Latest news with #Rs638
Time of India
03-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Bira beer maker restructures leadership amid liquidity woes and revenue decline
B9 Beverages , the makers of Bira beer , has hired senior leaders and made changes to its top deck at a time when the company is facing liquidity woes and repayment issues to retail investors from KredX, a fintech marketplace. The company appointed Vikram Qanungo, who returns to Bira 91 after 2018, as its chief financial officer again. He was Bira 91's CFO in 2015-2019, replacing Meghna Agrawal, who held the position from 2019-2024. Bira 91 also appointed Dr. Manoj Mishra, ex head of supply chain at Ball Corporation (India and SEA), as the vice president, manufacturing. The company has promoted Nayanabhiram Deekonda, a nine year veteran in the company, as SVP – sales, heading India sales, a designation that was vacant since Deepak Malhotra, who left in 2023 to join Inbrew as chief business officer - beer. Deekonda was SVP - chief of people, product and growth from October 2024. B9 Beverages also promoted Deepak Sinha, ex VP international business, as SVP – brand & innovation. Sudhir Jain, SVP & chief of integrated supply chain will also handle additional responsibilities of heading people function at the company. And finally Vandana Sahni, ex-head of financial planning and analysis at Bira 91 is also promoted to chief of staff and head, strategy. The company confirmed these appointments and management changes to ET. According to regulatory filings, Bira91 posted revenues' decline of 22% in FY24 to Rs638 crore, and its losses widened by 40.58% to reach Rs749 crore. ET reported in May that the company was behind on paying its retail investors as well, in the company KredX, to which Jain back then said, "There are liquidity issues that the company is facing… but the management has told lenders that it is in the process of raising funds that will help it manage debt repayment" Back in June last year, ET had also reported on the company having supply issues, with almost no supply in most of its key markets for months at a stretch. The valuation of the company has been flat from October 2021 till April 2024 at $523 million, as per Tracxn. The company is also in advanced talks with BlackRock, which is planning to invest Rs500 crore in the promoter group of Bira91.
Express Tribune
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
PA passes key budget grants
The Punjab Assembly on Wednesday approved over Rs638 billion in grants for five major departments by rejecting all cut motions moved by the Opposition, which had questioned the government's policies and the performance of various sectors. Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman presented the grants following the conclusion of the general discussion on the 202526 annual budget, which spanned five consecutive days. The session was presided over by Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan. The grants passed include Rs200.10 billion for the police, Rs26.53 billion for agriculture, Rs258.97 billion for health services, Rs137.53 billion for education and Rs15.16 billion for public health. The Opposition's attempts to reduce allocations were firmly defeated by the treasury benches, which maintained majority support throughout the proceedings. During the session, Opposition lawmakers, particularly from the PTI, criticised the police department, accusing it of political victimisation. They alleged that police had registered fake cases against PTI leaders and failed to perform its primary duties of maintaining law and order. PTI MPA Sheikh Imtiaz called for urgent police reforms and the depoliticisation of the force, while Ijaz Shafi claimed the police were ineffective and accused them of wasting taxpayer money, asserting that they could not even deal with local outlaws. On the agriculture front, the Opposition questioned the allocation of Rs26.53 billion, arguing that the sector had been mismanaged and neglected. PTI's Farhat Abbas alleged that the government had failed to support farmers or even produce quality seeds. In response, Agriculture Minister Syed Muhammad Ashiq Hussain Shah defended the allocation, highlighting several initiatives, including the introduction of a fertiliser act, zoning for early cotton sowing, and provision of tractors to high-yield wheat farmers. He added that Rs32 billion had been earmarked for water conservation and another Rs30 billion for interest-free loans to purchase agricultural machinery. He claimed the government had already disbursed Rs80 billion to farmers and intended to increase this to Rs200 billion. The Opposition also raised concerns over the health sector, citing Pakistan's low global ranking and the growing number of drug addicts and shortage of medical professionals. However, Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique rejected these criticisms and detailed several major initiatives undertaken by the government. He said 100 beds had been allocated for advanced-stage cancer patients at the Nawaz Sharif Cancer Hospital, while new cardiology hospitals were under construction in Sargodha and Sahiwal. Burn units were also being established in Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan, and over 900 medical clinics had been set up in underserved areas. In the education sector, the government approved a grant of Rs137.53 billion, again brushing aside Opposition objections. A grant of Rs15.16 billion was also approved for public health, with the government defending its approach to improving services through partnerships and infrastructure upgrades. In his concluding remarks, Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman described the budget as balanced and people-centric, claiming it reflected the aspirations of the common man. He said the government had made difficult but necessary decisions.
Express Tribune
30-04-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Centre decides to constitute new NFC
Listen to article The federal government has decided to constitute the 11th National Finance Commission to finalise a new formula for distribution of resources, as the finance ministry disclosed on Tuesday that it spent Rs638 billion on subjects which, under the Constitution, are provincial matters. The Rs638 billion spending in four provinces, Islamabad territory and special areas is exclusive of any development spending, indicating that a huge chunk of federal money is still pouring into provinces without any legal obligation. For the first time, the Ministry of Finance made public a write-up covering current expenditures of the federal government on health, education and social protection subjects ahead of notifying the new commission. The ministry said that these subjects stand devolved to the provinces with the enactment in April 2010 of the 18th Amendment. The amendment transferred several subjects from the federal legislative list to the provincial domain, effectively decentralising power and responsibility, and allowing provinces greater financial and legislative autonomy, it added. The report revealed that the federal government spent a total of Rs638 billion in four provinces, special areas and Islamabad district in the last fiscal year on health, education and social protection. The amount was Rs36 billion higher than the preceding year, showed the report. The spending on the development projects were in addition to Rs638 billion, which the finance ministry did not disclose. Meanwhile, during the April 28th meeting of the Council of Common Interests, the federal government informed the four provinces that it was in the process of establishing the 11th National Finance Commission to finalise the 8th award. It has already written letters to the provinces and sought their nominations for technical members. Sindh has again nominated Dr Asad Sayeed as its technical member while the Sindh finance minister will be the other constitutionally-nominated member on the Commission. Under the Constitution, every government can have two representativesone finance minister and one technical member. The commission is set up for a period of five year and the 10th Commission is going to meet its term on July 23rd without finalizing the 8th award. The last award was finalised in 2010, which expired in 2015. Since then, the President of Pakistan has been extending the last consensus award every year on an ad-hoc basis. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government pressed the federal government in the CCI to call the meeting of the 10th commission and announce an interim award, said Muzammil Aslam, the K-P's Finance Adviser to the Chief Minister while talking to The Express Tribune. He said that the K-P government has not yet nominated its technical member for the 11th Commission due to the reason that it wanted the meeting of the 10th Commission before the budget to get its due share on account of net hydel profit and merged districts. The finance ministry report has revealed how the federal government has been spending in provinces in areas which under the constitution are provincial subjects. Under the 7th award, the provinces get 57.5% of the resources and yet the federal government has been spending money in provinces despite scarcity of resources. The government and four provinces signed a weak National Fiscal Pact last year under the IMF guidelines, which does not have legal cover. Social Protection In the last fiscal year, the federal government spent Rs466 billion on social protection, including Rs350 billion that was spent in four provinces, according to the Finance Ministry. The federal government disbursed Rs169 billion in Punjab under the BISP, Rs96 billion in Sindh, Rs67 billion in KP and Rs18 billion in Balochistan, according to the report. In addition to that it also 7.4 billion through Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal, an autonomous body contributing to poverty alleviation, said the Finance Ministry. Health In the health sector, Rs45 billion were spent in the last fiscal year on current programmes. These included Rs12 billion spent on employees, another Rs12 billion on operations and Rs21.3 billion on Expanded Programme on Immunization. The Finance Ministry said that the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI was running since 1978 to protect children against vaccine preventable diseases. However, the virus spread could not be controlled since then. Rs11.2 billion were spent in Punjab under the EPI, Rs5.1 billion in Sindh, Rs1.2 billion in KP and Rs3.5 billion in Balochistan. Some of the health expenditures were related to Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). An amount of Rs5.2 billion was spent on Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and Rs4 billion on the Federal Government Polyclinic (FGPC). The expenditure of the Federal Government on health also covers the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an institution involved in multi-disciplinary public health related activities like diagnostic services, research and production of vaccines as well as the National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM) which serves people with special abilities Budgetary allocation is also made for the Federal Government run Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore, a hospital gifted for the people of Pakistan in 1973 by the then president of the UAE, Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan. The federal government spent Rs4.9 billion on Shaikh Zayed hospital. The funds were also allocated for the administrative costs of the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination. The actual expenditure of the ministry was Rs3.7 billion in the last fiscal year. Education The Finance Ministry stated that Rs114 billion were spent on education in the last fiscal year, majority of it in the provinces. The largest chunk of the federal government expenditure on the subject of education is earmarked for higher education and is disbursed to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in the form of grants. An analysis of this expenditure highlights that in fiscal year 2023-24 around 16% of funds were disbursed by HEC to universities and institutes in ICT, AJK and Gilgit Baltistan while the remaining funds were allocated for universities in provinces, said the Finance Ministry. Punjab related federal education spending amounted to Rs31 billion, in Sindh it was Rs15 billion, Rs11.6 billion was spent in KP and Rs3.7 billion on education in Balochistan. The Finance Ministry said that the funds were also kept for the Action to Strengthen Performance for Inclusive and Responsive Education (ASPIRE) Program of the World Bank and Rs8.6 billion was spent under this head in the last fiscal year.
Express Tribune
30-01-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Prudent monetary policy key to stability
Listen to article KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad credited the central bank's prudent monetary policy for restoring macroeconomic stability, according to a press statement released on Thursday. Addressing a meeting with the Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), the SBP governor highlighted recent policy initiatives aimed at improving the ease of doing business. These include export and import facilitation, streamlined dividend repatriation, and enhanced support for freelancers and IT exporters. He also emphasised efforts to strengthen Pakistan's digital financial ecosystem, as per the statement. The SBP governor noted a significant rise in Small and Medium sized Enterprise (SME) financing, which increased from Rs543 billion in December 2023 to Rs638 billion in December 2024. Similarly, agriculture credit disbursement saw a 14.5% year-on-year increase, reaching Rs1,266 billion in the first half of FY25. Ahmad also acknowledged the vital role of the MCCI in economic development.
