“No such circular has been issued by the FBR,” the board’s spokesperson said on X.

A notification circulating on social media on Wednesday claimed that the deadline had been extended until Oct 15, as it had been last year.

It stated that the extension was decided on “in view of the requests from various trade bodies, taxpayers and tax bar associations”.

However, the FBR clarified that the deadline for income tax return submission for the tax year 2026 (TY26) remains Sept 30.

Trade bodies and professionals have sought an extension of the deadline, citing delays in the issuance of return forms and heavy online traffic as major hurdles in timely filing.

Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Atif Ikram Sheikh had also formally urged the government to extend the deadline for filing income tax returns to Oct 31 to facilitate trade, industry, and other tax filers.

The Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) had submitted a five-page letter to the Member Inland Revenue (operations), highlighting several issues, including delays in the issuance of draft notifications and persistent technical glitches in the IRIS portal, which hinder the smooth filing of tax returns.

In the previous cycle, the FBR reported an overwhelming response, with overall tax return filings rising from 3.553 million in TY25 to 5.181m in TY26 until Sept 29 — an increase of 45.8 per cent.

The statutory deadline for filing tax returns is Sept 30 each year. However, historically, the date has been extended two to three times, often until the end of October.

In recent years, extensions were granted with only minor penalties, but the latest budget has substantially increased these charges, making compliance costlier for late filers.

Under the Finance Act 2026-27, the penalty for returning to the active taxpayers list (ATL) has been raised fivefold for companies to Rs100,000 from Rs20,000. It was also increased from Rs10,000 to Rs50,000 for associations of persons, and from Rs1,000 to Rs25,000 for individuals.

Last year, the FBR extended the deadline twice from Sept 30 to Oct 15 and subsequently to Oct 31 despite earlier saying it would not do so. These extensions were granted in response to requests made by various trade bodies, tax bar associations, and the general public.

The meeting, chaired by Aleem, reviewed the NHA’s ongoing and proposed projects, revenue enhancement, road safety and developmental programmes.

The minister directed NHA officials to ensure road safety through improved engineering in the construction of new highways. He stressed that the protection of human lives must remain the top priority.

He expressed reservations about the design of the M-4 and other highways, saying that Pakistan’s roads should be green, safe, comfortable, and designed according to modern international standards.

To this end, he directed the NHA to engage foreign experts for improved road engineering and better highway design, noting that the authority’s engineering staff should adopt international best practices to develop motorways that were safer and more comfortable for motorists.

During the high-level meeting, Aleem said that the NHA had successfully achieved the revenue enhancement target set two years ago. He affirmed that going forward, the NHA would undertake the construction of new roads from the revenue generated from existing revenue streams.

Aleem also informed the meeting that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would inaugurate major road projects in the coming months, including the Lodhran–Multan Expressway, the Peshawar Northern Bypass and the expansion of the Pindi Bhattian–Faisalabad Motorway.

He said that work on the Sialkot–Kharian Motorway was progressing rapidly, while construction work had begun on the Karachi–Quetta–Chaman Pakistan Expressway (N-25).

Expressing concern over the poor condition of the Lahore–Gujranwala GT Road, he directed the NHA authorities to take immediate measures to improve the condition of the road and provide relief to travellers.

The federal minister was also briefed on the availability of funds for the M-6 Motorway, ongoing projects under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) and NHA projects underway across all four provinces.

The meeting was informed that the NHA manages only 3.13 per cent of the country’s road network, yet more than 80pc of the country’s traffic moves on this network. It was also told that the authority would soon give PM Shehbaz a detailed presentation on its performance over the past two and a half years.

The federal secretary for communications, Ali Sher Mahsud, and NHA Chairman Sheheryar Sultan both briefed the meeting on the progress of ongoing and proposed projects.

It was decided during the meeting to contact the federal government to provide Rs108 billion in funding for NHA projects in Balochistan.

In February this year, the NHA was reported as the “largest loss-maker” for the government, operating on a “structural deficit model and reliant on budgetary support”, according to the Annual Aggregate Report on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) by the Central Monitoring Unit (CMU) of the Ministry of Finance for the year ended June 30, 2025, with accumulated losses of Rs2.074 trillion.

The announcement of a strategic action plan for development of the Local Currency Bond Market (LCBM) followed a customary kick-off meeting between Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and an IMF staff mission led by Iva Petrova.

The mission held discussions with the authorities on power-sector developments, privatisation, petr­o­leum-sector issues, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the automobile sector, particularly the medium-term automobile development plan.

The finance minister is reported to have briefed the mission on the latest macroeconomic indicators, improvements in credit ratings and the overall investment climate amid a challenging outlook stemming from the prolonged Iran conflict, including its impact on revenues.

On successful conclusion of the talks, Pakistan would be entitled to disbursement of about $1.2bn under the two programmes — $1bn under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and $200m under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) — by the end of October or early November. However, the country may require waivers from the IMF executive board for slippages on structural benchmarks.

The finance ministry said announcement of the strategic plan for the LCBM by Sept 30 was req­uired under the IMF programme.

The plan sets out reforms the government, regulators and market institutions will undertake to build a deeper, more liquid and resilient market for government and, over time, corporate securities denominated in Pakistani rupees. It is based on a joint IMF-World Bank diagnostic study of Pakistan’s LCBM.

Commercial banks currently hold 78 per cent of government securities, while sovereign paper accounts for about 62pc of banking-system assets. This concentration supports government securities auctions but favours holding securities over trading them, while limiting banks’ capacity and incentives to finance the private sector.

The joint study noted that Pakistan had built much of the institutional framework of an emerging LCBM, but market outcomes remained closer to those of a developing market.

Development was uneven across six pillars, with money market and financial infrastructure foundations comparatively advanced, while primary-market predictability, secondary-market liquidity and the legal and regulatory framework remained below the practices of larger emerging markets. The narrow investor base was identified as the biggest gap.

Therefore, the plan seeks to develop a liquid, transparent and diversified LCBM to reduce the cost and risk of government financing over the medium term, support effective monetary-policy transmission and provide a reliable benchmark yield curve for private-sector financing.

It pursues five strategic objectives, including strengthening institutional capacity and coordination, ensuring clear ownership and accountability, and making primary issuance more predictable and market-based through a published benchmark policy and a well-informed medium-term debt strategy. It also seeks to build executable secondary-market liquidity and a functioning private securities-finan­cing (or repo) market, broaden the investor base across institutional, retail and foreign investors, modernise market infrastructure and remove legal and tax impediments to trading and secured funding.

Under the plan, eligible bank customers would be allowed to trade exchange-listed government securities through their banks under the supervision of State Bank, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Pakistan Stock Exchange and Central Depository Company.

The Ministry of Finance and SBP would also review the primary dealer framework for the fiscal year 2027-28 so that secondary-market performance, including quote performance drawn from E-Bond, is taken into account.

The plan envisages a securities-lending facility for primary dealers, covering its operating model, eligible securities, risk controls and fiscal implications.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2026

“Total public debt was recorded at Rs86.7tr at the end of June 2026 from Rs49.3tr at the end of June 2022, a 76pc increase over four years,” the Ministry of Finance said in its Annual Borrowing Plan 2027. It said the total public debt comprised Rs59.4tr in domestic debt and Rs27.3tr equivalent in external debt.

The net additional debt this year would comprise Rs6.046tr of domestic borrowing and Rs813bn in external borrowing. The total federal fiscal deficit is projected at Rs7.020tr, and after adding domestic and external maturities, total GFNs are projected at Rs28.647tr, approximately 20pc of GDP for FY27, it added.

The ministry said it will reduce reliance on short-term treasury bills on a net issuance basis, replacing T-bill maturities with medium- to longer-term tenor instruments, with higher net issuances of Rs4.58tr of Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs), with fixed-rate PIBs targeted to exceed 50pc of new issuances. Importantly, floating-rate exposure would be limited to the 10-year sukuk on a variable rate of return only.

Govt plans additional borrowing of Rs6.86tr in FY27

The government also planned Ijara sukuk/Bai Muajjal to the extent of Rs3.785tr, supported by the new hybrid sukuk and short-term sukuk (3-6 months) structures. Gross annual sukuk issuances are targeted at about Rs6.6tr.

To attract institutional investors, the government will continue to use 2- and 15-year zero-coupon bonds and, where required, introduce new long-dated instruments after consulting all stakeholders.

In addition, liability management operations (buybacks/exchanges) will continue, subject to available fiscal space and suitable market conditions. Moreover, National Savings Schemes (NSS) restructuring is underway to improve products, introduce market-driven pricing and digitalisation, and deepen retail investor participation.

“Net external financing is projected at Rs813bn, equivalent to $2.804bn,” it said, adding that the external financing plan will focus on $1.58bn net inflows from multilateral lenders as the primary external source.

In addition, the government plans higher international capital market issuances in FY27, aiming for over $2bn in Eurobonds or International sukuk, subject to market conditions. These issuances will also enable the government to replace short-term debt with longer-dated, market-based financing. The government has already raised $3bn in Eurobonds last month.

Foreign commercial bank financing would also be refinanced alongside new facilities to help meet external funding requirements, subject to suitable market conditions. In addition, non-resident investment via Naya Pakistan Certificates and government securities would be facilitated with a Rs1.122tr target.

To support market access, the government would maintain active engagement with sovereign credit rating agencies. Overall, for domestic debt, primary emphasis will be on increasing the share of fixed-rate instruments and diversifying the debt portfolio by developing Shariah-compliant sukuk markets, retail instruments and long-term bonds for institutional investors.

In external financing, priority will be given to increased international capital market issuances subject to a suitable international macro-environment.

It said the demand from long-term institutional investors was expected to support the new issuance of zero-coupon bonds. The zero-coupon bonds have attracted strong interest from both commercial banks and non-bank institutional investors, and the plan is to continue using these instruments to optimise the overall debt profile, it said, adding that the government would remain committed to prudent debt management through continued buyback and debt switch operations.

The ministry noted that over the past ten fiscal years (FY17 to FY26), an average of 81pc of the fiscal deficit was financed through domestic sources, while external financing accounted for the remaining 19pc. FY26 saw 25pc of the federal deficit financed through external sources, a level last reached in FY20.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2026

The government on Tuesday reduced the price of petrol by Rs1.49 per litre and that of high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs2.73 per litre.

Following the revision, petrol will retail at Rs387.54 per litre, while HSD will cost Rs402.24 per litre. The government continues to levy Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on diesel.

According to the Petroleum Division’s notification, the new prices are applicable for Sept 30 (Wednesday).

The price of HSD has come down from a peak of Rs520.35 recorded on April 3. Its price had started rising from Rs281 per litre after the US-Iran war broke out on February 28.

The petrol price had peaked at Rs458.41 on April 3 after beginning its upward trajectory from Rs266 in the first week of March.

Meanwhile, the government has reintroduced a raft of austerity measures in response to rising fuel prices amid the ongoing Middle East conflict. Under these measures, markets are required to close by 9pm and fuel allocations for official vehicles has been cut by 50 per cent for three months.

On September 13, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also announced a “relief scheme” for users of motorcycles, autos and vehicles of up to 800cc to “alleviate the burden” of rising global oil prices.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Sept 29 appreciated the success of the scheme, saying that it reflected a “whole of government” approach.

Chairing a meeting of the National Steering Committee on Fuel Subsidy to review the implementation of the scheme, the deputy premier noted that the information, IT and petroleum ministries, as well as the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and all provinces, had made “concerted” efforts for the scheme.

It was noted that to date, around 7.60 million registrations have been successfully made, and the token redemption process has entered the second week. Moreover, 7.71m tokens have been redeemed.

Previously, on July 17, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik announced that fuel prices would now be fixed on a daily basis due to fluctuations in international market prices following renewed hostilities between Iran and the US.

Prior to this, the government had been announcing weekly revisions to fuel prices since early March, alongside measures for the conservation of fuel amid possible oil supply disruptions due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The federal government in April also announced targeted relief measures to provide subsidised fuel.

The petroleum minister stated that the cabinet and the prime minister had decided to give the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) the responsibility of deciding fuel prices on a daily basis based on international market trends.

Petrol is mainly used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers, and changes in its price affect the middle and lower-middle classes.

Similarly, changes in diesel prices also impact the public at large, as it is mainly used in the heavy transport sector, power plants and large generators.

Petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) are the major revenue earners, with monthly sales of about 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes, compared to just 10,000 tonnes of monthly demand for kerosene.

At a public hearing conducted by Nepra members Maqsood Anwar Khan, Amina Ahmed and Ghulamullah Shaikh, the chief executive officer of Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) Rehan Akhtar said the major reason for Rs1.73 per unit additional fuel cost in August was the expensive RLNG and coal imports and lower-than-estimated availability of cheaper hydropower and nuclear facilities.

He said hydropower was originally targeted at about 41pc of total power generation, but it was slightly below at 38pc, while the nuclear power share was estimated at 16.4pc, which turned out to be 10pc due to Karachi nuclear’s outage. As a result, the share of imported coal-based generation increased to 15.6pc instead of the originally planned 7.4pc.

Hydropower has no fuel cost, whereas average nuclear fuel cost rose to Rs3.15 per unit due to lower utilisation, up from Rs2.5 per unit. By contrast, imported coal-based generation cost Rs17 per unit. Local coal-based generation cost was reported at Rs5.5 per unit.

Nepra calls hearing on Oct 5 to review industrial incremental tariff package

He reported that the government had actually provided a negative adjustment of over Rs10bn due to a special reduced rate of Rs2000 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) of RLNG in July and August, instead of Rs6000 per mmBtu or so. Otherwise, the additional fuel cost would have been around Rs35bn, with a per-unit additional cost estimated at about Rs2.53. Yet the RLNG-based generation cost was reported at Rs45.93 per unit, even higher than Rs45.25 per unit for furnace oil-based power generation, which also includes Rs73,000 per tonne of petroleum levy.

Power Division’s Naveed Qaiser reported that additional fuel costs would have been higher but were contained through about one and a half hours of average daily load management during August.

The industrial representatives, mostly from Karachi, reiterated their consistent stance that the industrial support package on incremental consumption was flawed because it did not benefit most industries and unnecessarily burdened all consumers.

They also demanded that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should be persuaded to suspend or reduce the petroleum levy on furnace oil as a special case in view of the war in the region and its cost impacts on imported fuels.

Rehan Akhtar said there were certain limitations to policy changes with the IMF but said the government was already taking up the matter at the appropriate forum.

Nepra member Amina Ahmed announced that a public hearing had been called on Oct 5 to review the incremental consumption package.

The incremental package, envisaging Rs22.96 per unit at a special rate for select industries, was promised to be reviewed after six months of its introduction in December 2025 but remained unchanged for the 9th month.

They said Nepra had directed the Power Division to conduct an incremental tariff review within six months after consulting the industry, but the stakeholders had not been consulted so far.

They said power costs for industry had gone up by 10pc due to tariff rebasing, while industrial production had already been sold out, leaving no way to recover the additional fiscal impact.

Once approved, power companies would charge an additional Rs25bn to consumers across all power companies, including ex-Wapda Distribution Companies (Discos) and K-Electric.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2026

The statutory deadline for filing tax returns is Sept 30 each year. However, historically, the date has been extended two to three times, often until the end of October. In recent years, extensions were granted with only minor penalties, but the last budget has substantially increased these charges, making compliance costlier for late filers.

The demands for extension in the deadline have been raised by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), as well as professionals.

5.18m returns filed by Sept 29, up 45.8pc from tax year 2025

Meanwhile, the Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) has submitted a five-page letter to the Member Inland Revenue (operations), highlighting several issues, including delays in the issuance of draft notifications and persistent technical glitches in the IRIS portal, which hinder the smooth filing of tax returns.

Return filing details

The FBR figures reveal that overall tax return filings rose from 3.553 million in tax year 2025 to 5.181m in TY26 until Sept 29, an increase of 45.8 per cent.

Non-salaried individuals’ return filings surged from 2.160m in TY25 to 3.389m in TY26, an increase of 56.9pc. Salaried individuals’ returns climbed from 1.350m in TY25 to 1.740m in TY26, a growth of 28.9pc.

The breakdown showed that association of persons (AOP) filers grew from 33,186 in TY25 to 44,924 in TY26, an increase of 35.3pc. Contrary to this, company returns declined from 9,523 to 6,428, a fall of 32.5pc.

The compliance data show that returns increased substantially compared to the previous year, with the strongest growth recorded among non-salaried individuals, while company filings saw a notable contraction. The last date for company returns is December 31.

Penalties for late filing

In Finance Act 2026-27, the government has substantially increased penalties for late filing of income tax returns, restoration to the active taxpayers list and deficiencies in document accessibility and formatting.

Under the Act, the penalty for returning to the active taxpayers list (ATL) has been raised fivefold for companies to Rs100,000 from Rs20,000, while it was increased to Rs50,000 for associations of persons from Rs10,000 and Rs25,000 for individuals from Rs1,000.

The new penalty rates will apply from the current fiscal year, effective from July 1.

The KTBA has urgently requested remedial measures for the IRIS Income Tax Return Form for TY26. The letter stresses that taxpayers were given inadequate time to file returns, as the final form was notified only on Sept 2, leaving barely a month before the statutory deadline. Persistent downtime and instability of the IRIS portal have further obstructed timely filing.

It further highlighted disproportionate disclosure requirements, including detailed information on vehicles, immovable properties, bank accounts, shareholders and partners, which impose heavy compliance burdens, especially on large taxpayers.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2026

Topline Securities Ltd said the index closed at 169,600.41 points, down 825.22 points or 0.48 per cent, after trading between an intraday high of 170,944.35 and a low of 169,538.23. The market remained stable around 170,400-170,600 during the early session; however, late-session selling intensified after 2:00pm, pushing the index below 170,000.

Market sentiment rem­ained cautious and risk-off amid persistent geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East. Rising crude oil prices, with Brent around $107 per barrel, further pressured sentiment amid concerns over Pakistan’s import bill, inflation, and the external account.

Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd (AHL), said the PSX breached a key psychological level at 170,000 after a seven-session gap.

Market sentiment rem­ained weak against the backdrop of rising international oil prices, driven by ongoing US-Iran tensions and supply disruption risks in the Strait of Hormuz, which directly affected Pakistan through higher energy import costs and external economic pressure.

Moreover, finance ministry officials are proceeding with key review discussions with the Inter­national Monetary Fund under its $7 billion Exten­ded Fund Facility and $1.4bn Resilience and Sustainability Facility to stabilise the domestic economy.

On the corporate front, Air Link Communication Ltd reported an FY26 net profit of Rs6,226 million, up 31pc year-on-year, propelled by strong gross margins and tax reversals. The 4QFY26 profit rose 36pc YoY to Rs2,579m (earnings per share of Rs6.53). Despite skipping its 4QFY26 payout, the company brought total FY26 dividends to Rs2 per share, representing a 12.7pc payout ratio.

United Bank, Fauji Fer­tiliser, Pakistan Petrol­eum, Habib Bank, Mari Energies, Engro Holdings, Pakistan State Oil, Systems Ltd, Pakistan Services Ltd, and Bank Alfalah collectively eroded 556 points from the benchmark.

Investor participation improved as trading volume surged 34.92pc to 568 million shares and turnover rose 19.34pc to Rs20.7 billion. Cnergyico PK led the volume chart with 56.5m shares.

Analysts believe elevated energy prices, external sector risks and the ongoing IMF review will remain key drivers of market direction.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2026

A senior executive of HACL told Dawn on Tuesday that it faced no issues procuring parts and accessories from Japan or other countries. “Actually, the vehicle has completed its lifecycle, and that’s why its production has been halted,” he added.

He said he cannot say whether the company intends to bring any replacement for the BR-V in the near future, as production volumes remained low at around 25-50 units per month.

The company has also removed the BR-V from its official website, while all other cars are well displayed.

Data from the Pakistan Automotive Manu­factu­rers Assoc­iation (PAMA) show combined production and sales figures for the Honda BR-V and HR-V.

Total production and sales of the BR-V and HR-V plunged to 120 and 191 units in July-August, down from 1,460 and 731 units in the same period in 2025.

As per PAMA data, Honda BR-V assembly began in April 2017 with 648 units, while 527 units were sold in the same month. From FY22, PAMA started issuing combined production and sales data for the Honda BR-V and HR-V.

From the PAMA data, it seems both the BR-V and the HR-V have struggled to attract buyers since the entry of Chinese and Korean models, especially hybrid, range-extended electric vehicles, and pure battery vehicles.

One Honda dealer said the BR-V has already been missing from Honda showrooms, and buyers have shown little interest in booking the vehicle or in on-the-spot sales.

Honda vendors also confirmed the BR-V’s production closure, as the vehicle is not selling well and the company has to stop production.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2026

The proposals are part of draft amendments to the Non-Banking Finance Companies and Notified Entities Regulations 2008, issued for public consultation.

In order to enable non-banking finance companies to better respond to the growing financing needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), SECP is also proposing to revise the annual turnover ranges used to classify SMEs. The proposed range for small enterprises is Rs30m to Rs400m, compared with the current limit of up to Rs150m, while for medium enterprises, the proposed range is Rs400m to Rs2bn, compared with the current range of Rs150m to Rs800m.

SECP said the changes would help non-banking finance companies serve more borrowers and respond to the financing needs of businesses, households and individuals.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2026

FPCCI patron in chief S.M. Tanvir (of the United Business Group) and President Atif Ikram were speaking at two receptions hosted on Monday and Tuesday by Iqbal Baig (a former patron and senior vice president of the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and Saleem Memon (the outgoing president of the Hyderabad Chamber of Small Traders and Small Industry) in their honour.

Mr Tanvir urged the government to address issues of multiple taxes, institutional oversight and fuel crisis. He said that independent power producers (IPPs) had undermined Pakistan’s future. He said soon after winning FPCCI elections, his group analysed economic issues of the country and found out that electricity was costing the business community 17 cents when compared with seven cents in other countries of the region. “With this huge difference, we can’t be competitive in the market,” he said.

Similarly, he said, the policy rate stood at 22pc while taxation issues were known to everyone. He said that the FPCCI took up this issue forcefully to challenge the “mafia” with the result that electricity cost was reduced from 17 cents to 12 cents now. “But this five-cent reduction, can’t help industry; energy cost has to be brought down to seven cents,” he stressed.

Wants power tariffs brought down drastically to ensure economic growth

Mr Tanvir also expressed his concern over the ongoing wars. As long as these wars remained unending, inflation could not be controlled, he said.

“We have been telling government that it is our ‘partner’ because it takes away a major chunk of our economic returns. Has anyone seen that one partner subdues, intimidates and subjects the other partner to excesses? It never happens in the world, but we are surviving in this culture. Already, factories are not performing amidst expensive energy generation and multiple taxation, the FBR’s coercive measures are a source of major concern for us,” he noted.

He regretted that the FBR was intruding into factories and humiliating people; all this could not be overlooked. “We never question administrative actions against defaulting entities because we believe that a businessman is under obligation to pay taxes as it is essential for running the economy,” he said.

Mr Tanvir called for establishing more special economic zones on the pattern of those established in Dhabeji and Khairpur.

Atif Ikram Shaikh assured the business community of FPCCI’s full cooperation as far as the solution of their problems was concerned. He said he would consult the Federal Railways Minister to start cargo service in Hyderabad. It would benefit the business community of the city, he said. Masood Pervez, Patron of the Hyderabad Chamber of Small Traders and Small Industry, hailed FPCCI initiatives.

Its outgoing president Saleem Umer Memon said that businessmen were contributing heavily to the national economy. He said that FBR needed to simplify their taxation system for small traders and businessmen. He said that Hyderabad city deserved better infrastructure and industrial facilities.

President-elect of the small traders’ chamber Nadeem Siddiqui said that Hyderabad SITE was contributing Rs120 to Rs200 billion through industrial production. It could generate more revenues but the SITE area had been hit by poor infrastructure, he said, and stressed that it should be upgraded.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2026

ValidAP was developed and hosted by Hong Kong Customs. The integration has been operationalised through Pakistan Single Window (PSW), pursuant to the memorandum of understanding signed between Pak­istan Customs and the Customs and Excise Dep­artment of Hong Kong on May 18.

An official announcement said ValidAP provides a secure and efficient mechanism for participating customs and regulatory authorities to verify the authenticity and integrity of electronic trade documents issued through PSW, including Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) certificates and export permits, without requ­iring transmission of the underlying documents or their data.

The platform uses cryptographic hash-based verification to detect any alteration to a document registered on the platform, strengthening safeguards against tampering and forgery.

The integration will also reduce reliance on paper-based and manual verification processes, enable faster validation of trade documents, and support more efficient consignment clearance. By enabling trusted digital verification at source, the initiative is expected to reduce clearance and cargo dwell times, with no additional cost to traders.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2026

The resumption of Yanbu loadings, halted earlier this month after a drone attack on the pipeline, weighed on global oil prices on Monday as it added to signs of increased flows from the Middle East, from which the US war with Iran has throttled oil shipments.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco notified customers on Monday evening of its October loading schedule from Yanbu, an Asian refining source said. The refiner loaded a cargo from Yanbu late last week.

Drone attacks, which Saudi Arabia blamed on the Houthis, forced the kingdom to shut the pipeline on September 11, halting crude exports from Yanbu. Pipeline operations resumed last Tuesday.

Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Oil products are also being loaded, tracker says

European Space Agency satellite pictures also pointed to a resumption of loading.

“ESA satellite imagery captured over the Red Sea on September 27 shows Saudi Arabia loading nearly 10 million barrels of crude oil at Yanbu and Al Muajjiz,” vessel-tracking firm TankerTrackers.com wrote in a post on X on Tuesday.

Al Muajjiz is a terminal south of Yanbu.

“We also observed refined-product loadings. In total, we visually identified 40 tankers, regardless of their activity or proximity to these terminals.”

Two trade sources separately estimated crude loadings from Yanbu at about two million barrels per day since last week.

Oil throughput on the pipeline is about 2m barrels per day, according to an industry source, and around 2.65m bpd according to ship-tracking firm Kpler. This is far short of the pipeline’s 7m bpd capacity.

Throughput will climb to between 3m and 4m bpd in the coming days, Kpler said. A full return to the pre-attack rate of roughly 5.5m bpd could still take another month, it said in a note on Monday.

Crude inventories at the Yanbu terminal rose by roughly 1m barrels on Sept 22, the first build since the attack, according to Kpler.

The restart of crude loading at Yanbu added to signs of rising Middle East oil shipments following a recovery in exports via the Strait of Hormuz.

Crude oil loadings at Egypt’s Sidi Kerir resumed on Sept 22 after a 10-day hiatus, but tankers remain queued offshore as restrictions continue to limit access for much of the commercial fleet, Kpler said in the note.

During a busy day in the UK capital, the premier held a series of meetings with top officials of Barclays, JP Morgan, Citi, BlackRock and Rothschild & Co.

Earlier in the day, he also became the first Pakistani prime minister to open trading at the London Stock Exchange, according to his office.

In a statement, the PM’s Office (PMO) said the premier’s engagements with the global firms “underscored growing international financial sector interest in Pakistan’s economic reform trajectory and improving investment climate”.

In his meeting with a high-level JP Morgan delegation led by its co-CEO for Europe, Middle East and Africa Matthieu Wiltz, PM Shehbaz invited the firm to expand its footprint in Pakistan.

He discussed deepening the partnership across capital markets, trade finance and investment banking.

According to PMO, the JP Morgan delegation “reaffirmed its interest in sovereign debt capital markets and corporate banking opportunities”.

Meeting with Mohammad Kamal Syed, head of Private Bank and Wealth Management UK at Barclays, PM Shehbaz briefed him on the government’s macroeconomic stabilisation measures and encouraged Barclays to explore opportunities in the country’s financial sector.

The prime minister welcomed the bank’s “interest in Pakistan”, PMO said.

PM Shehbaz also met with Rothschild & Co, represented by Chair of Geostrategic Advisory Lord Mark Sedwill and Head of UK Investment Banking Majid Ishaq.

“Discussions centred on Pakistan’s geo-economic priorities and potential advisory collaboration on capital markets and investment strategy,” PMO said.

The premier also met a group of senior officials of Citi, led by Chief Client Officer David Livingstone, encouraging the bank to expand its “corporate and institutional banking services” in Pakistan.

The prime minister commended Citi’s long-standing presence in Pakistan, the statement added.

In his meeting with a BlackRock delegation, PM Shehbaz “invited increased allocations to Pakistani equities and fixed income within the firm’s frontier markets strategy, with both sides emphasising the importance of sustained policy consistency in building investor confidence”.

The delegation comprised the co-heads of Emerging Markets and Frontiers, Gordon Fraser and Sam Vecht, along with Portfolio Manager and Research Analyst Emily Fletcher.

“Across all engagements, the visiting executives expressed confidence in Pakistan’s economic reform momentum and reaffirmed their institutions’ commitment to deepening engagement with the country’s financial sector,” PMO said.

It asserted that the meetings reflected the “growing traction of Pakistan’s economic reform programme among the world’s leading financial institutions”.

The engagements also “mark a significant step in the government’s broader effort to strengthen international investor confidence and attract sustained capital flows into the country”, the statement highlighted.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Adviser to PM on Privatisation Muhammad Ali, who also heads the Privatisation Commission, were present in the meetings as well.

London Stock Exchange ceremony

In an earlier statement, PMO noted that PM Shehbaz became the first prime minister from Pakistan to open the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) trading session.

He also formally inaugurated Pakistan’s landmark $3 billion dual-tranche sovereign Eurobond, raised earlier this month.

LSE’s market opening ceremony is held at its headquarters in Paternoster Square and formally marks the start of the trading day in London.

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) Chief Executive Officer David Schwimmer and senior officials of the group welcomed the prime minister on his arrival.

Aurangzeb, the LSEG CEO, the Privatisation Commission head, Pakistan High Commissioner Tipu Usman, members of the Pakistani delegation and relevant British authorities attended the ceremony.

“Pakistan in recent years has worked very hard to strengthen its economy,” PM Shehbaz said while addressing the audience, terming the country’s improved macroeconomic indicators as “promising” for the future.

He went on to praise Aurangzeb and his team for arranging the Eurobond sale, which he said explained “our hard work” in volumes.

The premier claimed that if the Middle East conflict had not erupted, Pakistan would have “taken off like other emerging economies”.

He also highlighted Islamabad’s role as a mediator in the war between the United States and Iran.

“Now is the time, because of this Gulf crisis, new lessons have to be learnt,” PM Shehbaz stressed.

“Investors are now trying to evaluate and assess safer markets and Pakistan is a market where we can easily attract foreign investments, which are highly profitable, mutually beneficial, safe and secure,” he noted.

The prime minister expressed “his happiness on his participation to open London Stock Exchange session” and termed it a step towards “rebuilding their wonderful connection” with LSE, PMO said.

Addressing the LSEG CEO, the premier said that they would like to seek his guidance and advice on how to further engage international financial markets to play a role in Pakistan, not just in terms of sovereign debt but through very attractive investments.

Finance Minister Aurangzeb meets SCB CEO in London

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb met Standard Chartered Bank’s CEO Bill Winters in London on Tuesday, according to a statement by the finance ministry.

Aurangzeb “appreciated SCB’s continued support to Pakistan and its cooperation in various financing and capital market transactions”, the statement said.

The ministry said that the two discussed Pakistan’s ongoing structural reforms and the latest macroeconomic developments.

They also discussed future areas of collaboration, including “tokenisation, international Sukuk and other financing opportunities”, according to the statement.

“SCB’s strong investor network across Europe, the Middle East and Asia can play an important role in facilitating continued investor outreach and enhancing market visibility for Pakistan,” the ministry said.

The discussions also included potential capital market transactions to support the privatisation programme of the government, covering opportunities on both the buy-side and sell-side, it added.

Advisor to the Prime Minister on Privatisation Muhammad Ali and Advisor to the Finance Minister Omer Khan were also present in the meeting.

The IMF mission, led by Iva Petrova, is in Islamabad for the fourth review of Pakistan’s $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement and the third review of the $1.4bn Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

Aurangzeb, in a virtual meeting, briefed the IMF team on the latest macroeconomic indicators, improvements in credit rating and overall investment climate amid a challenging outlook emanating from prolonged Iran conflict.

On the successful conclusion of talks, Pakistan will be entitled to disbursement of about $1.2bn under the two programmes: $1bn under the EFF and $200 million under the RSF by the end of October or early November, but may require waivers from the IMF’s executive board for slippages on structural benchmarks.

The authorities are in continuous breach of structural benchmarks regarding the sovereign wealth fund (SWF) law that was originally missed in March.

The federal government already notified new procurement rules on Monday, two days ahead of the deadline, ie, Sept 30.

The SWF law is part of the discussions with the visiting IMF team. Authorities are in breach of an end-March 2026 structural benchmark on amendments to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Act to adopt governance mechanisms and safeguards for seven state-owned enterprises (SOEs), involving an asset portfolio of about $8bn.

Most of them are blue-chip entities listed on the stock exchange but remain outside normal reporting requirements. They include OGDCL, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), Mari Petr­oleum, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Govt Holdings, Pakistan Development Fund, and the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower project. The amendments are pending parliamentary approval.

The IMF team has been in Pakistan since Sept 23. It spent the initial days in Karachi for engagements with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and other stakeholders.

The staff mission has so far held engagements with officials from SBP, the finance ministry, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the Establishment Division, and the finance secretaries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

New procurement rules

Against this backdrop, the government notified the Public Procurement Rules 2026 to promote greater transparency and competition in public procurement while keeping certain exemptions for direct contracting with SOEs and limiting the bidding to national firms.

The IMF had certain reservations over the preferential treatment of SOEs for direct contracting.

Rule 32 of the new rules provides that a procuring agency may engage through EPADS (E-Pak Acquisition and Disposal System, a digital system developed and enforced by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority) to manage and administer the process of procurement in direct contracting with SOEs for the procurement of such works and services, including consultancy ser­vices, which are time-sensitive, scattered, remotely located and in the public interest or in case of urgency and provided they do not sub-let those contracts initiated prior to the commencement of the new rules continuing under the 2004 framework.

The new rules make the use of EPADS mandatory for public procurement and disposal by federal procuring agencies, provide for the establishment of dedicated procurement cells, and introduce mechanisms to discourage conflicts of interest through third-party validation, evaluation, and pre-shipment inspection for large procurements.

The new rules further strengthen the enforcement mechanism through the provision of blacklisting and cross-debarment, independent grievance red­ressal committees with an appellate mechanism at PPRA to clearly identify material deviations and mis-procurement, including deliberate procurement outside EPADS, failure to constitute prescribed committees, tailor-made specifications, violation of advertisement and response-time requirements, and failure to follow prescribed evaluation criteria.

The rules allow other efficient methods of procurement such as gallop tendering and alternative procurement methods, including shopping and negotiated tendering, subject to specified conditions.

Efficiency measures have been embedded in the framework, reducing response times, shortening standstill periods, and streamlining tender processing cycles to enable faster contract awards.

The rules also emphasise sustainable procurement, encouraging inclusiveness of SMEs and marginalised groups, and aligning procurement practices with environmental policy.

EFF and RSF packages

Pakis­tan and the IMF had reached the 39-month $7bn aid package deal in July 2024, with the programme set to allow the country to “cement macroeconomic stability and create conditions for stronger, more inclusive and resilient growth”.

In March 2025, the two sides reached a staff-level agreement (SLA) on the first biannual review of the EFF programme and on unlocking the $1.3bn RSF arrangement.

Subsequently, in May that year, the IMF’s Executive Board allowed a $1bn disbursement under the EFF — bringing total released funds under the package to about $2.1bn — and also approved the RSF loan.

In October 2025, the government and the Fund reached an SLA on the second review of the EFF, securing another $1bn under the programme and $200 million under the RSF after the Board’s approval in December.

A Petrova-led mission held talks with Pakistan in March this year for the third review of the EFF and the second review of the RSF, but the two sides failed to reach an agreement and decided to continue negotiations.

Then in May, the IMF’s Executive Board allowed Pakistan to draw about $1.1bn under the EFF and about $220m under the RSF, bringing total disbursements under the two arrangements to roughly $4.8bn.

An IMF mission, also led by Petrova, last visited Pakistan from May 13 to May 20, with the visit focusing on “recent economic developments, reform implementation, and the budget strategy for fiscal year 2027”.

The relief scheme for owners of motorcycles, rickshaws and vehicles of up to 800cc was rolled out across the country on Sept 17. PM Shehbaz Sharif had announced the subsidies to ease the public’s burden amid rising fuel prices due to the Middle East situation.

On Tuesday, DPM Dar chaired a meeting of the National Steering Committee on Fuel Subsidy to review the implementation of the scheme, his office said.

The deputy premier noted that the information, IT and petroleum ministries, as well as the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and all provinces, had made “concerted” efforts for the scheme.

“Dar stressed the need for continued coordination to facilitate beneficiaries and ensure smooth service delivery across the country,” the statement said.

It noted that to date, around 7.60 million registrations have been successfully made, and the token redemption process has entered the second week. Moreover, 7.71m tokens have been redeemed.

The meeting was attended by IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Special Assistant to PM (SAPM) on DPM Office Tariq Bajwa, the federal and provincial secretaries, and officials from SBP, Ogra, National Information Technology Board, and Pakistan Digital Authority.

Under the relief scheme, owners of two- and three-wheeled vehicles were to receive a subsidy of Rs100 per litre on a monthly quota of 20 litres, while those owning vehicles of up to 800cc were to receive the same subsidy on a monthly quota of 30 litres.

On Sept 17, the government also reintroduced austerity measures in an effort to conserve fuel, setting 9pm as the time for closing markets and reducing fuel provision for official vehicles by 50pc for a period of three months.

Today, DPM Dar also chaired a meeting of the Committee for Monitoring and Implementation of Conservation and Additional Austerity Measures.

“The committee reviewed progress on the austerity and conservation measures,” the Dar-led Foreign Office (FO) said.

Discussions focused on ensuring fiscal discipline and the prudent use of public resources, it added.

The deputy premier directed all ministries and divisions concerned to “fully and effectively implement the decisions taken at previous meetings”.

The meeting was attended by Khawaja, Minister for Climate Change Dr Musadik Malik, SAPM on Foreign Affairs and the cabinet secretary, as well as officials from the interior, finance, foreign affairs, commerce, law, and climate change ministries.

Fuel prices amid Mideast conflict

Renewed hostilities in the Middle East, which have resulted in the disruption of major oil supply routes, have caused fuel prices to rise over the past two months.

In addition to the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz due to the US-Iran war, trade via Bab al-Mandab — which has become a vital route for Saudi oil exports in recent months — is also facing a rising threat from Houthi rebels.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has said that global oil supply and demand will fall further than previously thought this year, as a lack of progress in ending the Iran war delays the return of normal Middle East flows into 2027 and sends fuel prices soaring.

In July, the government announced that fuel prices would now be fixed on a daily basis due to fluctuations in international market prices.

Prior to this, the government had been announcing weekly revisions to fuel prices since early March, alongside measures for the conservation of fuel. The federal government had also announced targeted relief measures in April to provide subsidised fuel.

The government on Monday decreased the price of petrol by Rs2.27 per litre and that of high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs3.56 per litre.

Following the revision, petrol will retail at Rs389.03 per litre, while HSD will cost Rs404.97 per litre. The government continues to levy Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on diesel.

According to the Petroleum Division’s notification, the new prices are applicable for Sept 29.

The price of HSD has come down from a peak of Rs520.35 recorded on April 3. Its price had started rising from Rs281 per litre after the US-Iran war broke out on February 28.

The petrol price had peaked at Rs458.41 on April 3 after beginning its upward trajectory from Rs266 in the first week of March.

Meanwhile, the government has reintroduced a raft of austerity measures in response to rising fuel prices amid the ongoing Middle East conflict. Under these measures, markets are required to close by 9pm and fuel allocations for official vehicles has been cut by 50 per cent for three months.

On September 13, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also announced a “relief scheme” for users of motorcycles, autos and vehicles of up to 800cc to “alleviate the burden” of rising global oil prices.

Previously, on July 17, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik announced that fuel prices would now be fixed on a daily basis due to fluctuations in international market prices following renewed hostilities between Iran and the US.

Prior to this, the government had been announcing weekly revisions to fuel prices since early March, alongside measures for the conservation of fuel amid possible oil supply disruptions due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The federal government in April also announced targeted relief measures to provide subsidised fuel.

The petroleum minister stated that the cabinet and the prime minister had decided to give the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) the responsibility of deciding fuel prices on a daily basis based on international market trends.

Petrol is mainly used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers, and changes in its price affect the middle and lower-middle classes.

Similarly, changes in diesel prices also impact the public at large, as it is mainly used in the heavy transport sector, power plants and large generators.

Petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) are the major revenue earners, with monthly sales of about 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes, compared to just 10,000 tonnes of monthly demand for kerosene.

Edison, one of the company’s biggest customers in Europe, will not receive LNG cargoes until the beginning of December, the Italian group said on Monday, in the latest extension under a force majeure notification first issued in April following disruptions caused by the US-Iran war. Clients in Asia, including in Bangladesh and Pakistan, were also informed that force majeure notices had been extended until November, two trading sources said.

QatarEnergy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Qatar is among the Iran conflict’s biggest economic casualties, with its liquefied natural gas exports slashed by 96pc, Reuters calculated at the end of August.

While neighbouring Gulf exporters have managed to ship oil secretly out of the Strait of Hormuz, Qatar had exported just 18 LNG cargoes until end-August, down from 509 in the same period last year, according to data intelligence firm ICIS.

With the winter heating season starting within days, buyers in Europe will have to look elsewhere to refill gas storage inventories ahead of the coldest months of the year.

That will fuel competition with Asian clients for the limited available global supply, and keep gas prices elevated.

While Italy is confident it will meet the EU’s target for its gas buffer, several countries, including Germany, are rushing to fill their storage tanks.

In a message on an Italian energy markets platform, Edison said QatarEnergy would cancel a further six LNG cargoes, taking the total undelivered shipments to 35. The Italian subsidiary of France’s EDF has repla­ced 23 cargoes so far, turning mainly to US suppliers to make up for missing deliveries from the Gulf.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2026

He said this extension is not a concession but a practical necessity to ensure maximum tax compliance, broaden the tax base, and alleviate the immense pressure currently faced by the business community, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and individual taxpayers.

In a statement on Monday, he said that as the Sept 30 deadline approaches, taxpayers and tax practitioners face severe systemic bottlenecks.

The FBR’s Inland Revenue Information System (Iris) portal has been experiencing frequent slowdowns and glitches due to heavy national traffic.

These technical disruptions are preventing thousands of willing taxpayers from submitting their returns and wealth statements accurately and on time, he added.

A one-month extension will provide a much-needed breathing space for taxpayers to reconcile their accounts, navigate the recent complexities introduced in the tax code, and file their returns without the fear of system crashes, he said.

The recent complex amendments in tax laws and reporting requirements have created widespread confusion, meaning taxpayers require additional time to thoroughly understand these technicalities to avoid unintended errors in their wealth reconciliations, Atif said.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2026

Topline Securities Ltd said the KSE-100 index traded range-bound, closing at 170,425.62 points, down 339.60 points, or 0.20 per cent. The index traded between an intraday high of 171,126.52 and a low of 170,120.50.

The session maintained a risk-off tone, with investors cautious amid renewed geopolitical uncertainty and elevated international oil prices. Brent crude rose above $106 per barrel, heightening concerns about inflationary pressures and the domestic external account.

TRG Pakistan Ltd, Fauji Fertiliser, Oil and Gas Development Company, Attock Refinery, and Hub Power were the major contributors to the index, collectively adding approximately 265 points. By contrast, United Bank, Habib Bank, and Lucky Cement were the leading drags, collectively shaving around 235 points from the benchmark.

Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd, said investor sentiment remained fragile throughout the session, as persistent geopolitical uncertainty kept market participants on the sidelines, particularly after media reports that US President Trump rejected an Iranian ceasefire proposal regarding the Strait of Hormuz and declined to comment on potential post-midterm military actions.

Investor participation weakened as trading volume dipped 12.78pc to 421 million shares and turnover value fell 8.02pc to Rs17.7 billion. Cnergyico PK led the volume chart with 61.5 million shares.

Analysts expect the market to remain volatile, with selective buying likely if geopolitical tensions ease and oil prices trend lower.

However, elevated energy prices, external sector risks, and the ongoing IMF review will remain key factors shaping market direction.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2026

The offer was believed to have been submitted for around 60,000 tonnes by trading house Bunge, they said. The state agency Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) is still considering the offers and no purchase has been reported, traders said, adding that a decision is expected in the coming days.

Reports reflect assessments from traders and further estimates of prices and volumes are still possible later. The tender comes at a difficult time for importers, with fighting bringing seaborne Black Sea exports of cheap Russian and Ukrainian wheat to a virtual stop, with supplies from alternative origins more expensive.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2026

ISLAMABAD: As question marks linger over the continuous breach of structural benchmarks regarding the sovereign wealth fund (SWF) law, the federal government on Monday notified new procurement rules two days ahead of the deadline, on the first day of talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for disbursement of $1.2 billion.

Sources told Dawn that the IMF staff mission led by Iva Petrova held a series of discussions with officials from the finance ministry, the Federal Board of Revenue, the Establishment Division, and the finance secretaries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

The IMF team has been in Pakistan since September 23. It spent the initial days in Karachi for engagements with the State Bank of Pakistan and other stakeholders. The review talks usually begin with a customary call on the fina­nce minister, but he is currently abroad as part of the PM’s delegation to the UN General Assembly.

The Sovereign Wealth Fund law is part of the discussions with the visiting IMF team. Authorities are in breach of an end-March 2026 structural benchmark on amendments to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Act to adopt governance mechanisms and safeguards for seven state-owned enterprises, involving an asset portfolio of about $8 billion.

Most of them are blue-chip entities listed on the stock exchange but remain outside normal reporting requirements. They include OGDCL, PPL, Mari Petr­oleum, National Bank of Pakistan, Govt Holdings, Pakistan Development Fund, and the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower project. The amendments are pending parliamentary approval.

New procurement rules

Against this backdrop, the government notified the Public Procurement Rules 2026 to promote greater transparency and competition in public procurement while keeping certain exemptions for direct contracting with SOEs and limiting the bidding to national firms. The IMF had certain reservations over the preferential treatment of SOEs for direct contracting.

Rule 32 of the new rules provide that a procuring agency may engage through EPADS (E-Pak Acquisition and Disposal System, a digital system developed and enforced by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority) to manage and administer the process of procurement in direct contracting with state-owned entities for the procurement of such works and services, including consultancy ser­vices, which are time-sensitive, scattered, remotely located and in the public interest or in case of urgency and provided they do not sub-let those contracts.

The authorities would also have the powers in specific cases to limit bidding only to national bidders or certain categories of national bidders or prohibit participation of bidders of some nationalities or allow preference to domestic bidders for certain projects, and goods manufactured, mined, extracted and grown in the country.

The Public Proc­urement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) said the new Public Proc­urement Rules 2026 repealed the Public Procurement Rules 2004. Made under Section 26 of the PPRA Ordinance 2002, the new rules have come into immediate effect, with procurement cases initiated prior to the commencement of the new rules continuing under the 2004 framework.

The new rules make the use of EPADS mandatory for public procurement and disposal by federal procuring agencies, provide for the establishment of dedicated procurement cells, and introduce mechanisms to discourage conflicts of interest through third-party validation, evaluation, and pre-shipment inspection for large procurements.

The new rules further strengthen the enforcement mechanism through the provision of blacklisting and cross-debarment, independent grievance red­ressal committees with an appellate mechanism at PPRA to clearly identify material deviations and mis-procurement, including deliberate procurement outside EPADS, failure to constitute prescribed committees, tailor-made specifications, violation of advertisement and response-time requirements, and failure to follow prescribed evaluation criteria.

The rules allow other efficient methods of procurement such as gallop tendering and alternative procurement methods, including shopping and negotiated tendering, subject to specified conditions. Efficiency measures have been embedded in the framework, reducing response times, shortening standstill periods, and streamlining tender processing cycles to enable faster contract awards.

The rules also emphasise sustainable procurement, encouraging inclusiveness of SMEs and marginalised groups, and aligning procurement practices with environmental policy.

PPRA Managing Director Hasnat Ahmed Qureshi said new rules introduce a range of measures to strengthen oversight throughout the procurement cycle, from procurement planning and bidding to contract management, performance evaluation and closure.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2026

The Senate Sub-Committee on Devolution held a meeting under the chairmanship of Senator Zamir Hussain Ghumro. The meeting expressed serious reservations over the Privatisation Commission’s response that was sought by the committee over the latter’s decision to continue privatisation without fresh approval from the CCI.

“Discos are performing provincial functions which must either be legalised by seeking approval of provincial assemblies or transferred to provinces,” the committee observed.

It stressed that matters involving provinces must be placed before the CCI and that the process must be transparent, noting that the Steel Mills and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) privatisation process had raised serious questions about transparency.

Senator Ghumro warned the Privatisation Commission to comply with earlier directions or face parliamentary action.

The meeting was attended by Senators Jan Muhammad Buledi and Poonjo Bheel, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, secretaries of the cabinet and establishment divisions, and other senior officials.

The panel was reviewing compliance reports on devolution of subjects under the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the status of federal institutions dealing with provincial and CCI subjects and related matters.

It also reviewed compliance reports by the Permanent Secretariat of the CCI in pursuance of its meetings held on Aug 17 and Sept 8, as well as reports submitted by the Cabinet Division, Establishment Division and the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP)/Controller General of Accounts (CGA) regarding ministries, attached departments, programmes, institutions, statutory bodies, corporations and companies retained by the federal government since 2011 in relation to provincial and CCI subjects.

Senator Ghumro said the sub-committee had directed that 24 ministries and organisations on provincial and CCI matters be abolished and federal expenditure be brought down from present Rs19 trillion to Rs13tr.

He said total tax and non-tax revenue of the country was Rs20tr whereas federal expenditure was almost Rs19 trillion, which was a cause of concern.

“There must be a constitutional audit of the federal government about its size and expenditure and it must be brought down drastically,” he said.

Senator Ghumro also expressed displeasure over non-receipt of agenda notice by the AGP and CGA, directing both to submit audited expenditure on ministries and organisations established on CCI and provincial matters by the CCI during the last 16 years, which, he said, could amount to trillions.

“Such unconstitutional expenditure cannot be allowed when the country is facing economic crisis. Not a penny shall be spent on devolved or CCI matters being handled by the federal government,” the sub-committee chairman asserted.

The panel was informed that a note on the matter had already been forwarded to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The cabinet secretary said the CCI was an important constitutional forum, much like the federal cabinet.

The committee also took up policing-related functions. Officials explained that policing was primarily a provincial subject, while the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) had been retained under Article 240 of the Constitution.

Senator Ghumro, referring to the omission of Entry 16 of the erstwhile Concurrent List, said PSP could not be retained by the federal government. The Establishment Division was also asked to file comments within two weeks.

On devolution of media, the committee examined the report of the Information and Broadcasting Division concerning entrusting of broadcasting and telecasting functions to provinces under Article 159 and transfer of print media matters following their omission from the Concurrent List.

Tarar said existing rules and constitutional provisions would be examined. He requested one month to undertake consultations with provincial governments and develop models relating to devolution of media functions. The chairman directed that a comprehensive proposal be submitted within a month.

The committee also discussed broadcasting infrastructure and installation of transmitters, including requests from Balochistan and Punjab.

Furthermore, the panel reviewed a briefing by the Power Division and Thar Coal Energy Board on electricity generated from Thar coal, provision to local communities and environmental measures.

Officials said electricity from Thar coal was being supplied to the national grid and subsidy arrangements for consumers in Islamkot were being examined.

Senator Ghumro appreciated Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, saying the Thar project — the dream of ex-PM Benazir Bhutto realised by the Sindh government — was a game changer as it added cheap electricity to the national grid.

However, Senator Bheel raised concerns over employment for the local population.

The convenor said PM Shehbaz must take action on matters raised, including abolishing ministries on provincial and CCI matters, as well as taking up matters of Part II of the Federal Legislative List in the CCI instead of the federal cabinet.

Under Article 154(1) of the Constitution, the CCI should formulate policies in relation to matters in Part II of the Federal Legislative List, which covers everything from the census to supervision and management of public debt, as well as railways, ports, electricity, oil and gas, national planning, and national economic coordination.

The Cabinet Division informed the sub-committee that matters mentioned in the minutes of the Aug 17 and Sept 8 meetings of the committee had been sent to the prime minister for action and compliance.

Markets have been waiting for news on Chinese tariff cuts on US farm goods following last week’s Washington summit of leaders Xi Jinping and Donald Trump.

The agricultural tariff cuts are part of the $60 billion package of reciprocal tariff cuts negotiated by the Board of Trade and unveiled for the first time on Monday.

The list covers sorghum, vegetable oils and meals, including soya oil and soya meal, along with meat, dairy products and other items.

While the proposal identifies the covered products, it does not specify when the tariff cuts will take effect.

More than 90 per cent of the covered products will be exempt from all additional tariffs imposed on each other and will instead be subject to most-favoured-nation tariff rates, the commerce ministry said in a statement.

US soybeans, however, still face an additional tariff of 10pc, which traders have warned is too high for private crushers to absorb, even as Chinese state buyers have stepped up purchases.

“Despite the soybean being a non-sensitive item in trade, the political significance of China’s soybean purchase is enormous and carries major political implications,” said Feng Chucheng, founder and partner at Hutong Research.

Keeping soya beans on a separate track gives Beijing leverage in its dealings with Washington, especially ahead of the US midterm elections, Feng added.

Chinese state-run agricultural companies Sinograin and COFCO have bought more than 12 million metric tons of US soya beans, nearly half the 25 million the White House has said Beijing committed to buying annually through 2028.

Trade in the agricultural and related products on Monday’s list stood at about $17 billion in 2024, roughly matching China’s reported purchase commitment, excluding soya beans, according to Reuters calculations.

In May, the White House said Beijing had agreed to buy that volume annually through 2028, but China has yet to confirm any target for such purchases.

State-run companies will continue to buy US soya beans and the tariff cuts on other goods will help China meet the $17 billion commitment, said a trader based in Asia with an international company that sells soya beans to China who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Without tariffs, the landed cost for both US and Brazilian beans is roughly $595 per ton, although Brazilian soya beans are generally preferred for their higher oil and protein content, according to traders. At those prices, Chinese private crushers are running at negative margins.

The most-active soya bean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was trading down 1.38pc at $13-3/4 per bushel as of 0709 GMT.

The September State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)–Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Confidence Index stood at 49.1 compared with just 33.6 on the Q3 Ipsos Consumer Confidence Index. This striking gap could reflect differences in how businesses and households interpret headline economic indicators, varying level of trust in government, or, more fundamentally, their contrasting economic realities: a financially stronger minority with greater resources, choices and capacity to absorb shocks versus a much larger population struggling individually with weaker purchasing power and greater vulnerability.

Dr Durre Nayab, Director, Socioeconomic Insights and Analytics, and former joint director at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), offered a different explanation, attributing the apparent divergence largely to measurement methodology and sampling.

“To me, the gap is a measurement artefact. First, the two numbers aren’t on the same scale. The SBP-IBA index is a diffusion index, where 50 signals neutrality, zero indicates no confidence and 100 extreme confidence. The Ipsos index is constructed differently and has historically hovered in the 30s. So, 33.6 cannot be read as ‘16 points below neutral’ in the same way that 49.1 can be described as ‘near neutral’.”

Survey results indicate that consumers are less optimistic about Pakistan’s economy than businesses

She noted that the direction of the Ipsos index was, in fact, slightly positive: it rose 0.4 points to 33.6, while and 24 per cent of the respondents said the country is heading the right direction, up from 11pc in August 2024.

“Second, who gets surveyed matters most,” Ms Nayab said. “The business survey draws from about 2,000 large, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan-registered firms, with about 500 surveyed each month, selected on the basis of the highest paid-up capital. It, therefore, captures the corporate top tier, not the kiryana store, the mohalla khokha or the small and medium enterprises.”

Large firms, she argued, are better positioned to pass higher costs on through prices, benefit from interest rate cuts, and hedge against risks. “Households, meanwhile, absorb those passed-on costs, often on fixed or informal incomes. The two groups are living different economic realities.”

Nasim Beg, CEO, Arif Habib Consultancy, believes the contrast stems partly from their different perspectives: businesses tend to be forward-looking, basing decisions on assessment of future economic conditions, while consumers respond more directly to their lived experience.

“The average consumer’s behaviour is influenced by lived reality. Over the last five years, Pakistani consumers have suffered a sharp erosion of purchasing power alongside income compression. Even if the economic outlook is improving, households continue to feel the cumulative impact of that squeeze.”

Ehsan Malik, former CEO, Pakistan Business Council, also blamed the divergence more to contrasting economic realities than differences in understanding. “Businesses are not truly optimistic: at 49.1, confidence remains below neutral, though expectations are improving. Larger firms can raise prices, alter products, defer investment, hedge risks and lobby for subsidies, guaranteed returns and protection.

“Consumers have no such options. They must absorb higher food, electricity, rent and tax costs, while slower inflation does not restore lost purchasing power.

“Trust further widens the divide when the burden of adjustment appears unfairly distributed. Consumers understand their vulnerability well. Pakistan has achieved some macroeconomic stabilisation, but confidence will converge only when it translates into secure jobs, recovering real incomes and affordable essentials.

“The divergence should therefore be seen as a policy warning, not a survey anomaly or evidence that consumers poorly understand an economy in which spending power has eroded”.

Industrialist Majyd Aziz attributed consumers’ pessimism primarily to small paychecks failing to keep pace with rising living costs. Pakistan’s import-dependent economy remains vulnerable to global supply and demand shocks, while deindustrialisation, galloping inflation, and depleting household savings have intensified the squeeze. “Unlike businesses, consumers buy daily and have their feet firmly on the ground,” he said.

Mr Aziz also questioned whether the Ipsos Consumer Confidence Index fully captures ground realities, noting that it surveyed 1,000 people by telephone rather than through face-to-face interviews. He found the provincial variations striking: 31pc of respondents in Balochistan believed the country was on the right track, compared to only 14pc in KP.

More tellingly, he said, only 10pc of consumers felt comfortable making household purchases, underscoring weak purchasing power and explaining difficulties facing domestic businesses. High electricity, gas, and fuel costs continue to strain household budgets despite the survey showing greater optimism about personal finances.

Mr Aziz argued that rising stock prices, property investment, automobile purchases and improving industrial indicators largely reflect the choices available to the affluent and should not automatically be equated with broad-based economic recovery. The survey’s optimism, he said, must, therefore, be weighed against the frustration, uncertainty and vulnerability confronting ordinary consumers.

Members of the government’s economic team and the State Bank were approached for comment, but no response had been received by the time this report was filed.

The writer is a former Dawn staffer.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, September 28th, 2026

Official sources said the mission, led by Iva Petrova, would stay for almost two weeks, until the first week of October, to conduct the fourth review of the EFF and the third review of the RSF.

Pakistan is currently under a 37-month IMF programme aimed at stabilising the economy through fiscal discipline, structural reforms and measures to support long-term growth.

Upon successful completion of the reviews, Pakistan will be eligible for the disbursement of about $1 billion (760 million Special Drawing Rights) under the EFF and another $200m under the RSF by the end of Novem­ber or early December, a total of $1.2bn.

‘No govt financing’

Meanwhile, Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad clarified on Sunday that the government was not buying any aircraft for Pakis­tan International Airlines (PIA), which was privatised through an auction in December last year.

“The government is neither buying aircraft for a privatised PIA, nor has it announced any sovereign guarantee of taxpayer-funded loan for doing so,” Mr Schehzad posted on X following claims on social media that a minister was arranging and negotiating sovereign-linked financing for the jets.

The claims came after a recent meeting between Finance Minister Aurangzeb and Chairman of the US Export-Import (Exim) Bank John Jovanovich on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The finance ministry said the two discussed the Reko Diq mining project and funding opportunities for procuring an aircraft for PIA.

The finance minister shared PIA’s interest in Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners and “sought support for a financing package covering aircraft and engines”. However, Mr Schehzad pointed out in his post that the US Exim’s “mandate, like export credit agencies elsewhere, is to support its country’s exports and jobs”.

“Boeing aircraft are US exports. US Exim provides financing support to foreign purchasers of US-manufactured aircraft, including airlines, through established financing structures,” he added.

“US Exim’s own framework provides for asset-backed aircraft financing, where financing can be secured against the aircraft itself and credit assessed on the airline/lessee and/or guarantor, if any. A sovereign guarantee is therefore not an automatic requirement.”

He added that Mr Aurangzeb’s discussions with US Exim were not confined to PIA. They covered potential financing across aviation, refinery upgrades and Reko Diq as part of a much broader Pakistan-US economic engagement.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2026