the country for hurting Muslim sentiment by not removing purportedly blasphemous content from the site. Critics denounced Islamabad's action, saying it was a blow to digital rights. Under Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or its figures can be sentenced to death, although the country has yet to carry out capital punishment for blasphemy. But even allegations of the offense are often enough to provoke mob violence and even deadly attacks. International and domestic rights groups say that accusations of blasphemy have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal scores. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority says it blocked Wikipedia because a 48-hour deadline to remove the content was ignored, according to a spokesperson. Such things hurt the sentiments of Muslims, said Malahat Obaid, from the regulator. She said Pakistani authorities were

Musharraf's fatal dalliance

His rule contributed to Indo-Pak tensions