Briefs

Briefs

Meezan Bank deploys Oracle Exadata

News Desk

KARACHI: Meezan Bank Ltd has been using Oracle Exadata Database Machine to cut the close of business time by 30 percent.

“Banks in Pakistan are increasingly adopting Oracle Exadata Database Machine to run their core banking applications and experiencing significant performance enhancements,” said Waqas Hashmi, country sales director – technology business, Oracle Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Faizur Rehman, CIO, Meezan Bank Ltd, said, “We needed a highly available and high performance platform to host our core banking application supporting our rapid business growth and branch network expansion while keeping administrative tasks and operating expenses to a bare minimum.”

By successfully deploying its core banking database on Oracle Exadata, the bank has been able to significantly lower its software licensing requirements and shrunk its close of business time by 30 percent, while using 30 percent fewer cores.

 

USAID to support IFMP

ISLAMABAD: The USAID has been working in close coordination with the Institute of Financial Markets of Pakistan (IFMP) to design a curriculum for its fixed income certification programme.

A USAID statement said Wednesday that under the new curriculum, the programme would train financial market professionals to better understand emerging trends. It would increase their skills in the areas of marketing, trade, and the investment of fixed income products such as bonds.

The programme would also enhance the practitioner’s ability to assess the risks related to credit products and the techniques for managing such risks, the statement said. Zafar Hijazi, Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, said the commission appreciated the assistance provided by the USAID.

“This assistance has helped the IFMP expand professional standards for fixed income assets in Pakistan. A key goal of USAID’s economic growth programme is to help Pakistan build robust market institutions in the country and improve the capacity of market professionals,” the statement added.

This support from USAID to IFMP would help build a liquid and transparent debt market in Pakistan and establish professional and ethical standards. The certification programme would produce a new cadre of professionals to lead the expansion of the fixed income product market, strengthening the trading of government and corporate bonds and other interest bearing instruments in Pakistan.

 

FTO to take up property valuation

By our correspondent

KARACHI: The Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) Abdul Rauf Chaudhry has assured the business community of discussing property valuation with relevant quarters to address concerns over industrial property.

The issue of property valuation was raised by Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) during his visit on Wednesday. KCCI President Younis Bashir informed the FTO that the property valuation tables were not justified and the FTO office should take initiatives. Bashir said that immovable property should be on fair market values and the rate of valuation should be the same for federal and provincial properties.

Regarding denial of input adjustment of sales tax by federal and provincial governments, he said the finance ministry and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) were looking for a solution. The FTO said he would discuss the issue of misuse of powers by tax officials with the FBR chairman, as the FTO office had received many complains in this regard. Chaudhry highlighted FTO office working and said, “Instead of 60 days, now the office was taking 45 days to resolve complaints.”

 

‘Climate change to cut cotton output’

By our correspondent

LAHORE: Climate change and unexpected rainfalls may bring down the outputs of cotton and other crops by 20 percent in the next 15 years, said an agriculture expert on Wednesday.

“Such a decline will lead to increasing food insecurity, rural poverty and migration of people to urban areas,” Iqrar Ahmad Khan, vice chancellor at the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad told a delegation of the ministry of textile.

Khan further said an unabated sale of substandard seeds is affecting the cotton seed market worth Rs80 billion.  He asked the ministry officials to take action against those involved in this business.  He claimed poor quality seeds cause an annual loss of around two to three million bales. “Another million is lost due to pest attack and various diseases,” he said.

 

Iceland cuts interest rates

Reykjavik: The Central Bank of Iceland on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to 5.25 percent, saying inflation remained low despite rising wages and strong growth.

"Inflation has remained below target for two-and-a-half years. In July it measured 1.1 percent, the lowest inflation rate since the beginning of 2015," the bank said. "The krona has appreciated markedly in the recent term, in spite of substantial foreign currency purchases by the Central Bank," it added.

The bank increased its 2016 growth estimate to 4.9 percent -- a rise of 0.4 of a point compared to its forecast in May. It predicted 4.1 percent growth in 2017. "GDP growth is driven by strong income growth and improved households´ and businesses´ balance sheets. This is compounded by fiscal easing," it said.