1 (271st Session) SENATE SECRETARIAT ————— “QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWERS AND THEIR REPLIES” to be asked at a sitting of the Senate to be held on Wednesday, the 20th December, 2017 DEFERRED QUESTIONS [Questions Nos. 43, 149, 226, 229, 230, 232 and 233 deferred on 10th November, 2017, (269th Session)] (Def.) *Question No. 43 Senator Chaudhary Tanvir Khan: (Notice received on 02-10-2017 at 09:20 a.m.) Will the Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs be pleased to state: (a) the amount spent by the Government on the war against terror in the country during the last ten years with year wise and head wise break up; and (b) the amount received by the Government from the United States of America for controlling terrorism in the country during the said period with year wise head wise break up? Reply not received. (Def.) *Question No. 149 Senator Chaudhary Tanvir Khan: (Notice received on 09-10-2017 at 09:10 a.m.) Will the Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms be pleased to state the details of estimated annual revenue to be accrued to Pakistan through various agreements between Pakistan and China made under the CPEC with project wise break-up? 2 Mr. Ahsan Iqbal: Out of US$ 47 billion CPEC portfolio, the bulk (around US$ 35 billion) is for energy projects whereas US$ 12 billion is for roads and other infrastructure projects. The overall energy projects aim to add 17045 megawatts to mitigate chronic electricity shortfall and provide a reliable support for domestic economic activities and exports. The enhanced power generation capacity resulting from CPEC projects is expected to add 2 percentage points to GDP growth in the medium to long term. CPEC transport infrastructure projects (roads, railways, port facility upgrade) would allow easier and low cost access to domestic and overseas markets, promoting inter­regional and international merchandise trade. Services exports would also benefit from increased trade traffic from China. The establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) alongside CPEC routes will facilitate domestic and foreign investment. These SEZs would have multiplier effect on growth via connectivity to other regions, accessibility to markets, job creation, etc. This will also help in integrating less developed areas into the folds of active development. The project-wise revenue to be accrued to Pakistan, however, cannot be estimated at this stage. (Def.) *Question No. 226 Senator Muhammad Talha Mahmood: (Notice received on 06-10-2017 at 9:15 a.m.) Will the Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs be pleased to state; (a) Whether it is a fact that the Finance Division has launched a project for construction of fish landing jetty and allied harbor facilities at Surbandar, East Bay Gwadar, if so, the details thereof; (b) the amount spent on the said project so far; and (c) the percentage of work completed on that project and the time by which the remaining work will be completed? 3 Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs: (a) Yes, the project “Construction of Fish Landing Jetty and Allied Harbor Facilities at Surbandar, East Bay Gwadar” is being funded by the Federal Government and Government of Balochistan on a cost sharing basis (80:20). The project was approved at a cost of Rs. 1,618.715 million. The aim of the project is to provide basic facilities for berthing and handling of fishing vessels. This will provide alternate harbor to the fishermen of the area. (b) An amount of Rs. 1,144.314 million has been spent on the project. (c) 80% work has been completed and the remaining work will be completed by June, 2018. (Def.) *Question No. 229 Senator Mohammad Azam Khan Swati: (Notice received on 23-10-2017 at 09:00 a.m.) Will the Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs be pleased to state the details of mechanism evolved by the Government to monitor the number and amounts of mobile phone cards and easy load being issued or sold by the Mobile Telephone Companies in the country for the purpose of collection of tax on the same? Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs: Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited (PRAL), the IT arm of FBR in consultation with Telcos has developed a Utility which requires Telcos to upload withholding data file on agreed format. The Telcos with the intervention of PTA have agreed to upload data on the new format from August 2017. 2. So far two Cellular Companies i.e. M/s Pakistan Mobile Communication Limited (PMCL) (Jazz) and M/s Pakistan Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML) (Ufone) have uploaded their data on the new format. The data uploaded by the Pakistan Telecom Mobile Limited (PTML) contain certain errors. PRAL is in contact with PTML for removal of said errors. The remaining two companies i.e. M/s Telenor Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd and M/s CM Pak (Zong) have yet to upload their data and are being pursued to complete the task at an early date. 3. Since on the new software, the Telcos are to provide information of customer wise usage of telephone including easy loads/calling cards used per month, 4 the information so submitted can easily be cross-matched by the officer having jurisdiction of monitoring, Withholding tax with information available with the companies during his field audits. (Def.) *Question No. 230 Senator Chaudhary Tanvir Khan: (Notice received on 23-10-2017 at 03:50 p.m.) Will the Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs be pleased to state: (a) the details of private institutions or companies, other than banks, which are legally carrying out money transactions indicating also the annual volume of their business in each case; and (b) the details of private institutions or companies involved in illegal business of interest indicating also the action taken by the Government against them so far? Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs: (a) The Exchange Companies, beside Banks carry out legal money transactions. The operations of these Exchange Companies are regulated and supervised by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) under Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947. Presently, there are 27 full-fledged “A” and 25 “B” Category Exchange Companies (Annex-A) operating in the country. The operations of these Exchange Companies include sale & purchase of foreign currencies, foreign remittances, both inward and outward, and export of surplus foreign currencies other than US dollars, Category-B Exchange Companies only deal in sale and purchase of foreign currencies. However, Exchange Companies neither can take deposits from the general public nor they do lending business. Details of annual Revenue/Income of these 52 Exchange Companies are at Annex-B. (b) State Bank of Pakistan and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) can take action against only those companies which have got licence from the SBP and registered with the SECP. Action against those private institutions or companies not registered with SBP/SECP and are involved in illegal business of interest is taken by the FIA and the NAB. 5 Annexure-A 6 Annex-B 7 (Def.) *Question No. 232 Senator Mohammad Azam Khan Swati: (Notice received on 26-10-2017 at 09:45 a.m.) Will the Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs be pleased to state the amount of short term and long terms foreign loans obtained by the Government during the last five years indicating also the name of lending country and organization and interest rate in each case? 8 Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs: Details of short term and long term Foreign loans obtained by the Government during the last five years are as follows. The detail of lending country, organization and interest rate is annexed. 9 10 (Def.) *Question No. 233 Senator Mohammad Azam Khan Swati: (Notice received on 27-10-2017 at 04:50 p.m.) Will the Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs be pleased to state the amount of aid received from USA during the last three years and the details of its utilization? Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs: The USA has provided US$ 335.446 million during the last three years through United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement-Pakistan (INL­P). Details are at Annex-A. Annexure-A 11 12 13 *Question No. 110 Senator Mohsin Aziz: (Notice received on 10-11-2017 at 02:00 p.m.) Will the Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs be pleased to state: (a) the number of projects or entities mortgaged by the present Government against sukuk bonds obtaining loans since 2013; and (b) the terms and conditions set down repayments in the said agreements? Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs: (a) No project or entity has been mortgaged by the present government for obtaining loans under Sukuk transaction. However, for completion of Islamic structure, the Ml, M2 and M3 motorways and Jinnah International Airport, Karachi have been used as underlying assets. (b) The following terms and conditions have been set down for repayments: International Sukuk —————————————————————————————— FY Amount ($ Million) Repayment —————————————————————————————— 2013-14 - - 2014-15 1,000 Dec. 2019 2015-16 - - 2016-17 1,000 Oct. 2021 2017-18 1,000 Nov. 2022 —————————————————————————————— Domestic Sukuk —————————————————————————————— FY Amount ($ Million) Repayment —————————————————————————————— 2013-14 49,537 Paid 2014-15 - - 2015-16* 314,379 Dec. 2018 to Mar. 2019 2016-17 71,007 Jun 2020 2017-18 1,000 - —————————————————————————————— *Issues in three tranches 14 *Question No. 111 Senator Mohsin Aziz: (Notice received on 10-11-2017 at 02:00 p.m.) Will the Minister for Industries and Production be pleased to state whether it is a fact that the employees of Pakistan Steel Mill are not being their salaries on regular basis, if so, the reasons thereof? Mr.