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SBP transfers Rs2.7tr dividend to govt | The Express Tribune
KARACHI:
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) transferred a record Rs2.7 trillion to the federal government as a dividend payout for fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25), despite recording a 27% decline in its own annual profit.
According to an analysis of central bank data, the SBP’s profit for FY25 stood at Rs2.5 trillion. This decrease is primarily attributed to a recent decline in the benchmark interest rate, which has compressed the bank’s earnings from its monetary operations.
The dividend payout to the federal coffers surged dramatically. The transfer of Rs2.7 trillion marks a massive increase of 2.8 times, or 180%, compared to the previous fiscal year.
Moreover, the SBP’s foreign exchange reserves recorded a slight increase of $18 million during the week ended August 22, 2025, pushing the bank’s reserves to $14.274 billion. According to the data released by the SBP, the country’s total liquid foreign reserves stood at $19.618 billion. Of these, the reserves held by commercial banks amounted to $5.343 billion. “Import cover is estimated to be at 2.7 months after the aforementioned change,” noted AKD Securities.
Earlier, the SBP carried out net foreign exchange interventions amounting to $7.8 billion between June 2024 and May 2025.
Moreover, the Pakistani rupee inched up slightly on Thursday, appreciating by 0.01% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market. By the day’s close, the rupee stood at 281.80, marking an improvement of three paisa compared to the previous session. This also extended the local currency’s winning streak to 15 consecutive sessions. On Wednesday, the rupee had closed at 281.83 against the greenback.
Furthermore, the SBP-held gold reserves surged to $6.8 billion in FY25, reflecting a robust 41% year-on-year (YoY) spike, according to the SBP and AKD Research data.
The significant rise was mainly attributed to a sharp rally in global gold prices, while the central bank also added 1,925 ounces to its holdings during the year.
Over the last five years, the SBP’s gold reserves have shown consistent growth, rising from $3.67 billion in FY20 to $6.84 billion in FY25, more than doubling in value. The trend highlights Pakistan’s increasing reliance on gold as a safe-haven asset to strengthen its overall reserves position. Meanwhile, gold prices in Pakistan continued their upward trend on Thursday, tracking international gains, as the global bullion market hit a five-week high. The rise was fueled by a softer US dollar and safe-haven demand amid concerns over the Federal Reserve’s independence.
According to the All Pakistan Sarafa Gems and Jewellers Association, the price of gold per tola increased by Rs900, reaching Rs362,600, while 10-gram gold was sold for Rs310,871 after rising Rs772.
In the international market, gold traded between $3,384 and $3,413 an ounce, with prices later hovering around $3,406. Interactive Commodities Director Adnan Agar noted that gold has gradually risen by around $100 in the past 10 days, climbing from the $3,300 level. “Gold has been moving in one direction for about three months within a $100-150 range,” Agar said. “Sustainability of this rise depends on future developments. If US interest rates are lowered, it will be favourable for gold. For now, the market is awaiting clear signals.”
The UK could face some food shortages by the summer under a worst case scenario drawn up by government officials.
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The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building stands after it was reported the IRS will lay off about 6,700 employees, a restructuring that could strain the tax-collecting agency’s resources during the critical tax-filing season, in Washington, D.C., Feb. 20, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
For seven years, wealthy Americans faced a looming deadline to take advantage of tax provisions that were set to expire at the end of 2025. While the One Big Beautiful Bill Act alleviated much of the uncertainty by making most of the cuts permanent, lawyers and tax accountants say the ever-shifting tax code requires constant planning.
With this year’s Tax Day now behind us, here are five of the most important planning strategies wealthy investors and high earners are thinking about for next year and beyond.
1. Long-short tax-loss harvesting
Last year’s tax bill permanently raised the estate tax exemption to $15 million per person, up from $13.99 million. (It was initially set to be cut in half at the end of 2025.)
The higher threshold has prompted a shift in focus from minimizing federal estate taxes to lowering taxes on income and capital gains. Minimizing capital gains has become crucial after several years of strong market gains, according to Mitchell Drossman, head of national wealth strategies in Bank of America’s chief investment office. The S&P 500 has surged more than 75% since the beginning of 2023.
“The biggest tax story to me is a capital gains and investing story,” said Drossman. “You have lots of clients who are sitting on significant gains.”
Investors are increasingly turning to long-short tax-loss harvesting, an aggressive form of a popular strategy, in order to minimize capital gains, Drossman said. With traditional tax-loss harvesting, investors sell losing assets to offset realized gains on others. Long-short tax strategies, on the other hand, borrow against the portfolio to buy short positions expected to fall and maintain long positions expected to thrive.
“If there’s natural volatility in the markets, you have, now, a greater amount of an asset base to choose from in terms of harvesting losses,” he said. “But when you look at your overall portfolio, you’re still kind of neutral.”
2. Bonus depreciation
The 2025 tax bill renewed bonus depreciation, allowing businesses to deduct the full cost of qualifying assets like machinery, computers or vehicles the first year they are used.
Adam Ludman, head of tax strategy at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, said many clients with operating businesses are investing with bonus depreciation in mind, such as buying private jets.
Real estate developers and investors are trying to get the most bang for their buck by assessing which parts of their properties can be depreciated faster, according to Ludman. For instance, while a commercial building can take 39 years to depreciate, a parking lot can be depreciated over 15 years, allowing owners to recover costs faster.
3. Changing domiciles
A wave of blue states are considering new taxes on top earners and high-net-worth individuals in order to cover cuts in federal aid. California’s one-time billionaire tax proposal may end up on the November ballot, while Maine and Washington have recently passed millionaire taxes.
Jane Ditelberg, chief tax strategist for Northern Trust Wealth Management, said a growing number of clients are asking how to change their tax status as these proposals gain traction. Depending on their state, residents can avoid state-level taxes by creating trusts in states with favorable trust income laws like Delaware.
The most straightforward way to avoid local taxes is to change your domicile, which is easier said than done, according to Jere Doyle of BNY Wealth. The senior estate planning strategist based in Massachusetts, which imposes a millionaire tax, said he has had clients move to New Hampshire and establish residency before selling their businesses.
But clients are often loath to take the steps necessary to establish intent not to return, Doyle said. For instance, moving to Florida may not be enough to avoid Massachusetts taxes if you refuse to sell your Martha’s Vineyard home, he said.
“Everyone thinks that if they spend 183 days in another state, you’re domiciled in that state. That’s not necessarily true. Each state’s a little bit different,” he said. “You [have] got to change where you vote, where your car is registered, even where your doctors are, what clubs you belong to, golf clubs, country clubs, things like that.”
4. Bunching charitable gifts
One notable drawback of last year’s tax bill was a reduction in the tax benefits of charitable giving for top earners.
The bill limits top-earning donors in two ways. First, starting this year, donors who itemize will only be able to deduct charitable contributions in excess of 0.5% of their adjusted gross income, or AGI.
Second, taxpayers in the 37% tax bracket will have their itemized deductions reduced by 2/37th of the value. This ceiling reduces the effective tax benefit from 37% to 35%.
Ditelberg said many clients accelerated their charitable giving last year before these new rules took effect. She said she anticipates clients will continue to “bunch” their donations, by giving a larger sum in one year rather than spreading it over multiple years, so they only trigger the 0.5% haircut once, either through their foundations or donor-advised funds.
5. Opportunity zones
The tax bill also offered an incentive for business owners and real estate owners to postpone selling their assets. The bill made permanent the qualified opportunity zone program, which allows investors to defer capital gains by rolling them over into a fund that invests in a low-income community.
The opportunity zone funds created under the first Trump administration still exist, but you can only defer the taxes until the end of the year. The new opportunity zones, which have yet to be designated, come with enhanced benefits, especially for investors in rural communities. For instance, if you hold your investment in a qualified rural opportunity fund for five years, your capital gains are reduced by 30% for tax purposes.
But you only have 180 days to roll over your gains, and the new opportunity zone rules don’t take effect until 2027, Ditelberg noted.
“If you’re thinking of incurring a major gain, you may want to defer it until August or September, instead of doing it in May or June, if you think you would like to take advantage of the opportunity zone deferral,” she said. “I think we’re going to see people who are incurring gains in the second half of this year.”
That said, investors are waiting to see what the new funds entail. Drossman said some clients are reluctant to invest in opportunity zones again after their previous investments underperformed.
“It’s a classic example of not letting the tax-tail wag the dog because these need to be sound investments,” he said. “Like with all investments, there is an element of risk and return.”
Illuminated logo for Pepsi on a soda fountain in Walnut Creek, California, March 4, 2026.
Smith Collection | Gado | Archive Photos | Getty Images
PepsiCo on Thursday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts’ expectations as its struggling North American food business reported a return to volume growth.
Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $1.61 adjusted vs. $1.55 expected
- Revenue: $19.44 billion vs. $18.94 billion expected
Pepsi reported first-quarter net income attributable to the company of $2.32 billion, or $1.70 per share, up from $1.83 billion, or $1.33 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company earned $1.61 per share.
Net sales rose 8.5% to $19.44 billion.
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