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Pakistan Advances PPP Infrastructure, Tax Case Priorities and Phone Levy Review as Security Push Intensifies

Officials portray the measures as a coordinated bid to restore investor confidence.

Overview

  • Punjab approved a wide PPP rollout for roads, housing and water, including upgrades on 18 key roads and 24 corridors, a move to modern tolling and a target for at least 30% of the 2026–27 development program to use private partnership models.
  • The telecom regulator recommended lowering heavy taxes on imported mobile phones, citing restricted access to modern devices and incentives for smuggling under current levies.
  • Chief Justice Yahiya Afridi directed that high‑value, economy‑affecting tax disputes receive judicial priority, warning that delays constrain fiscal space and deter investment.
  • Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi ordered stronger crackdowns on money‑laundering and human‑smuggling; the FIA reported 20 agent arrests in four months, Rs140 million in contraband and drug seizures, and a new passenger facilitation center at Karachi airport.
  • Security updates included the killing of three traffic police officers by motorcycle‑borne gunmen in Laki Marwat and Karachi police arrests of two suspects, including a nephew of ex‑Lyari gang commander Rahman Dakit, with weapons and a snatched motorcycle recovered.