Business
Pakistan, IMF ‘agree’ on major budget targets for FY2026-27
Sources said the federal budget for FY2026-27 was likely to be around Rs18 trillion. Most of the financial issues have been discussed and settled but the virtual negotiations between the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are apparently ongoing on ideas to provide relief to the salaried class.
The IMF has agreed to cut the FBR’s tax collection target for the current fiscal year for the second time, sources said.
The revised objective has been decreased to Rs13.005 trillion from Rs13.979 trillion, according to reports. The government is likely to fix a total tax collection target of around Rs15.264 trillion for the next financial year.
The proposed revenue break-up is Rs7.413 trillion from direct taxes, Rs4.727 trillion from sales tax, Rs1.651 trillion from customs duties and Rs1.043 trillion through Federal Excise Duty.
IMF asks Pakistan to broaden tax net, boost revenue collection
Meanwhile, the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) is projected to continue to be a major source of government revenue. Sources said the target for PDL collections could be boosted to Rs1.727 trillion in the next fiscal year as against Rs1.468 trillion for this year.
Non-tax revenue is likely to be around Rs2,768 billion while petrol surcharge receipts are estimated at roughly Rs151 billion.
On the spending side, debt servicing will probably remain the major budgetary burden on the federal government. Total interest and debt servicing payments are anticipated to be Rs7.824 trillion. Of that, Rs6.652 trillion is for domestic debt and Rs1.107 trillion for foreign debt servicing.
Sources also say the forthcoming budget may propose new taxing measures of around Rs220 billion to help achieve budgetary targets set with the IMF.
Besides, changes in income tax brackets for salaried people are also allegedly on the cards. The government is looking at ways to provide some assistance to taxpayers in the formal sector.
The federal budget will be delivered in the next several days, providing further insight into taxation, spending objectives and economic strategy for the new financial year.
Business
The government has increased the price of gasoline by Rs13.18 per litre and diesel by Rs13.80 per litre.
Petroleum Division issued a notification saying that prices of petroleum products had been hiked by the federal government.
Under the revised rates the petrol price has been increased by Rs13.18 per litre increasing the new price to Rs310.71 per litre.
The price of high-speed diesel (HSD) has also been increased by Rs13.80 per litre to Rs323.30 per litre.
Sources said that the petroleum charge on petrol has been increased by Rs9.36 per litre to Rs80 per litre from Rs70.36 per litre.
The amended prices will be effective from midnight and will be applied for one week, the announcement said.
Business
Govt hikes kerosene price by Rs11.19/litre
Just a few days after increasing the cost of gasoline and high-speed diesel, the government has now hiked the price of kerosene by Rs11.19 per liter.
According to a notification, the price of kerosene has increased to Rs242.33 per litre, which is an increase from the previous cost of Rs231.14 per litre.
It is anticipated that the most recent rise will add to the financial pressure that currently exists for consumers who rely on kerosene for their household and other day-to-day necessities. After the official notification was issued, the revised price went into effect. This occurred after the price was published.
Business
Qatar: Iran tanker hit in waterway, crowds mourn Khamenei
Two tankers were hit in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, including an LNG carrier at risk of explosion, as huge crowds mourning Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei thronged the holy city of Qom.
Qatar blamed Iran for the attack on a huge Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker, the Al Rekayyat, which reported being struck overnight by a drone that caused a fire in its engine room.
The crew were safe and being evacuated, but maritime security sources briefed on the incident told Reuters the fire on board could put the ship at risk of blowing up.
A Saudi-flagged crude oil tanker, believed to be the supertanker Wedyan, was also damaged off Oman’s coast, maritime security sources said. The cause was not immediately clear.
“Mayday mayday mayday. This is vessel Al Rekayyat, LNG vessel Al Rekayyat. We are being hit by drone on port side, top of engine room,” the Qatari tanker’s captain said in a recorded radio call reviewed by Reuters. “Status: engine room fire and full of smoke. Unable to assess further damage.”
Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari called the incident an unacceptable attack on the security of international navigation and global energy supplies, and a clear violation of international law.
He called on Iran to immediately halt actions threatening regional security and maritime navigation, and said Tehran bore full legal responsibility for the attack and any resulting damage or consequences.
There was no immediate comment from Tehran, or any claim of responsibility. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said initial indications were that Iran had fired at two commercial vessels.
The incidents were the first reported attacks in the strait since mourning for Khamenei began last week, proof of the ongoing insecurity for Gulf shipping more than four months after the United States and Israel launched a war they said would stop Iran threatening its neighbours.
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS TAKE TO STREETS IN QOM
Iran’s clerical rulers have exerted newfound control over the world’s most important energy shipping route, where they aim to install a permanent system to collect fees in what would amount to a huge shift of the balance of power in a region where Washington has long acted as guarantor of security.
At home, the leadership has used the mourning period to demonstrate its control after Khamenei was killed alongside his daughter, granddaughter, son-in-law and daughter-in-law on the first day of the war.
The caskets of the slain leader and family were driven through the streets of the seminary city of Qom on Tuesday, where many hundreds of thousands of people carried flags and banners comparing Khamenei to martyrs whose deaths are foundational to the Shi’ite sect.
In chants they vowed to avenge Khamenei. Some bore placards and banners reading “KILL TRUMP”.
A similar huge funeral procession was held in the streets of Tehran on Monday, following more solemn prayer events that began last Friday, attracting top figures in Iran’s leadership and dignitaries from abroad. Authorities say the leader’s body will be taken to Shi’ite holy cities in neighbouring Iraq, then brought back to Iran and laid to rest in a mediaeval shrine.
TRUMP: ‘MAKE A DEAL OR WE’RE GOING TO FINISH THE JOB’
The war has been paused under an interim peace deal reached last month, intended to provide a 60-day period for negotiations on a permanent deal. A round of indirect talks in Qatar concluded last week with no sign of headway towards a lasting peace.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to resume bombing, most recently on Monday when he told reporters in the Oval Office: “We’re either going to make a deal or we’re going to finish the job…. We can knock down their bridges in one hour, we can knock out their energy supply.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that under the terms of the interim ceasefire memorandum, negotiations on the final deal would “not commence if threats continue”.
“Honor your signature,” he wrote on X.
Oil prices , which have returned to around the pre-war level since last month’s interim deal let ships resume sailing through the strait, ticked up around 1% on Tuesday following the incidents in the waterway.
In launching the war four months ago, Trump said his aims were to destroy Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes, end its ability to threaten its neighbours and create conditions for Iranians to topple their leaders.
None of those objectives has been met, although Washington says a permanent deal will halt what it says is an Iranian programme that could make a nuclear weapon, which Iran says it never sought.
Despite five days of mourning, there has still been no sign in public of Khamenei’s son and successor Mojtaba, believed to have been disfigured by wounds in the same attack and yet to be shown in any image since the war began. Three other sons of the slain leader prayed at the casket on Sunday.
Iran’s leaders have portrayed the mass funeral gatherings as proof of national unity following the U.S.-Israeli attacks, although it is difficult to assess how deep that loyalty runs in a country where media and communications are tightly controlled.
Just weeks before the war started, Iran’s authorities killed thousands of demonstrators to put down some of the biggest anti-government protests in the country’s history, but there has been no sign of organised opposition in Iran since the war began.
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