Asia

London, UK:The remarks made by Thomas Mayne, visiting fellow at Chatham House, an independent think tank that focuses on International affairs. Mayne is part of a recent Chatham House report on, ‘The UK’s Kleptocracy problem,’ which leads to the same broad conclusion. The Open Forum webinar was moderated by Joy Macknight, Editor of The Banker, part of the Financial Times Group, UK. London is at the centre of dirty money is quite widely accepted, but the crisis in Ukraine has once again put the issue in the spotlight, he said. Transparency International UK recently reported that such “questionable funds” could be to the value of GBP 6.7 billion. Properties in the central London areas like the City of Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea form a huge part of this value. Reveali...

Beijing, China:James Crickton, writing in think-tank Policy Research Group POREG said that China and Russia are close defense partners. It is more of a one-way relationship that is advantageous to Beijing than Moscow. Russia wants to sell its military training concepts and technology. China wants to accelerate the process of modernising its military. Western defense organisations are already figuring out the possible scenarios that the conflict situation could lead to. The Diplomat defines the West’s dilemma succinctly: “How bilateral military relations develop in the months and years ahead will have a direct effect on the two countries’ ability to modernize their forces, credibly deter adversaries, and protect national interests.” The Americans, however, think that the co...

KARACHI: A large part of net borrowing from commercial banks results in increasing domestic debt, especially when the government does not borrow from the central bank under the International Monetary Fund programme. The domestic debt stood at Rs27.4 trillion by the end of January. It stood at Rs26.2 trillion as of June last year. External debt was Rs14.9 trillion in January, and it amounted to Rs12.4 trillion in June. Rise in net borrowing to meet expenditures and the accumulation of the foreign currency reserves increased the funding needs of the government. The government’s borrowing requirements remained on the upward trend due to the spending related to the coronavirus pandemic. Lower growth in non-tax revenue also contributes to the rise in the government’s borrowing needs. ...

 “There is nothing else to cultivate. We were growing wheat before. This year—we want to cultivate poppy. Previously they were asking for bribes every day but we don’t have that problem this year,” a farmer said.   The south of Afghanistan, which is considered a fertile area to grow wheat and other products, is seeing a surge in poppy cultivation. The two provinces of Kandahar and Helmand have been recognized as one of the top poppy producers.   Mohammad Kareem is a farmer who has been growing poppy for the past 15 years. Kareem is expecting his harvest to be ready within the next month.   “If we don’t cultivate poppy, we don’t get a good return, the wheat doesn’t provide a good income,” he said.  “There are no restrictions this year. If the Taliba...

Islamabad: Account-holders include several key politicians and generals, including the ex-ISI chief, General Akhtar Abdur Rahman Khan, according to data leaked from Credit Suisse, an investment banking firm registered in Switzerland. A report published in The New York Times said Khan helped funnel billions of dollars in cash and other aid from the United States and other countries to the mujahedeen in Afghanistan to support their fight against the Soviet Union. The Saudi Arabian and US funding for mujahideen fighters battling Russia's presence in Afghanistan went to the American Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Swiss bank account, the Dawn newspaper reported, citing an Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) report. "The end recipient in the process was Pakist...

Chinese banks are an integral part of Beijing’s strategy for global outreachthrough Belt and Road initiative and other investments across the globe forbuilding infrastructure. China had four banks among the top 10 banks(asset wise) in 2020, namely the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China(ICBC), China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) andBank of China. Apart from these, some other Chinese banks also figured inthe top 50 banks of the world, namely the Postal Savings Bank of China,China Merchant Bank, China Minsheng Bank, Shanghai PudongDevelopment Bank, China CTIC Bank and China Everbright Bank.Notwithstanding dominance of Chinese banks in the global banking listing,they are failing to comply with the regulations of host countries as well asthe Financial Action Task For...

ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned Pakistan that its economy remains vulnerable owing to an elevated risk of delayed implementation of structural reforms and widening imbalances on external accounts. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stressed the need to maintain momentum on the reform of Personal Income Tax (PIT). The IMF has clearly demanded jacking up slabs and rates of PIT, which was resisted by the finance minister on the eve of the last budget 2021-22 but it seems that the Fund wanted implementation on it in the next budget for 2022-23 before the end of the Fund-sponsored Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme in coming September 2022. Only two reviews are pending; the seventh review under the EFF is expected to be done in April 2022 while the eighth ...

Kabul: Afghanistan’ previous government Army soldier committed suicide because of unemployment and poverty. The former soldier has left seven children behind.   His children told that they have lost their sole breadwinner and now they face an uncertain future and a bad economic situation. Gul was a member of the army of the previous government. “It was around twelve o’clock, my father was in bed. He told me to go outside, I went and then I heard an explosion. When I came in I heard everyone crying and I saw my father lying on the bed,” Nasib Noor, Hayat Gul’s nine-year-old son. Suraya, the daughter of Hayat Gul, says that she will not be able to continue her education after losing her father. “When our father was alive, he would bring us books, notebooks and everything...

Islamabad, Pakistan: Pakistan is facing inflation, under which the prises of petroleum products will increase by Pakistani Rs 6.30 per litre.The prices of petrol (motor gasoline) and high-speed diesel (HSD) had been worked out to go up by about Pakistani Rs 5.30 and Pakistani Rs 5.80 per litre, respectively, based on the existing tax rates, import parity price and exchange rate, Dawn reported citing sources. Likewise, the prices of kerosene and light diesel oil (LDO) are also estimated to go up by Pakistani Rs 5.80 and Pakistani Rs 6.30 per litre, respectively. According to Dawn, an official said the Imran Khan-led government could slightly reduce sales tax on petroleum products if it decides to minimise inflationary pressures on the public, but it would largely depend on its en...

KHYBER: Talking to reporters during a visit to Torkham, Mr Ahmad said Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan had declined by more than 25 per cent during the last six months due to a ‘fragile economic situation’ in Afghanistan due to the international sanctions imposed after the Taliban’s Kabul takeover. He said that the weak Afghan economy had decreased the residents’ purchasing buying power, which badly hit trade between the two neighbouring countries. The official said that the State Bank of Pakistan had introduced a new policy of exports to Afghanistan on Dec 13 requiring Afghan traders to show US dollars along with their passports at the time of entry to Pakistan to acquire Form-E for buying and importing Pakistani goods to Afghanistan. Customs official blames it on poor Afgh...