FATF Announces Its Decision on Pakistan’s Greylist Status
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), on Thursday, decided to keep Pakistan on the greylist for another four months till June 2021. The Plenary meetings of FATF were held virtually from 22-25 February 2021, where its members discussed a range of topics relating to Pakistan’s progress.
Pakistan has largely addressed 24 of 27 action items.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has appreciated Pakistan for the significant progress made on the entire action plan. To date, Pakistan has made progress across all action plan items and has now largely addressed 24 of the 27 action items.
The current account deficit for the month of January 2021 was reduced by 65% to $229 million as compared to the value of $652 million recorded in December
Nasir Ali Shah Bukhari
KARACHI: Is it true that losing your entire fortune at once is less painful than losing only half of it? Or is financial ruin in small doses more bearable than complete destruction in one fell swoop?
I put this question to Nasir Ali Shah Bukhari, patriarch of the Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari (KASB) group that ran until 2014 a multi-billion-rupee empire with stakes in banking, brokerage, asset management, real estate and oil and gas exploration industries.
“I never calculated how much money I lost that night. I have no regret,” said Mr Bukhari who had built his business empire from the ground up over decades but lost it all in just one night six years ago.
Current Account Records a Massive Deficit of $662 Million in December
The current account recorded a massive deficit of $662 million in December 2020 after showing a surplus during the previous five months. This is despite record inflows of foreign exchange income from the sources of export and remittance.
The deficit was driven mainly because of the heavy import bill with the weightage of a section of essential food items, growth-enhancing capital goods, oil, and industrial raw materials also rose on the back of the domestic economic recovery.
In December 2020, the exports receipt showed a record value of $2.352 billion. Besides, inflows of remittances also registered a handsome value of $2.43 billion. On the other hand, imports of the country grew to a record level of over $5 billion.