Business

Honda Atlas hikes car prices once again

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Car prices jacked up to Rs1 million.
Industry affected by hike in sales tax.
New prices come into effect from March 14.

KARACHI: Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan Limited (HACPL) once again jacked up its car prices following a hike in the sales tax on 1400cc and above vehicles, The News reported Wednesday.

Recently, the government raised the sales tax to a whopping 25% on numerous items terming them as “luxury” goods to fetch an additional Rs11 billion in revenue.

The auto industry, which had been already struggling with a massive devaluation of the local currency in a year and inventory shortages pushed by import curbs, was impacted by the decision.

“Keeping in view further increase in exchange rate PKR/USD and increase in the rate of Sales Tax from 18% to 25% on 1400cc and above CKD [completely knocked down] vehicles, HACPL has to increase current prices,” the automaker said in a letter to its dealers.

With the increase in prices, Civic 1.5L M CVT, Civic 1.5L Oriel M CVT, and Civic Rs 1.5L LL CVT will cost Rs8.6 million, Rs8.95 million, and Rs10.2 million respectively.

The new prices would come into effect from March 14, the company informed.

The rate of the low-end Honda City MT 1.2L rose Rs220,000 to Rs4.799 million, while the 1.2L City CVT became costlier by Rs200,000 to Rs4.929 million.

Meanwhile, after an increase of Rs530,000, the 1.5L City CVT to be sold at Rs5.549 million.

The new price of BRV CVT S is Rs6.529 million, with a jump of Rs580,000. The rate of HRV VTI S has been increased by Rs800,000 and the new price is Rs8.199 million.

HACPL has announced a production break till the end of March, blaming the current economic situation, issues in the opening of letters of credit, and raw material shortages.

In recent months, almost all auto companies in Pakistan have raised their vehicles’ prices multiple times, as they struggle to cope with an economic downturn in the country that has forced the incumbent government to take some unprecedented decisions.

Last week, Indus Motor Company (IMC) and Lucky Motor Company also jacked up the prices of their vehicles.

“We are compelled to pass on some impact to the market,” IMC stated in a letter to the dealers, adding that the government had enhanced the sales tax on all CKD vehicles with an engine capacity of 1,400cc and above (with exception of IMV-I single cabin).

The new price of Corolla 1.6 MT is over Rs6.1 million, while Corolla 1.8 CVT SR Black would cost more than Rs7.8 million, with a rise of Rs593,000 and Rs760,000 respectively.

The most expensive Toyota vehicle would be Fortuner Diesel Legender at a price of over Rs20 million.

KIA’s Stonic EX and EX+ now cost Rs5.2 million and Rs5.73 million, respectively.

The revised price of Sportage Alpha, FWD and AWD are Rs7.05 million, Rs7.79 million and Rs8.39 million, respectively.

Business

Robust activity lets PSX climb above 115,000 level again.

Published

7 hours ago

Farwa

On Friday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) resumed its upward trend, crossing 115,000 points once more.

The PSX had strong action in the morning session, as the KSE-100 index increased by 1,000 points to 115,138.

The notoriously volatile PSX closed Thursday at 114,037 points, up 594 points.

DOLLAR DEPRECIES

Meanwhile, in the interbank market this morning, the US dollar fell 7 paisas to Rs278.65 against the Pakistani rupee.

Business

SBP will announce monetary policy on January 27.

Published

7 hours ago

Farwa

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will release its monetary policy on Monday.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the SBP will convene on the first day of the following week to make decisions on monetary policy.

The Monetary Policy decision will be announced by Governor SBP Jameel Ahmad at a news conference on the same day after the MPC meeting, according to an official release.

In December, the central bank reduced policy rates by 200 basis points (bps) to 13 percent.

“In November 2024, headline inflation fell to 4.9 percent year on year, meeting the MPC’s estimates. This decrease was mostly caused by the ongoing decline in food inflation and the phasing out of the impact of the gas tariff increase in November 2023,” SBP stated in an official release.

“However, the Committee noted that core inflation, at 9.7 percent, is proving to be sticky, while consumer and business inflation expectations remain volatile.” To that end, the Committee restated its previous assessment that inflation may remain volatile in the short term before stabilizing within the target range.

“At the same time, growth prospects have slightly improved, as evidenced by a recent increase in high-frequency indicators of economic activity.” Overall, the Committee concluded that its approach of gradual policy rate decreases is keeping inflationary and external account pressures under control while promoting long-term economic growth.

Business

Finance Minister Meets With World Leaders at World Economic Forum in Davos

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

During his attendance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has met with officials of organisations and leaders of many nations.
Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor, Muhammad Younas, met with Mohammad Aurangzeb.
On the fringes of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2025 Opening Banquet, there was an informal meeting.
Additionally, the Finance Minister met with Anwar Ibrahim, the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Both leaders discussed economic cooperation and bilateral ties.
Muhammad Aurangzeb also had a meeting with Dp World’s Rizwan Soomro and Yuvraj Narayan.
They talked about how to strengthen Pakistan’s logistics and infrastructure systems to support trade.
“The Pakistani government is committed to advancing joint projects and values partnerships in both business-to-business and business-to-government cooperation,” the finance minister added.