Business

Govt mulls slapping up to 70% Windfall Tax on banking sector’s lofty profits

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Sources says govt considering slapping fixed tax rate between 50%- 70%.
Govt determining exact levels of profits extracted through recent currency manipulation by banks.
Officials working on proposal studied Windfall Tax imposed by UK, Austria, Italy, Australia and other countries.

ISLAMABAD: The government is considering slapping a Windfall Tax on the profits of the banking sector in the range of 50% to 70% similar to the one used in the West, which imposed the same tax on energy companies, reported The News on Friday.

“Different proposals are under consideration for imposing the Windfall Tax on profits earned by the banking sector. A fixed tax rate from 50% to 70% is expected to be slapped for getting revenues out of the lofty profits earned by the banks,” officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the publication.

However, sources in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) said that the proposal is yet to be approved by the government though Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had hinted in his press briefing on Wednesday that the government would move ahead with the Windfall Tax on the banking sector.

The government is ascertaining the exact levels of windfall profits extracted by the banking sector through recent currency manipulation. The policymakers may slap a tax at a rate whereby there is no threat of choking the banking sector.

The tax officials who are working on this proposal studied the Windfall Tax imposed by the United Kingdom, Austria, Italy, Australia and other countries whereby the energy companies had earned lofty profits in the aftermath of Russia-Ukraine war, so the respective governments had imposed the Windfall Tax to generate revenue. Even the Biden administration in the USA had threatened to impose Windfall Tax.

The recent energy crisis across Europe as a result of COVID-19, poor market decisions and the Ukraine war have pushed energy prices to all-time high.

Countries across Europe were moving to build up reserves in the face of restricted gas supplies to minimise the effects of a cold winter. At the same time, some governments were even considering country-wide blackouts and energy rationing to ensure that, at the very least, there was enough gas to heat homes.

“The government expects that in case of imposition of 50% to 70% fixed tax rate on lofty bank profits, the government can fetch Rs25 to Rs35 billion revenue generation,” said one official.

On the proposed Flood Levy, the government might grant an exemption on import of basic food items and raw materials of essential or life-saving drugs.

The levy could be in the range of 1% to 3% on all other imported items. It is estimated that the government can fetch Rs60 billion in the remaining six months of the current fiscal year 2022-23.

Sources said the government will prefer the Flood Levy because it will not become a part of the Federal Divisible Pool (FDP) under the NFC Award for distribution among the provinces, so the collected money will only be used by the federal government.

On the other hand, the FBR seeks to meet the annual tax collection target of Rs7,470 billion for the current fiscal year and has so far collected Rs3,428 billion in the first six months (July-Dec) period.

Now the tax authorities will have to collect Rs4,042 billion for materialising the desired tax collection target till June 30, 2022.

Business

Petrol prices are expected to experience another increase in Pakistan.

Published

21 hours ago

Farwa

The inflation-affected nation is expected to encounter another increase in petrol prices, with recommendations indicating a rise of Rs. 2.58 per litre for petrol and Rs. 5.91 per litre for high-speed diesel.

Sources indicate that, if sanctioned, petrol prices will ascend to Rs. 250.96 per litre, whereas high-speed diesel will be priced at Rs. 261.05 per litre.

Sources indicated that the suggested increase is due to the elevated premium on petroleum products in the worldwide market and rising import expenses.

The premium on imported petroleum products has increased, leading the government to contemplate pricing modifications effective November 16, sources indicated.

On October 31, the federal government published the prices of petroleum products for the upcoming fortnight, increasing the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel.

A notification announced an increase in petrol price by Rs 1.35, raising it to Rs 248.38 a litre. The price of high-speed diesel was fixed at Rs 255.14 per litre after an increase of Rs 3.85.

Also read: Pakistan’s weekly inflation jumps to 15.02pc

Simultaneously, the costs of light diesel and kerosene oil were reduced. The statement states that kerosene oil is priced at Rs 148.5 per litre following a reduction of Rs 4.92.

The cost of light fuel was reduced by Rs 2.61 to Rs 147.51 per litre.

The rampant hike in the prices came at the time when the weekly inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), witnessed an increase of 0.28 percent for the combined consumption groups during the week ended on October 17, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

According to the PBS data, the SPI for the week under review in the above-mentioned group was recorded at 319.79 points as compared to 318.91 points during the past week.

In comparison to the same week last year, the SPI for the combined consumption group during the reviewed week experienced a 15.02 percent increase.

The weekly SPI with the base year 2015-16 =100 covers 17 urban centres and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups.

Likewise, SPI for the lowest consumption group of up to Rs 17,732 witnessed increase of 0.27 percent and went up to 313.74 points from last week’s 312.91 points.

Business

PIA Privatization Is Referred to the Cabinet Committee by the Privatization Commission Board Meeting

Published

22 hours ago

Farwa

The privatization of Pakistan International Airlines has been referred to a cabinet committee by the Privatization Commission Board.

Aleem Khan, the Federal Minister for Privatization and Communications, presided over the board meeting, which examined and accepted proposals on a number of topics, including the privatization of Pia.

The government would move forward with privatization in line with the law and in Pakistan’s best interests, Federal Minister Aleem Khan reaffirmed.

He added that the entire privatization process for the PITA and other state agencies would be expedited and simplified.

Following prequalification, the Privatization Commission is unable to remove any department or institution from Privatization, as was decided during the meeting.

Additionally, the Federal Minister directed that the pre-qualifying conditions and privatization be made more profitable.

Members of the Privatization Commission will be included in the Privatization Process through a three-member committee.

Business

Gas production from the Dera Bugti well commences at 5 MMSCFD.

Published

22 hours ago

Farwa

Dera Bugti, Balochistan is home to a freshly drilled well that the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has started producing gas from.

The natural gas output of Pakistan has been significantly boosted by this breakthrough.

A letter sent by OGDCL to the Pakistan Stock Exchange states that the well is generating five million standard cubic feet of gas each day, which is quite an astounding amount.

The Uch Gas Processing Plant has been effectively connected with the gas output, which will help distribute and streamline the increased gas supply. The Dera Bugti well is fully owned by OGDCL, the biggest exploration and production company in the country, as stated in its letter to the PSX.

In response to a decline in power demand, Pakistan opted to divert its imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to local users on November 12th.

This article also discusses Pakistan’s decision to use imported LNG for domestic use.

The Ministry of Petroleum has estimated that an amount of Rs163 billion will be necessary to fund the supply of LNG to households in the country. According to sources, the pressure on pipelines is continuously increasing due to the imported LNG.

Confirmation from reliable sources indicates that 600 MMcfd of LNG has been consumed by the power industry. Since captive power facilities are being shut down, there will be an excess of 150MMcfd of LNG, and the gas industry is also making 400 billion rupees from captive electricity.

To solve the problem of circular debt, the government intends to raise gas pricing and do away with the tariff differential between domestic gas and LNG imports.

There is a current tariff of Rs1,550 per MMcfd on domestic gas and Rs3,500 per MMcfd on imported LNG. The government hopes to earn Rs200 billion by removing this tariff difference. As a part of the larger strategy to raise government revenue, the tariff for fertiliser firms will also be hiked.