SBP renews status of credit rating agencies

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan on Friday renewed the status of JCR-VIS and PACRA as Eligible External Credit Assessment Institutions (ECAIs) for the year 2015. Banks and DFIs using the standardised approach of Basel framework were allowed to use credit ratings assigned by JCR-VIS and PACRA for CAR calculation purposes, said an SBP circular.—Staff Reporter

Deadline for claim submission extended

KARACHI: The government has extended the last date of submission of claims for drawback of local taxes and levies 2014-15 to the State Bank of Pakistan through the nominated authorised banks till July 31, 2015, an SBP circular said on Friday.

“No claims will be accepted after June 30, 2015 by the nominated authorised banks,” said the SBP.

Soneri Bank posts Rs613m profit in Jan-March

KARACHI: Soneri Bank Ltd on Friday posted profit-after-tax at Rs613.28 million during the first quarter (Jan-March) of 2015, said a press release.

The bank’s net revenue rose by 28.31 per cent to Rs2.61 billion from Rs2.03bn a year ago. Its profit-before-tax stood at Rs949.73m.

Emirates picks Rolls-Royce for $9.2bn deal

LONDON: Dubai’s Emirates Airline on Friday awarded a lucrative engines deal worth a record $9.2-billion to British aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce.

“Emirates has today announced an historic $9.2bn deal with Rolls-Royce for Trent 900 engines and a long-term TotalCare package,” it said in a statement.

The engines will power 50 Airbus A380s that were ordered at the Dubai Air Show in 2013 and will start entering service next year.—AFP

Alibaba helps Sinopec with cloud computing

SHANGHAI: Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has tied up with Sinopec, Asia’s biggest oil refiner, to provide cloud computing services and ‘big data’ analysis, the companies said.

The link-up was for technical services and did not involve equity cooperation, China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, said on its official microblog. It did not say how much money was involved.

Cooperation between Alibaba, a poster child for private enterprise in China, and one of the country’s biggest state-owned companies dovetails with government policy.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2015

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