Business
Government to Brief IMF on New Tariff Policy Framework – SUCH TV

The visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation is set to receive a detailed briefing today on the broader economic impact of Pakistan’s newly announced tariff policy, enabling the team to assess its macro-level implications.
The federal government recently unveiled a five-year National Tariff Policy (2025–2030), aimed at boosting exports by 10 to 14 per cent annually while curbing imports to improve the trade balance.
Under the new policy reforms, the government plans to gradually eliminate additional customs duties within four years and phase out regulatory duties over five years.
Moreover, the overall customs duty rate will be capped at a maximum of 15 per cent.
Pakistan and the IMF are presently holding second review negotiations under the $7 billion loan programme.
Similarly, first review talks under the climate financing are also being held at the same time.
Business
Aston Martin in profit warning amid US tariff woes


Aston Martin Lagonda has warned of further losses as it faces US tariffs, and also raised fears over supply chain pressures from Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber-attack fallout.
The Warwickshire luxury carmaker said it was now braced for underlying losses greater than £110m, which was the bottom of the previous expected range.
The announcement marks the second downgrade to its outlook since early July.
Aston Martin bosses said they had launched an “immediate” review of costs and spending in light of tougher trading.
It sent shares tumbling by as much as 11% at one point during trading on Monday.
The firm said wholesale volumes were set to drop by a mid-high single-digit percentage due to “heightened challenges in the global macroeconomic environment, including the ongoing impact of tariffs” – with a weaker performance being seen across North America and Asia.

In a statement on Monday, the firm said: “The global macroeconomic environment facing the industry remains challenging.
“This includes uncertainties over the economic impact from US tariffs and the implementation of the quota mechanism, changes to China’s ultra-luxury car taxes and the increased potential for supply chain pressures, particularly following the recent cyber incident at a major UK automotive manufacturer.”
Tariff quotas
The group has seen shares come under pressure this year over concerns about the impact of Donald Trump’s tariff war.
The firm limited shipments to the US in the second quarter after the president imposed a 25% tariff on car imports in April.
It then resumed shipments in June as the UK reached an agreement with the US for a lower 10% tariff on UK-made cars for the first 100,000 vehicles per manufacturer.
Anything above that threshold will be hit with a 27.5% duty.
But Aston Martin said the tariffs were still having an impact on performance.
It said: “For UK automotive manufacturers, the introduction of a US tariff quota mechanism adds a further degree of complexity and limits the group’s ability to accurately forecast for this financial year end and, potentially, quarterly from 2026 onwards.
“The group continues to engage with both the US and UK governments to secure greater clarity and certainty.”
Aston Martin said while “positive dialogue” had been achieved with the US government directly, the firm was still seeking proactive support from the UK.
It hopes that profitability and free cash flow will “materially” improve in 2025-26 as it cuts costs and ramps up delayed production of its Valhalla model – the group’s first plug-in hybrid mid-engine supercar.
In February, before tariffs were announced, Aston Martin cut 170 jobs after seeing losses widen by a fifth last year and debts pile up.
Its results for the first half of 2025 showed core profitability (EBIT) slumped to £121m, compared with £99.8m in the same period of 2024.
Business
House-buying reform plan aims to cut costs and time

Charlotte EdwardsBusiness reporter, BBC News

Plans for a major reform of the house-buying system, which aim to cut costs, reduce delays and halve failed sales, have been unveiled by the government.
Under the new proposals, sellers and estate agents will be legally required to provide key information about a property up front, and the option of binding contracts could stop either party walking away late in the process.
The government estimates the overhaul could save first-time buyers an average of £710 and shave four weeks off the time it takes to complete a typical property deal.
But sellers at the end of a chain may face increased initial costs of £310 and, while broadly welcoming the move, housing experts say more detail is needed.
Previous attempts at mandating sellers to offer key information – through home information packs – were scrapped owing to complaints that it discouraged or delayed sellers in putting homes on the market.
The broader issue of housing affordability remains a block for many potential property purchasers, especially first-time buyers.
And many home buyers would not benefit from the estimated savings, as the calculations include the average cost of failed transactions that some might not experience.
Collapsing chains
There has long been frustration in England and Wales over the length and jeopardy of the house-buying process for buyers and sellers, such as slow paperwork, ‘gazumping’ — when successful buyers are outbid at the last minute — and broken chains.
Typically in England it takes about six months.
The 12-week consultation on these plans draws on other jurisdictions, including the Scottish system where there is more upfront information and earlier binding contracts making the process quicker.
This will include being up front about the condition of the home, any leasehold costs, and details of property chains.
The government says this transparency will reduce the risk of deals collapsing late in the process and improve confidence among buyers, particularly those purchasing a home for the first time.
It says those in the middle of a chain could also potentially gain a net saving of £400 as a result of the increased costs from selling being outweighed by lower buying expenses, as well as more competition in the sector.
Housing minister Miatta Fahnbulleh told BBC Breakfast the plans to get sellers to arrange the house survey means buyers would get all the information “upfront”.
“You know what you’re getting, you don’t have this thing that every time, for example, there is a new buyer because the transaction failed and you need to do another survey,” she said.
“In Scotland, where they do this, you see that it drives down the number of failed transactions.”
Housing is a devolved issue but the department said it wanted views from across the UK, and the coverage of the proposals would depend on how the measures were finalised.
Contracts and fines
The proposals suggest a “long-term” option of binding contracts is intended to halve the number of failed transactions, which currently cost the UK economy an estimated £1.5bn a year.
Anyone who breaks the contract could face fines, but no firm details are yet provided on how this would work, and what would be considered as justified reasons to leave the contract.
Surveys suggest about a third of buyers had experienced gazumping in the last 10 years.
The reforms also aim to boost professional standards across the housing sector.
A new mandatory Code of Practice for estate agents and conveyancers is being proposed, along with the introduction of side-by-side performance data to help buyers choose trusted professionals based on expertise and track record.
The government said further details the changes would be published in the new year, forming part of its broader housing strategy, which includes a pledge to build 1.5 million new homes.
Conservative shadow housing minister Paul Holmes said: “Whilst we welcome steps to digitise and speed up the process, this risks reinventing the last Labour government’s failed Home Information Packs – which reduced the number of homes put on sale, and duplicated costs across buyers and sellers.”
Housing expert Kirstie Allsopp, the presenter of Channel 4’s Location, Location, Location, told the BBC’s Today programme she was “really glad the government has grasped this nettle”.
She said it was important to focus on both the buying and selling sides, “because things fall through because buyers walk away just as much as sellers walk away, and I think that was a worrying element”.
But Babek Ismayil, chief executive of homebuying platform OneDome, said genuine integration of the process rather than more paperwork at the start was required.
“There’s a risk of unintended consequences: requiring sellers and agents to gather more upfront information could delay properties coming onto the market,” he said.
“In a market where boosting supply is critical, any added friction must be carefully managed to avoid slowing things down.”
The announcement comes as the Conservatives propose changes to its tax policy for first home buyers at the party’s conference in Manchester.
The party plans to “reward work” by giving young people a £5,000 tax rebate towards their first home when they get their first full time job, if the return to government.
Shadow chancellor Mel Stride announced proposals for a “first-job bonus” that would divert National Insurance payments into a long-term savings account.
The party say it will be funded by cuts to public spending worth £47bn over five years in areas such as welfare, the civil service and the foreign aid budget.

Business
Tories pledge to scrap business rates for shops and pubs

The Conservatives will abolish business rates for high street shops and pubs if they win the next election, the shadow chancellor has promised.
Sir Mel Stride made the commitment as he addressed the Conservative Party conference on Monday, saying the “burden of Labour’s tax rises” had been “simply too much to bear” for many businesses.
Pledging to “get business rates down”, he said: “I can announce that as a direct result of getting public spending under control, a future Conservative government will completely abolish business rates for shops and pubs on our high street.”
He added: “End of. Finished. Gone.”
Setting out what he called a “radical plan to rebuild our economy”, he pledged that the Tories would “always be there” for businesses.
Earlier in his speech, Sir Mel had set out plans to cut £47 billion from public spending by restricting welfare payments, shrinking the Civil Service, and slashing aid spending.
The proposals would see people with “less severe” mental health problems offered treatment rather than benefits, with Sir Mel saying this would help them to “a better life”.
He also said a future Conservative government would make savings by restricting benefits to UK citizens, although during media interviews on Monday morning he admitted that EU nationals with settled status would also be eligible for welfare.
But, apart from plans to scrap business rates and offer a £5,000 national insurance rebate for people getting their first full-time job, he played down the prospect of further swingeing tax cuts.
Arguing that rising national debt meant he could not “simply say we will use all of those savings to spend more elsewhere, or to cut taxes”, he promised to only cut taxes “when it is affordable”.
He added: “Because we know where the alternative path leads.
“We saw that with a mini budget in 2022, so let me be clear: the Conservative Party will never, ever make fiscal commitments without spelling out exactly how they will be paid for.”
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