Tuesday, 29 November, 2011Pages: 8 profit.com.pk

Panic selling ensues at KSE overinvestors concern Page 4

KARACHI

GHULAM ABBAS

desPite tall claims by government toexempt Karachi’s industrial sector fromprolonged load shedding, industriescontinued facing eight hour outages.

the decision made at Governor House, is yet to beimplemented by government. Under the decisionvia which, the sector was to be without any loadshedding through supply of additional gas toKarachi electric supply Company (KesC),industrial units remained under dark duringscheduled outages in three cycles.

An agreement was signed between KesC, suisouthern Gas Company (ssGC) and KarachiChamber of Commerce and industry (KCCi) on26th november at a meeting held at GovernorHouse to resolve electricity crisis faced by city’sindustries, which almost closed the prolongedpower breakdowns. the meeting was chaired byGovernor, and co-chaired by dr Asim, Minister ofPetroleum and natural resources.

According to official sources in KesC, as soon asgas supply to KesC is increased to the level agreed andcommitted by ssGC (180mmcfd) in the agreement,industrial zones of the city will once again be exempted

from load shedding as per standard policy of KesC.However, as yet, there has been no increase in gassupply by ssGC, and KesC is still receiving gas below120 MMCFd. this has been the case since the pastfortnight, which is the primary reason for currentpower crisis in the city, especially in industrial zones.As soon as agreed level of 180mmcfd of gas is receivedfrom ssGC, KesC will not only implement ‘zero loadshedding’ programme for industries, but loadshedding in residential and commercial areas of thecity will also be subsequently reduced.

According to an available copy of agreementsigned between three parties, following decisionswith their consent were taken in the meeting:1. ssGC would supply 180 MMCFi gas to KesC

with immediate effect with followingconditions: rs2 billion will be paid on tuesday (november29) by KesC,

rs2.4 billion (november 2011 bill) and anotherrs600 million will be paid in december 2011, and KesC shall pay rs300 million to clear the pastarrears over and above the current bill ofdecember 2011 from January 2012 on time.2. CnG would be curtailed for 2 days in a week.3. Complete industries would close down for next

four sundays (on a 100 per cent basis) till the

end of december 2011. situation is expected tonormalise from 1st January, 2012 as KunarPasaki gas field is expected to come online byend of december 2011.

4. Fertiliser supply would be initially curtailed to48 MMCFd and completely disconnected indecember 2011 and January 2012.

5. it was decided that KesC shall prevent loadshedding in industrial areas and ssGC shallalso ensure 180 MMCFd to KesC. Bothcompanies will prevent load shedding inindustries and curtail KesC’s gas tillmeeting is held between KCCi, ssGC andKesC under chairmanship of Governorsindh within 24 hours.

6. Governor sindh and Minister Petroleum willget provincial and federal government to payrs15 billion owed by Karachi Water andsewerage Board (KWsB) to KesC directly tossGC. it is the responsibility of Ministry ofFinance to make payment and adjustment asper implementation Agreement.

7. KesC will conduct massive disconnectiondrives against defaulters without anyexemption.

8. KWsB and Provincial Government will ensuretimely payment of electricity dues.

Government fails to tackle load shedding

PM chairs meeting toreview developmentportfolios

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

PriMe Minister syed Yusuf razaGilani chaired a meeting to reviewdevelopment portfolios completed

during tenure of present democraticgovernment. Prime Minister said projectsunder banner of Karwan-e-tameer of overrs1.3 trillion have been completed fromKhyber to Karachi and he would visit eachconstituency to inaugurate developmentprojects to boost socio-economic uplift ofpeople. He added that development projectsundertaken by the present democraticgovernment was of record volume in thehistory of our country. Prime Minister urgedministers and parliamentarians to visit theirconstituencies and apprise people aboutcompleted development projects which wereaimed at their socio-economic uplift. drFirdous Ashiq Awan, Minister forinformation and Broadcasting, Farzanaraja, Chairperson, BisP, dr nadeem ulHaq, deputy Chairman, PlanningCommission, senator, syeda sughraHussain imam, Qamar Zaman Kaira, MnA,nazar Muhammad Gondal, MnA, ZumrradKhan, Md, Pakistan Bait-ul-Mall, nargissethi, secretary Cabinet and other seniorofficials attended the meeting.

Pak-UK decide tostrengthen cooperation

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

PAKistAn and United Kingdom hasdecided to streamline developmentcooperation under the country plan

that focuses on “sustainable growth”, “Fasterprogress towards Millennium developmentGoals (MdGs)”, “Better governance” and“improving aid effectiveness through donorharmonisation”. Federal Minister forFinance and economic Affairs dr AbdulHafeez shaikh discussed various dimensionsof Pak-UK development cooperation withFrancis Campbell, deputy HighCommissioner and director UK trade andinvestment, Zaffar Chida, Chief executiveand Mehran, Finance Manager, Premier Oil,during a meeting in his office today. FinanceMinister appreciated UK’s efforts as aleading bilateral development partner ofPakistan and its budgetary support mainly inareas of education, health, poverty reductionand governance. it was discussed in themeeting that out of UK’s commitment of£120 million for Poverty reductionBudgetary support, £60 million standsdisbursed while the remaining amount hasbeen diverted to Citizen’s damageCompensation Program (CdCP) phase-ii.Pakistan and UK entered into a long-termdevelopment assistance relationship in2006 by signing a 10 year developmentPartnership Arrangement (dPA). in linewith the shared vision set forth in dPA,UK Government published its CountryPlan for Pakistan for the period 2008-2013. the meeting also discussed Pak-UKtrade relations, as UK is the mostimportant trading partner withineuropean Union (eU). simlarly, UK hastraditionally been the second largestinvestor in Pakistan and Foreign directinvestment (Fdi) of UK in Pakistanstands at $208.1 million in 2010-11. themeeting also deliberated on certain FBr(Federal Board of revenue) related issuesof some British companies working in oiland gas sector. Finance Minister assuredthe delegation that issues will be resolvedaccordingly so that our developmentcooperation is further strengthened.

Zardari seeks UAE assistance infree trade agreement with GCC

g Agreed volume of gas yet to be received by KESC g Industries continue braving eight hour long outages

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

President Asif Ali Zardarisought United Arab emirates’s(UAe) help for Free tradeAgreement with GCC countries

which would pave the way for increasedcommercial activity between Pakistanand the Gulf countries.Enhancing mutual coopEra-tion: “Pakistan is keen to sign Freetrade Agreement with GCC countriesand would appreciate UAe’s support inthis regard. this would pave the way forincreased commercial activity betweenPakistan and the Gulf countries,” Presi-dent told sheikh Abdullah Bin Zeyed Al-nahyan, foreign minister of United Arabemirates (UAe), who called on PresidentAsif Ali Zardari here at ‘Aiwan-e-sadr’.StrEngthEning tradE rEla-tionS: the one-on-one meeting ofUAe Foreign Minister with the Presi-dent was followed by a delegation levelmeeting. A wide range of bilateral issueswere discussed during the meeting.

Hina rabbani Khar, Federal Minis-ter for Foreign Affairs and senator Arehman Malik, Federal Minister for in-terior and other senior officials werepresent during delegation level meeting.

during the delegation level meeting,a whole spectrum of Pak- UAe bilateralrelations was discussed. President, dur-ing meeting, highlighted the existingcordial and friendly relationship withUAe. He said Pakistan values its bondsof fraternity with UAe and is keen to ex-pand cooperation in various fields. Heemphasised upon further strengtheningtrade relations in order to translate ex-isting equation into economic terms.StructurEd mEchaniSm: Heexpressed hope that Joint MinisterialCommission between the two countrieswould provide a structured mechanismfor promotion of bilateral economic re-lations that would go a long way to en-

hance economic interactions betweenthe two countries. He said Pakistandeeply appreciates continued interest ofinvestors from UAe in Pakistan. Presi-dent said private sector and investorsfrom UAe could take maximum advan-tage from investment friendly policies ofPakistan in various sectors including pe-troleum, banking, telecommunicationsand infrastructure.

President also noted with satisfac-tion presence of a large number of Pak-istani expatriates in UAe who were

contributing positively towards socio-economic development of the countryand were serving as a vehicle to promotegreater understanding between peopleof the two countries. He also said Pak-istan can meet UAe demand in the fieldof Human resource for its various de-velopment projects.Bond of truSt: during the meet-ing the President thanked UAe govern-ment for their generosity and assistanceto people of Pakistan at every hour ofdistress. He said generosity at the time

of distress reflects depth of our mutualfeelings and strength of our bonds.

Minister of Foreign Affairs sheikhAbdullah Bin Zayed thanked the Presi-dent for meeting and expressed hopethat existing close cooperation betweenthe two countries would continue togrow with each passing day for mutualbenefit. He also assured continued sup-port of UAe government to the people ofPakistan in their fight against militancyand rehabilitation of natural calamity hitinfrastructure.

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debate

Tuesday, 29 November, 2011

02

DuRDAnA nAjAM

Aseminar was hosted lately in a localhotel in Lahore to discuss the issues af-flicting Pakistan, as the sixth most pop-ulated country, sitting over seven billion

people of the world. it was argued that price hike,poverty and unemployment in Pakistan are the re-sults of population explosion. One could not rea-son over this argument, but with a tinge ofastonishment. We contradict ourselves only by in-dulging in things without thinking. One wondersif it is the sheer number of people that is keepingthe government of Pakistan or whosoever is at thehelm of the affairs, to make sustainable develop-ment efforts so as to put Pakistan on the road ofprogress. One also wonders if it was over popula-tion that has tied the hands of our leaders to digmore gas, oil and other resources. One wondersyet again, does the institutional break down thatPakistan is facing today owes its failure to allthose people who were born insanely over theyears. the more one tries to develop a relation-ship between population growth and the eco-nomic development in Pakistan; the wonder listwill keep on growing.

RESoURCE MISMAnAGEMEntPakistan is not poor because it is overpopulated; itis poor because it has not drawn on its resources ad-equately. no sane person would attribute Pakistan’sresource crises to overpopulation. it is the makingof our own doing. We know we have not plannedour economy. We have misused resources andflouted them with vengeance. Balochistan is theleast populated area of Pakistan, but with worstpoverty indicators. it houses only 5.1 per cent ofpopulation of Pakistan in a territory covering 43 percent of Pakistan’s total land. in the words of an in-dependent economist, Wazir Ahmed, there is an“equitable distribution of poverty in Balochistan”.According to the Pakistan Labour force survey2009-10, unemployment rate in Balochistan is 33.4per cent, with poverty at 48 per cent for the urbanand 51 per cent at the rural level. nearly 90 per centpeople, whether literate or illiterate are jobless orunemployed. situation becomes more critical whenwe find out that, of the one million cultivable landsin Balochistan, the provincial government earns nomore than a million rupees from agriculture, inother words, one rupee per acre. so far used as amineral resource and trade route only, Balochistanhas been exploited by wide margins through peopleknown to exploitation a mean to their own ends.Going back to the aforementioned seminar, the rea-son why Pakistan is feeling the heat of inflation andunemployment is because our economy is dysfunc-tional. the engines of economy: energy, communi-cations, transportations, and financial institutionhave turned into carcasses, eaten and depleted bycorruption and law and order. the saga of notadding anything to our electric grid and the mis-management of gas through ill planned CnG and

LPG sectors speaks volume ofthe disrespect we have shownto the nature. Unless we had ex-hausted all our options in op-timally using the resources atour disposal, blaming popu-lation explosion responsiblefor our economic woessounds un-pragmatic. this bringsus to the human resource; Pak-istan’s population has 70 per centpeople below the age of 25. there isgreat risk out there, in case we fail todirect this tsunami of people to the right direction,it’s going to devour us all.

DEMoGRAPhIC DIvIDEnD the assumption goes that having a burgeoningyouth is a dividend to a society not in the sense ofvitality, but as a human resource. With higheryouth population, we can put more energy intoour economic activity by mean of better ideas,skilled labour and innovative approach, only if weraise them so. if they were to become a collectionof youth, forming a crowed, to be fed only, then itsurly becomes a burdened. However, if providedtargeted academic opportunities and different op-tions to explore potentials, the rising populationwould suddenly become a matter of rejoice. Lookat imran Khan and now on the heels of him thesharif mafia, suddenly inspiring to the youth,knowing that the future of each party depends onthe decisions of the youth at the ballot box. Ac-cording to CiA WorldFact book, beside 15.4 percent unemployment, there exists substantial un-deremployment in Pakistan. Age structure of apopulation affects a nation’s key socio economicissues. Countries with young population need toinvest more on education. We in Pakistan are in-vesting only 2 per cent of our GdP on educationthat too is not invested optimally. the situation ofour dismal business and economic opportunitycould be gauged from the fact that on the countryreview day in the Common Wealth business forumheld on 27th October in Perth, hardly 50 partici-pants attended the show in the room with over300 seating capacity. Unless we provide for theprovision of resources we cannot curse over pop-ulation being the cause of underdevelopment.

IS nAtURE DUMb AnD StoIC?

the world is now populated by 7 billion people.scarcity of resources certainly become as issuewhen the question of feeding seven billion peoplecomes to mind. suddenly the Malthus scare, thefamine stricken Africa, the rising poverty level ofunderdeveloped countries and the environmentalhazards begins to make sense in a way that westart reasoning that had there been lesser peopleon this earth all these miseries, food crisis, carbonemission, financial insecurities and would have

beenavoided or

could have been resolved without delay. themillion dollar questions is that, are resources re-ally scarce or is nature that dumb and stoic so asnot to offer substitute to make for the loss of onecommodity in the case of scarcity? Populationbeing a paradoxical subject has more than oneviewpoints defending and rejecting its expansion.to a market economist and to the reformists over-population has little relevance to quality of life.People lead their through learned behaviours,even the genetics have to be streamlined andevolved under right tutelage to make a difference.if people are poor, illiterate, unhealthy, unem-ployed, unskilled, uncouth or terrorist, it is be-cause they have not been provided with anenvironment where they could have been none ofthese. it is lack of provision of resources thatmakes the mass of people look bigger, larger andultimately a liability. today we talk hoarse aboutthe unequal distribution of resources that leavesa great number of people in a given country de-prived of facilities enjoyed by the so called blessedpeople. exploitation of resources is always givenas the reason for this designed gap, between haveand have not, where some are pushed left on thecontinuum of well being while a few knock to-gether to the right. in corollary it is the right dis-tribution and continuous identification, addition,and redistribution of resources that takes care ofmore members adding to the world family.

RESoURCE bASE DoES not REMAIn fIxED

When horse powered transportation lost the abilityto serve the rising demand of over populated world,railroads and the motor car were developed andwhen schoolhouses become crowded, we built newschools...more modern and better than the old one.the diversity and versatility of nature have takencare of many diminishing resources owing to beingoverused. When elephant tusks were no more avail-able for ivory billiard balls, celluloid was inventedfollowed by the rest of our plastics, when trees be-came scare in sixteen century human beings

learnedto use coal. satellites and fibre

optics (derived from sand) re-placed expensive copper for telephonetransmission. the development and

progress in science and technology oc-curred what we called out of diminished re-

sources, when there was a shortage, manmadeor natural, when there was a need to have more formore people, there were more exploration, devel-opment and innovation.

UnfoUnDED MAlthUSIAn fEARFor the Malthusian, rising population has sharpjaws that could go deep into the system of humanwelfare and tear it into pieces. in order to live in har-mony and peace with adequate resources, the worldshould have lesser people. if a family is poor, it is sobecause they have chosen to be so, therefore the bur-den of fewer resources should be borne by them formaking wrong choices, in this case not planningtheir family. it is due to this very theory that in manycountries the emphasis to have fewer children beenenforced upon the poor, believing that it is they whohave more children and therefore every denuncia-tion and every family planning policy should be di-rected toward them. However, nearly in every case,Pakistan as well as in india, this policy has fired backfor want of wrong need assessment and problemidentification, behind having more than two chil-dren. in countries like Pakistan and india, spiritualleanings, male issue, old age insecurities have beenthe reasons behind having extended families. Chinawith its one child policy is facing skewed populationwith a stock of baby boomers progressing withoutany young following succeeding them. the answerto the puzzle, especially in the case of poor and mar-ginalised people, did not lay in asking them to havefew children, but to educate them, provide themwith health facilities so that they could think clear,give them level playing professional fields and en-gage the patriarchal and tribal societies into dis-course valuing the birth of a baby girl. it is all abouthow seriously we take our resources and their us-ability. the colonial era expanded because the colo-nialists were in the search of new markets, diverselabour and better resources. they did succeed.today, it is interregional and international tradeand interconnectivity of business that can serve theoverpopulated world with endless opportunities.Only we have to learn to think diverse.

Durdana Najam is a freelance featurewriter. She can be reached at

durdananajam456@hotmail.com

Tony CzuCzKA

sPUrned investor calls tomaximise financialfirepower to calm markets,saying its fast- track

proposals for european Uniontreaty change to enforce budgetdiscipline are key to solving theeuro-area debt crisis.

Germany is working with “anambitious timeline because webelieve that can’t wait for thisforever, but that it should also bepossible to put such limited changeinto effect in what for some is asurprisingly short time,” Chancellor’s chief spokesman, steffen seibert,told reporters in Berlin today.Merkel will deliver a speech on thecrisis to the lower house of parliament

in Berlin on dec. 2, previewing a dec.8-9 summit of european leaders thatis due to discuss proposals for treatychange, seibert said. stocks rose forthe first time in 11 days and U.s.equity futures, commodities and theeuro all advanced today onspeculation that leaders are steppingup their efforts to resolve thesovereign debt crisis. As euro-areafinance chiefs prepare to meet in

Brussels tomorrow, Germanycontinues to reject joint euro-areabonds or attempts to deploy the tofight the crisis, Finance Minister saidyesterday. Germany and europe don’thave “unlimited financial strength” tocounter the debt crisis, seibert said.“that is precisely why the Germangovernment reacts so skeptically tothe many calls for europe to finallyfree up the really big, final financial

reserves, which the Anglo-saxonworld likes to call showing thebazooka,” he said. “We in europecan’t pretend financial strength thatwe don’t have.” the euro rose from aneight-week low versus the dollar,advancing 1 per cent to $1.3373 as of12:30 p.m. in Frankfurt. thebenchmark gained 2.7 per cent to227.49 at 11:07 a.m. in , its biggestadvance in a month.

Pakistan is notpoor becauseit is over populated

Merkel favours fast-track EU treaty change

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THe economy expanded remarkably dur-ing 2001-07. the government in powerback then, claimed several macroeco-nomic achievements. it doubled in sizewith annual GdP growth rate peaking at

7.5 per cent in 2003/04, incredibly inflation was wellunder control, the debt burden reduced to one-half,foreign exchange reserves were sufficient to cover upto 6 months import, Pakistani stock market rankedamong the top performers in the emerging marketsand total investment peaked at 36.1 per cent of the

GdP in 2005/06. Pakistan successfully

launched sovereign bondsof maturity ranging from5-30 years and these wereoversubscribed in the in-ternational capital marketwhich reflected strong con-fidence of foreign in-

vestors. nonetheless, the boom period lasted for ashort period of time. series of economic and politicalshocks shook Pakistan’s economy from 2007-11. in-deed when the current government shouldered theburden of responsibility in 2008, found itself in direstraits and has since been struggling.

the GdP growth rate which peaked in 2005 at 9.0per cent has fallen flat in 2010/11. interestingly, therate of unemployment fell from 7.7 per cent (2005) to5.6 per cent (2010/11). it is, however, believed that theunemployment rate is running in double digit asagainst the figure reported in the government’s statis-tics. total investment growth figure shrank from apeak of 36.1 per cent (2006) to a mere 6.2 per cent(2010/11) surprising having no significant impact onthe unemployment rate.

it is interesting to note that the GdP growth and theunemployment rates peaked together at 9 per cent and7.7 per cent, respectively in 2005. in other words the ac-celerated economic growth (expansion in output) in-stead of creating new jobs made more people redundantin 2005. Perhaps growth was only demand driven andnot job lead growth. in 2009/10, when the GdP growth

increased to 3.8 per cent from a low of 1.7 per cent(2008/09), unemployment rate increased from 5.2 percent to 5.5 per cent. And adding to the funny tail of thedouble dip dilemma, when the GdP growth rate wincedto 1.7 per cent (2009/10), from 3.7 per cent (2007/08),unemployment rate remained stagnant.

theory says there is an inverse relationship be-tween the GdP growth rate and unemployment ratei.e. increase in the GdP would tend to push down theunemployment rate and vice versa. However, the datapresented here has failed to confirm this theory. Hencerelationship between the GdP growth and unemploy-ment rate has remained somewhat of a mystery. evenif the time lag is taken into consideration, there can beno correlation found.

this may lead us to conclude if there is somethingwrong the way these indices are complied by the re-spective departments of the government. One possibleexplanation for this distortion that comes to mind isthat over 45 per cent of the country’s total labor forceis employed in the agriculture sector and 62 per centof population live in the rural areas and directly andindirectly linked with agriculture for their livelihoods.Put together 55.4 per cent are employed in manufac-turing, construction, transport, and services sectors.

Let’s try to see if facts can help confirm the aboveexplanation. the agriculture sector growth peaked at6.5 per cent (2004/05) and slipped to the bottom 1.2per cent (2010/11) of business cycle. so again lookingat the growth figures of agriculture sector, the relation-ship between the unemployment rate and the growthrate has no resemblance.

despite a lackluster performance of agricul-ture sector and the overall slowdown in the econ-omy the unemployment rate has remainedsubdued during the period. to conclude the dis-cussion, it can be said that any swings in the GdPgrowth seems to be having no significant impacton the unemployment rate. Also there is a direneed to revamp the statistics department of thegovernment to provide us more accurate and reli-able data on major economic indicators.

to regain macroeconomic stability, Pakistan needsto expand its economy 5-7 per cent per annum over thenext 5 years period, create adequate number of jobs,improve income distribution, liberalise the economy,and set gear for transparent privatisation of sick Pses.

What Pakistan needs now is growth which is notonly demand driven but job oriented which will helpincrease consumers’ incomes and standards of livingof average Pakistanis.

(The author is director Szabist Islamabad.He can be reached at syed311@hotmail.com

THe rs6 billion bailout packagefor Pakistan steel Mills violatesone too many essential economicprinciples to warrant anyappreciation – throws good

money after bad, encourages moral hazard,rewards incompetence, sets bailoutprecedents even in this environment and onlydelays the inevitable. What happens when thisbucket dries, and the family silver needspolishing again? How long will thegovernment keep providing last minutelifelines to sick and hemorrhaging enterprises.

time and again, we have stressed the needto ease the government’s fiscal burden, asizable bunch of which springs from inefficientinstitutions. PsM should actually lead the wayin the government’s final turn-aroundinitiative that restructures these organiastionsin preparation for strategic privatisation.short of that, there is no way this particularblack hole can be plugged.

Presently, the government’s crampedspending space has severely compromisedbottoming out of stagflation. With monetary

policy also compromised, again because ofinexcusable government borrowing, inabilityto incorporate targeted expansionary fiscalpolicy has ruled out the option of stimulatinginfrastructural expansion and job creation atthe same time. With these inefficient, sickgiants in need of constant fiscal support, thereis no way financial managers can engineer anuptick in investment and consumerism.

such patterns are indicative of the overalldirection the finance ministry is posturing in.With exports slowing, no signs of FBrrestructuring, and available resourcesincreasingly channeled towards non-productive compulsions, there is littlepossibility of important statistics enteringsafe zones. At the end of the day, the taxpaying middle and lower income groups aresqueezed for government inefficiency. Withelections not very far off now, the governmentshould at least be prudent enough to prepareitself for a vote-out surprise unless asignificant shift in direction takes place. steelMills must be made an example of, but apositive, beneficial one.

The PSM example

What Pakistanneeds is growththat is job oriented

The double-dipdilemma

Syed Asad Hussain

Planning and economic growth

i agree with Mr tarin, but not totally.Yes, there is a need of will to do thethings with honesty, but the most im-portant of all is to address our struc-tural problems; and in this regard,energy crisis is on the top. We need toaddress the energy problems as muchas early, because today energy is con-sidered to be the life blood of economywithout which our economy can notmove. Furthermore, in the west, the de-mand is not that of planning mecha-nism, as the writer mentions in thearticle, but that of economic system'salternative. to demand for a planningmechanism is like asking for anothercommittee, or state department.

MuHAMMAD ASIf joyo

iSLAMABAd

Work on Iran›Pakistan pipeline

now that iran has almost completedtheir side of the pipeline, we need tofollow suit and work on the projectwith similar work ethic and determi-nation. it is promising to note thatBalochistan is being supportive andgiving easy access to the various tar-geted sites. However the Federal Gov-ernment needs to back this up bygiving as many employment opportu-nities to people in Balochistan as pos-sible. despite the Us antagonism, thepipeline has come a long way and ison the verge of completion. thepipeline is a lucrative move and nowthat it has endured the test of time,we must ensure that we take the proj-ect to the finishing line.

MoMInA BILAL

LAHORE

E D I T O R I A L

Philip Morris – comedy of errors

ACCOrdinG to a popular sur-vey, Philip Morris, formerlyknown as Lakson tobacoo Com-pany, spent an astounding $6.4million on publicity in 1998,

making itself the third largest business ad-vertiser in Pakistan that year. thanks to thegood three minutes cigarette tV advertise-ments back in the 90s for giving us ‘the tasteof adventure’. Come to think of it, i still can-not trace back to the time when my ears lastheard a fast forward - shrill voiceover com-ing straight from an electronic advertise-

ment saying, ‘smoking is injurious to health- Ministry of Health’. Adding to my mis-eries, i don’t even get to see the dandy Marl-boro men, finely suited; riding horses,driving jeeps, climbing mountain peaks andattractively sliding cigarettes from a ciga-rette pack. to top it off, my dilemma wors-ens when i can’t figure out a better ringtonethat can replace the spell-binding back-ground music of the famous cigarette adver-tisements of our times.

in the case of cigarette advertisements,the ban in Pakistan was imposed from ap-proximately, the year 2002; since then thegovernment of Pakistan outlawed open ad-vertisement of cigarettes through both printand electronic media.

even when cigarette advertisements werenot banned in Pakistan, public service mes-sages against smoking were regularly tele-casted on electronic media. One very famouscommercial, of 2 minutes, 17 seconds, prettylong to bear at this point in time, we all re-member; ‘Wasim bhai, ap thaktay nahi hain?

Jee nahi,mein cigarette nahi peeta.’ (eventhough, i can bet, that out of all the goodthings that he does, he definitely is a goodsmoker.) today, the same celebrity can be jux-taposed, with a voiceover warning about thedangers of smoking. Hail the excessive mediaexposure and advancement in time that havechanged our perception towards things.

Just recently, as i was going through aprint magazine, my eyes caught the full pageview of my long lost ‘handsome hunk’, surf-ing through the sea on a graceful horse. Yes,it was none other than ‘the Marlboro Man’.i instantly wanted to thank the company forbringing back my childhood memories, butthe tobacco Control Cell of Pakistan appar-ently, did not like the dude’s presence onmass media. the cell lifted a ban on cigaretteadvertisements under the Prohibition ofsmoking in enclosed Places and Protectionof non-smokers Health Ordinance, 2002,but Philip Morris did not even seem to re-search well before making such a majorblunder. Good lord, Pakistan tobacco Com-

pany - the major com-petitor of Philip Morris,did not follow their stars.

the Prohibition ofsmoking in enclosed Places and Protection ofnon-smokers Health Ordinance, 2002, gov-erns multiple areas of tobacco control, includ-ing restrictions on public smoking, sales tominors, and tobacco advertising, promotionand sponsorship. According to the Presiden-tial Ordinance, “notwithstanding anythingcontained in any other law for the time beingin force, no person/company shall advertisetobacco and tobacco products in any media, inany place and any public service vehicle.” thismakes the recent promotional advertisementcampaign by Philip Morris, a clear violation ofthese rules and regulation.

in another recent incident, the com-pany evaded millions of rupees worth oftaxes by short payment of federal exciseduty and sales tax in their imported brand,Marlboro. For which Federal Board of rev-enue (FBr) has issued show-cause notice to

Phillip Morris, askingthem to pay evaded taxamounting, rs300 mil-lion.

despite the aforesaid cases, the giant cig-arette company keeps on beating out prod-ucts across the Fast Moving Consumer Goods(FMCG) spectrum. the tobacco company isalso involved in Corporate social responsi-bilities (Csr). Csr promotes the view that“firms should strive to make a profit, obeythe law, be ethical, and be a good corporatecitizen.” ironic, how a cigarette manufactur-ing company rates environment, health andsafety management as their top priorities.Whereas, tobacco is the only consumer prod-uct that kills one half of its users when usedas directed. Let’s not get into the debate, theidea that tobacco companies can be ethicalwhile promoting a disease-producing prod-uct is fundamentally contradictory.

The writer is Sub-Editor, Profit. She canbe reached at syedmaheen@hotmail.com

Maheen Syed

For comments, queries and contributions, write to:

Email: profit@pakistantoday.com.pk Ph: 042-36298305-10 fax: 042-36298302 website: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

bAbUR SAGhIRCreative Head

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Tu e s d a y, 2 9 N o v e m b e r, 2 0 1 1

I don’t get to see thedandy Marlboro men,riding a horse anymore

KUnwAR KhUlDUnE ShAhIDSub-Editor

MAhEEn SyEDSub-Editor

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Tuesday,29 November,2011

04news

Prime Minister, Syed yusuf Raza Gilani

Pakistan would reassess its arrangementswith NATO and ISAF and its relationshipwith the United States can only continuewith mutual respect and mutual interest

2nd Int’l Conference on CompetitionEnforcement Challenges to be organisediSlamaBad: Competition Commission of Pakistan(CCP) announced the details of 2nd international two dayConference, which is to be held on december 1st, 2011,with the collaboration of competitiveness support Fundand United states Agency for international development(UsAid). theme for the conference is, “Competitionenforcement Challenges and Consumer Welfare indeveloping Countries.” Conference aims to examinestatus of competition enforcement in various jurisdictionswith particular reference to emerging economies such asPakistan. it is also expected to explore and strengthenrelationship between competition enforcement andconsumer welfare in developing countries. Conference willaddress five themes that include; challenge forcompetition agencies to deal with cartels and cartels indisguise; deceptive marketing and consumer protection;lessons learnt and sharing of country experiences inadvocacy and enforcement; state aid and distortion incompetition and public procurement bidding affectingconsumer welfare. STAFF REPORT

fbR to take action against fraudulentimport of automatic weaponsiSlamaBad: Federal Board of revenue (FBr), takingcognisance of cases of mis-declaration and fraudulentimport of automatic weapons by unscrupulous importersand clearing agents, has directed all its customscollectorates to be extra vigilant while examining theseimports. these directions have been issued in light of threedifferent Firs lodged by Model Customs Collectorate,Lahore, against these importers and clearing agents whotried to import automatic weapons by mis-declaring them.FBr has also started an independent investigation into theallegations of involvement of customs officials in thesemid-declarations and fraudulent imports of automaticweapons. STAFF REPORT

SECP facilitating corporate sector incollection of annual returns and accountsiSlamaBad: securities and exchange Commissionof Pakistan’s (seCP) Company registration Offices(CrO) in order to facilitate filing of annual statutoryreturns and accounts is extending facilitation incollection of annual returns and accounts. Last date offiling of forms A/B for companies other than listedcompanies, which held their Annual General Meeting(AGM) on 31st October, 2011, is 30th november.Companies are required to file annual returns onforms A/B within 45 days, in case of listed companiesand 30 days in case of other companies. Annualaudited accounts are required to be filed within 30days of holding of AGMs. STAFF REPORT

fAP demands government toimmediately intervene in cotton crisislahorE: A special meeting of Farmers AssociatesPakistan (FAP) was convened to discuss problems ofcotton growers with respect to its prices andmarketing. the meeting was held under thechairmanship of President FAP, dr tariq Bucha and itwas attended by FAP members Mr Bilal israel Khan,Mr ibad-ur- rehman Khan and Mr naeem UllahMalik and Mr sarfraz Ahmed Khan, senior VicePresident Kissan Board Pakistan. After detaileddeliberations it was agreed to demand fromgovernment the following: 1) Government should immediately direct tCP to

announce purchase of at least one million bales ofcotton as second buyer. this will stabilise cottonprice, thereby saving armers from major losses.

2) Banks should also be asked to release limits to buyersof cotton so as to enable them to make paymentsagainst procurement of Phutti/Lint to farmers.

3) Government should also immediately intervenein price of cotton by announcing a minimum ofrs 3000/maund for Phutti and rs 6500/maundfor cotton lint. STAFF REPORT

farzana Raja briefs PMon different initiatives of bISPiSlamaBad: Federal Minister and ChairpersonBenazir income support Programme (BisP), MadamFarzana raja called on Prime Minister, syed Yusufraza Gilani at Prime Minister's house and briefed himon Waseela-e-taleem, Waseela-e-rozgar and Lifeinsurance initiatives of BisP. the Prime Ministerinstructed Chairperson BisP to extend the sphere ofBisP and also directed to make Multan a modeldistrict of BisP for Waseela-e-taleem, Waseela-e-rozgar and Life insurance initiatives. GNi

INDEX DROPS 154 POINTS

Panic selling ensues atKSE over investors concern

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

tHe Karachi stocks marketMonday nosedived by 154points on Monday as the in-

vestors at the country’s largestbourse cautiously reacted to satur-day’s deadly aerial nato attack andthe resultant uncertainty shroudingthe fate of Pakistan-Us ties.

Witnessing “panic selling”, firstday of the week saw the benchmarkKse 100-share index setting in thered zone to shed 153.99 points or 1.32per cent, to close at 11,494.15 pointsagainst 11,648.14 points of the lastweek (on Friday). “Panic selling waswitnessed at Kse after nAtO at-tacked two border check posts of Pak-Army on saturday,” said Arif Habibinvestments’ Ahsan Mehanti addingthat “uncertainty loomed over futurelevel of cooperation with nAtO.”

the intraday high and low was,respectively, recorded at 11,648.14and 11,404.71 points. the analystssaid this was the intraday high thathelped the index manage to closeabove the 11,000 level. “intraday re-covery on institutional support inoversold scrips,” Mehanti viewed.

Amid thin activity and across-the-board selling, the trading volumes,however, managed to recover andwere counted at the ready-counter at46.243 million shares against 28.176million shares traded in the last ses-sion. the trading value also appreci-ated to rs2 billion compared tors1.4 billion of the previous day. Ofthe total 313 scrips traded, 69 ad-vanced, 158 declined and 86 re-mained unchanged. the marketcapitalisation amounted to rs2.993trillion, registering a slump of rs39billion when compared to Friday’s3.032 trillion.

the Kse 30 index also registeredlosses, as the index declined by186.66 points closing at 10,745.34

points against the previous10,932.00. the index hit intradayhigh and low of 11,932.00 and10,666.46. According to Mehanti,“selling witnessed in stocks acrossthe board with thin activity.”

the market observer said that astrong recovery in the Asian stocksand commodity markets helped theKse 100-share index to close above11,400 points. Fauji Fertiliser BinQasim was volume leader of the dayhaving counted its traded shares at4.7 million. the fertiliser giant’s shareprice set in the red zone and closed atrs55.07 after opening at rs56.55.

Other best performers includedLotte PakPtA, Fatima FertiliserCompany, Bank Al-Falah, MCB Bank

Limited, niB Bank Limited, FaujiFertiliser Xd, WorldCall telecom,nimir ind. Chemicals and engroCorporation POt.

these scrips counted their tradedshares, respectively, at 2.7 million,2.6 million, 2.4 million, 2.4 million,2.3 million, 1.8 million, 1.7 million,1.3 million and 1.1 million shares.the future market also remainedbearish with trading turnover con-tracting to a meager 4.9 millionshares against the previous 14.335million. the scrips that gained num-bered 16, those categorised as minuswere 92 with no-one to see the un-changed status. FFBL-deC led thecompanies with 1.221 million of itsshares traded on the day.

26 firms defaultingon fee, face KSE ire

KARACHI

iSMAiL diLAWAR

As many as 26 firmslisted at Karachistock exchange arefaced with the risk tobe placed in default-

ers’ segment owing to their failureto comply with concerned Listingregulations of the exchange, itemerged on Monday. Managementof Kse warned that if they failed torectify their default within stipu-lated time, these companies wouldbe placed on defaulter’s segment by12th of next month.

those defaulting companiesinclude dost steels, Fawad textileMills, Azam textile Mills, Bortehrstextile Mills, (Colony) thal textileMills, Hajra textile Mills, J.A tex-tile Mills, Kohinoor industriesLimited, sarltow spinning Mills,tri-star Polyster Limited, Kohi-noor Power Company, First iBLModaraba, tri-star Mutual Fund,Ansari sugar Mills, tri-star PowerLimited. And Usman textile Mills,dadabhoy sack Limited, nazirCotton Mills, First islamicModaraba, investeo securities, Al-Mal securities and services, eng-lish Leasing Limited, Platinuminsurance Company Limited, na-tover Lease and refinance Limitedand Prudential discount andGuarantee House Limited.

Majority of these companieshave not paid the exchange’s annuallisting fee since 2009 that makethem accountable under Listing reg-ulation number 30(1(a)) that mighteventuate into their delisting fromthe exchange. then there are com-panies which are facing Kse’s ire fortheir failure to start commercial pro-duction within three years of the

date of their formal listing at equitymarket. some of them have not heldAnnual General Meetings (AGMs)for various periods ranging frommonths to years while others failedto join Cds of the Central depositaryCompany of Pakistan.

“in case, any company rectifiesdefault(s) prior to its placement inthe defaulters’ segment, the name ofsuch company will be removed fromthe list,” said the Kse notices,Kse/n-6330 and Kse/n-6331, is-sued on Monday. And if they failedto do so, Kse warned that the ex-change “reserves the right to initiatefurther action against the compa-nies… subsequently.” that action, itsaid, included “suspension of trad-ing in their shares/delisting fromthe exchange.” However, regulatorshave already suspended trading inshares of the last 10 firms.

Also on Monday, Kse and secu-rities and exchange Commission of

Pakistan suspended trading in theshares of nine companies for theirfailure to “remove the cause of sus-pension”. these firms includeBeema Pakistan Company, KausarPaints Limited, dadabhoy LeasingCompany, Crescent spinning Mills,Colony Woolen Mills Limited,schon textiles Limited, turbo tecLimited, Cass Pakistan industriesand Pan islamic steamship Com-pany Limited. regulators have de-cided to hold their suspension forfurther 60-day period initiatingform 4th, 6th and 8th of nextmonth, december.

these punishments, analystshowever believe, usually prove inef-fective and have rarely made de-faulting firms ensure compliance.Market observers say that a com-pany, violating Listing regulations,takes years to face hard, and there-fore unacceptable, action like delist-ing from regulators.

non-performingloans swell by 24pc

PESHAWAR

STAFF REPORT

President, KhyberPakhtunkhwa Chamber ofCommerce and industry

(KPCCi), Afan Aziz commentedon recent report of state Bank ofPakistan, (sBP), indicating thatnon-performing Loans (nPL)swelled by 24 per cent within ayear, as hugely disappointing.He pointed out non availabilityof major utilities and a very highmarkup rate in the country,were the major reasons behindunprecedented spiral in nPL.He further added that provinceof Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has notonly been bearing the brunt ofAfghan war for the past threedecades, but also has to endureimpacts of non availability ofutilities and high markup rate.report portrayed a dismalpicture of GdP growth and nPLsize in the country, yet growthrate in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hasbeen negative for the pastdecade which is alarming to saythe least. Mr Aziz observed thatindustrial growth in KhyberPakhtunkhwa has sharplydeclined. While most units haveclosed down due to rampantmilitancy, terrorism andpersistent energy crisis, headded. this detrimentalenvironment forced investors toshift their businesses to otherprovinces not just in search of abetter feasibility but a betterlife, he remarked. He lamentedthat banks are reluctant tolending, owing to prevailingsituation in KhyberPakhtunkhwa. similarly, hewent on to say, the highmarkups rate and cumbersomeprocedure of bank loans alsomultiplying the difficulties ofthe business community.

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05

Tuesday,29 November,2011

news

CORPORATE CORNERMobilink torchbearers reachout to underprivileged students

lahorE: Mobilink Foundation torchbearers reached outto students at the Pehli Kiran school system through the JAQeducational trust, donating art supplies and story books, aswell as recycled skins for the insulation of eight schools.torchbearers spent three days at one of the Pehli Kiranschools in islamabad, engaging the children with fun activitiessuch as face-painting, drawing and singing. the torchbearersalso utilised the opportunity to emphasise the importance ofeducation and its benefits for the children and the country as awhole. Omar Manzur, director Pr and Csr, Mobilink said,“the donation of art supplies, story books and recycled skinsto the Pehli Kiran schools are a token of Mobilink’s supportand continued effort to give back to Pakistan’s children, whoare the future of the nation.” PRESS RELEASE

International watch Companyopens another retail outletlahorE: the international Watch Company,Pakistan’s oldest and most prestigious watch company,launched a new retail outlet at Vogue towers, MM Alamroad. the new store follows the same theme ofcontemporary interiors as the other outlets all overPakistan. Additionally, it also has a grand Chopardcorner. in addition to Chopard, the international WatchCompany also showcases, Armani, Fossil, Piaget,Corum, raymond Weil, dKnY, tag Heuer, tissot,Longines, seiko, Citizen, Kolber, Longines, andemporio. top fashion models such as sabeena Pasha,natasha Hussain and Mekaal Zulfiqar presentedChopard watches and were suitably attired incomplimenting top designer wear. PRESS RELEASE

1st International Conference onlogistics and supply chain managementlahorE: 1st international Conference and exhibitionon logistics and supply chain management was jointlyorganised by Pakistan international Freight ForwardersAssociation (PiFFA), Air Cargo Agents Association ofPakistan (ACAAP) and Publicity Channel at a local hotelin Lahore. Vice President sAArC Chamber of Commerceand industries, iftikhar A Malik inaugurated theconference. Besides, Vice President FPCCi, Amir AttaBajwah, Chairman PiFFA, Asim saeed Khan, PresidentsCAP, Muhammad Qayser Alam, Publicity Channel CeO,naeem Qureshi, Conference director, Mehmood tareen,Amer Zafar durrani, and others also addressed at theoccasion, while experts of various relevant businessesattended the conference. Various leading nationallogistics and supply chain management companies alsoset up their stalls on the occasion. PRESS RELEASE

Dr Arbab Alamgir inaugurates policepost on Islamabad-Peshawar MotorwayiSlamaBad: Federal Minister for Communications,dr Arbab Alamgir Khan Khalil inaugurated newlyestablished police post near swabi interchange onislamabad –Peshawar Motorway (M-1) and handedover its control to the Motorway Police. On thisoccasion, iG Motorway Police Wajid Ali durrani, diGMotorway Police dr. Muhammad shafiq, nHAMembers Chaudhry Mujeeb Qadir, Aurangzeb Khan,Yousaf Ali Khan, naseer Ahmad rana and other highofficials were also present, whereas a large number ofprominent social personalities of swabi also attendedthe ceremony. PRESS RELEASE

KARACHi: Shahid Kamal, H.E. Pakistan’s ambassador toGermany, H.E. Consul General of Germany, dr Tilo Klinner, KhalilAhmed Naini Talwala, Nafees Sidiqi and others, on the occasionof a dinner hosted by Qazi Sajid Ali, Md BASF, in honour of MrShahid Kamal and dr Tilo Klinner. PRESS RELEASE

I will put Europe at the heart of mygovernment activity and allcommitments made by the previousadministration would be respected

Italian Prime Minister, Mario Monti

OECD cuts growthforecasts, blames euro crisis

tHe Organisation foreconomic Coopera-tion and developmentsaid growing doubtsabout the survival of

europe’s monetary union hascaused global growth to stall andrepresents the main risk to theworld economy.

the 34 OeCd nations will grow1.9 per cent this year and 1.6 percent next, down from 2.3 per centand 2.8 per cent predicted in May,the Paris-based organization said inits twice-annual global economicoutlook released today. in a sepa-rate report, Morgan stanley cut itsforecast for 2012 global growth.

“skepticism has grown thateuro-area policy makers can deal ef-fectively with the key challengesthey face,” OeCd Chief economistPier Carlo Padoan wrote in the re-port. serious downside risks re-main, linked to “loss of confidencein sovereign-debt markets and themonetary union itself.”

the remarks are the first from amajor government body to highlightthe possibility of a euro breakupand reflect the shift in the two-year-old crisis from the region’s periph-ery to its so-called core.Government bond yields for bothGermany and France, europe’s twolargest economies, climbed last

week as a German bond auctionfailed to get bids for 35 per cent ofthe 10- year debt on offer.

KEY RISK

“the euro-area crisis representsthe key risk to the world economy,”the OeCd said. “Contagion has en-tered a new phase and spread be-yond euro-area countries normallyseen as fiscally vulnerable, suggest-ing that fiscal concerns are nolonger the only driving force behindcontagion.” German bunds fell,sending yields up five basis points,or 0.05 per centage point, to 2.31per cent at 10:54 a.m. in London.they earlier reached 2.34 per cent,the highest since Aug. 16.

the OeCd, which advises mem-bers on policy, weighed in on a tus-sle about how involved theeuropean Central Bank should be incrisis fighting, saying the lenderneeds to cut interest rates and to ex-pand its balance sheet. the euro re-gion’s rescue fund, or europeanFinancial stability Facility, alsoneeds to be strengthened, it said.

“decisive policies and the ap-propriate institutional responseswill have to be put in place to ensuresmooth financing at reasonable in-terest rates for sovereigns,” Padoanwrote. “this calls for rapid, credible

and substantial increases in the ca-pacity of the eFsF together with orincluding greater use of the eCBbalance sheet.”

RAPID ESCALATION

Moody’s investors service saidtoday the “rapid escalation” of thecrisis threatens all of the region’ssovereign ratings, and that creditrisks will keep rising without stepsto stabilize markets in the short-term. the rating company alsoquestioned whether policy makerscan move quickly enough.

Germany and the eCB have re-sisted calls for an expansion of thebond-buying program, while Franceand economists including Citigroup’sWillem Buiter and Jefferies interna-tional’s david Owen have urged theFrankfurt-based lender to do more tocalm government-bond markets.

the euro area itself is already ina “mild” recession, with the regionset to register growth of 1.6 per centthis year and just 0.2 per cent in2012, the OeCd said. Gross domes-tic product will expand by 1.4 percent in 2013, it said.

that compares with expectedgrowth of 1.7 per cent this year and2 per cent next year in the U.s., theworld’s largest economy. Japan willshrink 0.3 per cent this year before

growing 2 per cent in 2012 and 1.6per cent in 2013, the OeCd said.

FRAGILE RECOVERY

Morgan stanley said today theworld economy will grow 3.5 percent in 2012, compared with an es-timate of 3.8 per cent published inAugust, citing an “anemic” expan-sion in the U.s. and a recession ineurope. it predicts global GdP willincrease 3.9 per cent in 2013.

europe isn’t the only risk facingthe global economy. the OeCd cau-tioned that fiscal tightening in theU.s. should not forestall its “fragile”recovery and called for fiscal sup-port to be implemented should theeconomy weaken.

“A serious downside risk is thatno action will be agreed to counterstrong, pre-programmed fiscaltightening in the U.s.,” the OeCdsaid. “Much tighter fiscal policythan in the projection could tip theU.s. economy into a recession thatmonetary policy can do little to pre-vent.” the Chinese economy mayalso “slow more than projectedagainst the backdrop of the tighten-ing of monetary conditions,” ac-cording to the report. “Furtherahead, uncertainties relate to theextent to which stable, high-growthrates can be sustained.” BLOOMBERG

Adidas launches$1 trainers in India

nEW DELHI

MONiTORiNG dESK

tHe sports shoe firm, Adidas, isto sell its trainers for less than apound a pair throughout rural

india to capitalise on the country'ssoaring population. the Germansports giant believes the rise ofindia's 1.1 billion population, which isexpected to surpass China as theworld's largest in the next decade, isan opportunity to persuade indianvillagers to trade their plasticchappals or flip-flops for one of theworld's most iconic brands. the ideawas inspired by Mohammad Yunus,the nobel Prize-winning founder ofthe Grameen microfinance bank inBangladesh, but the company nowbelieves his plan to sell the world'scheapest trainers has more chance ofsuccess in india. the $1 trainers willbe the latest in a growing trend whichincreasingly sees the world's poor as apotentially lucrative market ratherthan a begging bowl for aid. in thepast few years mobile phonecompanies like Vodafone and india'sreliance have had great successselling cheap mobile phones torickshaw-pullers and roadsidehawkers throughout india, whiletata, which owns Jaguar Land rover,launched the world's cheapest car.the tata nano was launched as theworld's cheapest car for 'One Lakh'rupees or around £1200, and aimedto persuade families travelling fiveto a motorbike to trade up. thecompany followed the model withindia's cheapest water purifier andthe country's lowest costapartments. Adidas had originallyplanned to launch its venture inBangladesh but switched to indiaafter a pilot project lost money.

In India, a sense of crisisfans embers of reform

nEW DELHI

REUTERS

PriMe Minister Manmo-han singh's move to openindia's protected retail

sector to global supermarket gi-ants last week surprised criticswho had written him off as a policyditherer, but he was probably mo-tivated by expedience rather thanany reformist zeal.

india's stellar economic growthis slowing, the rupee has skidded torecord lows and inflation is stuckclose to a double-digit clip. Facedwith this predicament, singh mayhave simply weighed the benefits ofopening a $450 billion market toforeign investment against the po-litical risk, and taken his chance.

Just as he did back in 1991,when the central bank was forced toairlift 47 tonnes of gold to europe ascollateral for a loan to avert a sover-eign default, singh has opted for lib-eralisation to deal with urgenteconomic problems. "in india, we'vealways achieved economic reform atgunpoint," said political commenta-tor swapan dasgupta.

Many seized on singh's retailsector decision, taken in the face ofdissent within his own cabinet, as asign that the reform process he hadhelped father was finally back ontrack. the frontpage headline of theeconomic times on Friday crowed:"Hello Walmart, Goodbye inertia".

Unpopular, saddled with petu-lant coalition allies, up against acombative opposition and facingelections in five states next year,singh's Congress party is likely toshy away from far-reaching eco-

nomic reforms that could cost itvotes. nevertheless, the move toallow multinationals into the retailmarket could be the first of severalliberalisation initiatives aimed at si-lencing complaints from businessleaders and even its own supportersthat this is a government adrift.

"they are not reformers," saidsurjit Bhalla, chairman of Oxus in-vestments. "But, given its huge un-popularity, Congress is now lookingto do what it can. there's more thanan even chance that reforms will con-tinue." next up may be a decision toopen india's airline sector, which isstruggling with cost pressures and afierce price war, to foreign investors.

RISK AND REWARD

singh, who will be 80 next year,earned his reformist stripes as fi-nance minister back in 1991 whenhe prised open india's state-stifledeconomy, opening the way for a longrun of dazzling growth. However, asprime minister since 2004, he haspresided over less spectacular re-forms such as opening the country'snuclear power market and freeingpetrol and fertiliser pricing. And hisgovernment, beleaguered by cor-ruption scandals, has slipped into apolicy paralysis since it won a sec-ond term two years ago, taking thegloss off the "india shining" story.

Asia's third-largest economy isnowhere near the crisis it was facing20 years ago. However, growth hassagged since it topped 9 per cent forthree years in a row before theglobal financial crisis, and a mone-tary tightening cycle to stamp outinflation that began in March 2010

is exacerbating the slowdown. themove to allow multinationals intoindia's vast retail market will even-tually help unclog some of the sup-ply bottlenecks that stoke inflation.

it will also generate sorely neededforeign capital, not least for infra-structure investment, which the gov-ernment's latest five-year plan targetsat an ambitious $1 trillion. the gov-ernment has taken other steps re-cently to attract funds from abroad. ithas raised the limit on foreign invest-ment in government and corporatebonds, and the cabinet has approveda law that - once it has parliamentaryapproval - will allow limited foreigndirect investment in pensions firms.

While none of this will addressthe country's economic ills in theshort term, it may bring an immedi-ate political gain. Welcoming in theworld's big supermarket brands wasrisky. it will fuel fury with Congressamong the millions of neighbour-hood store owners, who could makethe party pay in next year's stateelections. But the promise of world-class shopping will be welcomed byindia's growing ranks of urban mid-dle classes, and singh's uncharac-teristic boldness could shore uppublic faith in his government as itgears up for a general election in2014. if there is a new phase of re-forms underway, it is likely to betentative rather than sweeping.some reforms, such as removingsubsidies on diesel, are politicallyuntouchable because of the back-lash the party would face from thepoor. even the decision to open upthe retail sector was hedged withprovisos that will protect shopkeep-ers in small towns and rural areas.

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top 5 perForMers sector wiseSyMbol oPEn hIGh low CURREnt ChAnGE volUME SyMbol oPEn hIGh low CURREnt ChAnGE volUME

Food ProducersAL-Noor Suger Mills 55.09 55.09 52.35 55.09 0.00 35Bawany Sugar 11.10 12.00 11.10 11.10 0.00 1Clover Pakistan 51.41 53.00 51.41 51.41 0.00 100Colony Sugar Mills 1.90 1.90 1.63 1.63 -0.27 14,431Crescent Sugar 12.00 13.00 12.99 12.99 0.99 771

Household GoodsAL-Abid Silk Mills 23.34 23.60 23.34 23.34 0.00 2Diamond Ind. 8.20 9.03 8.20 8.20 0.00 2Hussain Industries 3.90 3.90 3.80 3.90 0.00 6Pak Elektron Ltd. 4.20 4.40 4.20 4.25 0.05 8,650Tariq GlassXD 8.65 8.89 8.65 8.65 0.00 10

Personal GoodsAmtex Limited 1.31 1.44 1.30 1.38 0.07 26,864Artistic Denim XD 19.50 19.45 19.00 19.01 -0.49 74,958Ashfaq Textile 7.10 8.10 8.10 8.10 1.00 5,000Azam Textile 1.35 1.40 1.34 1.35 0.00 5,200Azgard Nine 3.71 3.85 3.62 3.66 -0.05 672,596

Future ContractsAHCL-DEC 29.94 29.94 29.80 29.89 -0.05 9,000AHCL-NOV 29.94 29.76 29.55 29.61 -0.33 34,500ANL-DEC 3.74 3.80 3.71 3.75 0.01 1,286,500ANL-NOV 3.74 3.80 3.65 3.65 -0.09 1,354,000ATRL-DEC 127.13 127.50 127.00 127.23 0.10 12,000

Pharma and Bio TechAbbott Laboratories 102.51 103.20 102.50 102.74 0.23 6,920Ferozsons (Lab) Ltd. 76.66 78.00 76.66 76.66 0.00 100GlaxoSmithKline Pak. 69.25 69.90 69.00 69.00 -0.25 3,312Highnoon (Lab) 29.29 29.50 28.70 29.38 0.09 3,502IBL HealthCare XD 12.78 13.29 12.80 13.18 0.40 9,773

Fixed Line TelecommunicationP.T.C.L.A 10.80 10.95 10.70 10.74 -0.06 873,286Pak Datacom LtdXD 34.50 34.50 34.00 34.50 0.00 50Telecard Limited 0.96 1.00 0.89 0.90 -0.06 179,056Wateen Telecom Ltd 1.85 2.00 1.82 1.88 0.03 2,098,153WorldCall Telecom 1.11 1.17 1.05 1.06 -0.05 74,429

ElectricityGenertech 0.36 0.42 0.32 0.32 -0.04 3,307Hub Power Co.XD 37.11 37.15 37.00 37.01 -0.10 416,249Japan Power 0.68 0.68 0.64 0.65 -0.03 164,679K.E.S.C. 1.63 1.71 1.63 1.70 0.07 232,001Kohinoor Energy 17.01 17.00 16.61 17.00 -0.01 300,022

BanksAllied Bank Ltd 62.23 62.80 62.10 62.23 0.00 216Askari Bank 10.95 11.00 10.80 10.86 -0.09 77,973B.O.Punjab 5.69 5.80 5.62 5.65 -0.04 350,983Bank Al-Falah 12.07 12.31 12.00 12.04 -0.03 5,499,424Bank AL-Habib 29.87 30.00 29.75 30.00 0.13 71,128

Non Life InsuranceAdamjee Ins 47.94 47.59 46.80 47.07 -0.87 15,293Atlas Insurance 36.49 36.49 35.27 36.49 0.00 2Century Insurance 7.23 6.80 6.36 6.51 -0.72 10,100Cres.Star Insurance 2.40 2.99 2.00 2.01 -0.39 1,123EFU General Ins 36.61 36.51 36.50 36.51 -0.10 1,713

Life InsuranceAmerican Life 14.50 14.50 13.50 14.50 0.00 2East West Life Assur 1.40 2.34 1.40 1.40 0.00 1EFU Life Assur 65.53 68.80 65.53 65.53 0.00 157

Financial ServicesAMZ Ventures A 0.35 0.33 0.25 0.25 -0.10 36,032Arif Habib Investmen 16.40 16.40 15.56 16.40 0.00 101Arif Habib Ltd. 16.03 16.29 15.96 15.97 -0.06 2,207Dawood Cap.Man XB 1.25 1.29 0.75 1.25 0.00 4Dawood Equities 1.09 1.07 0.83 0.86 -0.23 631

Equity Investment Instruments1st.Fid.Leasing Mod 1.52 1.53 1.53 1.53 0.01 2,500Allied RentalModXDXB 21.64 22.45 21.64 21.64 0.00 1Atlas Fund of Fund 5.86 5.85 5.85 5.85 -0.01 29,600B.R.R.GuardianXD 2.00 2.00 1.72 2.00 0.00 493Cres. Stand.ModXD 0.49 0.44 0.34 0.42 -0.07 69,931

MiscellaneousSecurity Paper 36.48 36.50 35.65 36.49 0.01 4,999

P.N.S.C. 14.94 15.00 14.01 14.75 -0.19 2,603

Pak.Int.Con. SD 70.17 70.17 66.67 70.17 0.00 107

TRG Pakistan Ltd. 1.50 1.51 1.39 1.44 -0.06 191,233

Murree BreweryXDXB 69.00 67.99 66.25 66.39 -2.61 1,033

AL-Abid Silk Mills 23.34 23.34 23.34 23.34 0.00 1

Hussain Industries 3.90 3.89 3.80 3.85 -0.05 500

Pak Elektron Ltd. 4.01 4.05 3.52 3.67 -0.34 30,957

Tariq GlassXD 8.50 8.88 8.25 8.35 -0.15 4,568

Shifa Int.Hospitals 30.86 30.86 29.32 30.86 0.00 108

Hum Network Ltd. 15.46 16.43 15.75 16.25 0.79 22,504

Media Times Ltd 7.96 8.00 7.96 7.96 0.00 1

P.I.A.C.(A) 2.01 2.10 2.00 2.02 0.01 180,957

Sui North GasXDXB 17.25 17.10 16.52 17.01 -0.24 37,110

Sui South GasXDXB 19.70 19.68 19.20 19.27 -0.43 12,936

EFU Life Assur 68.86 68.99 67.00 67.25 -1.61 1,113

Pace (Pak) Ltd. 1.55 1.69 1.42 1.50 -0.05 362,141

Netsol Technologies 10.08 9.95 9.68 9.72 -0.36 121,811

SyMbol oPEn hIGh low CURREnt ChAnGE volUME

Oil and GasAttock Petroleum 411.14 412.75 406.10 406.99 -4.15 18,325Attock Refinery 126.72 127.68 125.01 125.37 -1.35 226,908Burshane LPG XD 23.22 23.89 23.22 23.22 0.00 1Byco Petroleum 7.20 7.38 7.19 7.25 0.05 1,147,404Mari Gas Co.XB 96.00 97.00 93.15 93.74 -2.26 47,325

ChemicalsAgritech Ltd. 15.00 15.48 15.00 15.00 0.00 1,002Arif Habib CoXDXB SD 29.85 29.90 29.45 29.51 -0.34 252,944Bawany Air Products 5.00 5.25 5.00 5.25 0.25 1,000Clariant Pakistan 156.34 156.74 155.00 155.18 -1.16 2,897Dawood Hercules 39.08 39.35 38.50 38.62 -0.46 15,788

Industrial metals and MiningDost Steels Ltd. 1.51 1.59 1.46 1.48 -0.03 71,503Huffaz Seamless Pipe 9.20 9.48 9.06 9.06 -0.14 2,002Int. Ind.Ltd. 33.86 33.00 32.18 32.53 -1.33 16,754Inter.Steel Ltd. 10.80 11.00 10.77 11.00 0.20 5,352Siddiqsons TinXD 6.97 7.25 6.97 6.97 0.00 205

Construction and MaterialsAl-Abbas Cement 1.91 2.19 1.90 1.90 -0.01 3,005Attock Cement 52.50 52.52 52.40 52.49 -0.01 1,288Bal.Glass 1.95 1.98 1.95 1.95 0.00 100Berger Paints 14.18 13.70 13.70 13.70 -0.48 500Buxly Paints 6.00 6.50 6.00 6.00 0.00 1

General IndustrialsCherat Packaging 28.15 28.60 27.80 27.86 -0.29 14,445ECOPACK Ltd 3.10 3.15 2.85 3.11 0.01 110,806Ghani Glass LtdXD 39.88 40.50 39.00 39.34 -0.54 1,261MACPAC Films 9.00 9.38 8.53 9.38 0.38 502Packages Limited 89.50 92.00 85.03 88.55 -0.95 17,243

Industrial EngineeringAL-Ghazi Tractors 169.86 172.00 168.00 169.86 0.00 68Bolan CastingXD 28.00 28.55 28.00 28.00 0.00 4,001Ghandhara Ind. 6.94 7.40 7.34 7.38 0.44 500Hinopak Motor 96.11 95.76 91.31 95.76 -0.35 11K.S.B.Pumps 26.95 27.13 25.61 26.95 0.00 418

Automobile and PartsAgriautos Industries 60.27 60.99 60.27 60.27 0.00 50Atlas Battery Ltd. 172.01 172.01 172.00 172.01 0.00 100Atlas Honda Ltd. 125.27 126.00 125.00 125.00 -0.27 500Bal.Wheels XD 26.00 25.99 24.70 24.84 -1.16 537Dewan Motors 2.15 2.60 2.11 2.13 -0.02 79,586

BeveragesMurree Brewery Co. 110.49 111.43 109.00 111.18 0.69 1,170Shezan Int’l 150.02 150.00 145.05 145.58 -4.44 203

Mutual Funds

fund offer Repurchase nAv

Alfalah GHP Cash Fund 501.2900 501.2900 501.2900 Askari Islamic Asset Allocation Fund 114.7196 111.8516 111.8516Askari Islamic Income Fund 103.6501 102.6136 102.6136 Askari Sovereign Cash Fund 100.6900 100.6900 100.6900 Atlas Income Fund 519.3500 514.2100 514.2100 Atlas Islamic Income Fund 519.0900 513.9500 513.9500Atlas Money Market Fund 516.9700 516.9700 516.9700 Atlas Stock Market Fund 453.1500 444.2600 444.2600 Crosby Dragon Fund 82.9800 81.3500 81.3500

fund offer Repurchase nAv

HBL Money Market Fund 100.2768 100.2768 100.2768 HBL Multi Asset Fund 87.0103 85.3042 85.3042 HBL Stock Fund 97.6745 95.2922 95.2922 IGI Income Fund 101.8987 100.8898 100.8898IGI Stock Fund 112.3545 109.6141 109.6141 JS Principal Secure Fund I 121.5000 111.5200 117.3900 JS Principal Secure Fund II 104.1200 96.5000 101.5800 KASB Cash Fund 0.0000 0.0000 100.1087

Markets

Tuesday, 29 November, 2011

06

top 10 sectors

24% 01%Construction & Materials

Chemicals General Industrials

07%Electricity

02%03%

Fixed Line Telecommunication

01%Equity Investment Instruments

Financial Services

09%Banks35%Oil & Gas10%Personal Goods08%

International Oil PriceWTICrude Oil

$99.67

BrentCrude Oil

$106.40

STOCK MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

Index Change Volume Market ValueKSE-100 11494.15 -153.99 32,476,669 1,995,504,143LSE-25 2935.7 -2.1 1,350,156 40,707,460 ISE-10 2579.72 -35.5 31,800 53,403,189

Major Gainers

Company Open High Low Close Change TurnoverUniLever Pak Ltd. 5440.20 5700.00 5202.01 5493.22 53.02 114Sanofi-Aventis 145.35 152.61 149.70 152.61 7.26 2,517Shell Pakistan 196.00 205.79 193.00 199.21 3.21 6,745Clover Pakistan 54.06 56.76 56.13 56.76 2.70 3,500Linde Pakistan Ltd. 100.11 105.05 102.00 102.12 2.01 6,500

Major Losers

Bata (Pak) Ltd. 788.74 750.00 749.31 749.31 -39.43 54Siemens Pak 817.00 790.10 776.15 790.10 -26.90 19Nestle PakistanXD 2876.54 2955.00 2771.51 2857.33 -19.21 12National Ref.XD 300.17 296.00 285.17 285.17 -15.00 180,707Service Industries 201.87 211.96 192.00 192.01 -9.86 1,147

Volume Leaders

Fauji Fert 56.55 56.00 54.31 55.07 -1.48 4,750,594Lotte PakPTA 10.06 10.00 9.69 9.81 -0.25 2,774,816Fatima Fert.Co. 22.56 22.45 21.80 22.19 -0.37 2,691,180Bank Al-Falah 12.01 11.98 11.81 11.87 -0.14 2,472,253MCB Bank Ltd 152.31 151.49 147.74 148.00 -4.31 2,411,081

Bullion MarketPer Tola (PKR) Per 10 Gm (PKR) Per Ounce US$

Gold 24K 56,486.00 48,479.00 1,713.00Gold 22K 51,608.00 44,245.00 –Silver (Tezabi) 1,055.00 906.00 35.05Silver (Thobi) 1025.00 880.00 –

Interbank RatesUS Dollar 88.0197UK Pound 136.7562Japanese Yen 1.1318Euro 117.4975

Buy SellUS Dollar 88.00 88.70Euro 117.11 118.35Great Britain Pound 136.43 137.78Japanese Yen 1.1255 1.1330Canadian Dollar 84.51 86.69Hong Kong Dollar 11.16 11.40

UAE Dirham 23.93 24.09Saudi Riyal 23.45 23.58Australian Dollar 86.54 89.03

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Tuesday,29 November,2011

news

07fISCAl yEAR 2012

federal minister for communications,Dr Arbab Alamgir Khan

Ministry of finance will provide Rs2 billion tonational highway Authority (nhA) as directedby the Prime Minister of Pakistan for thelowari tunnel project in next few days

KARACHI

iSMAiL diLAWAR

tHe Pak rupee is likely to depreciate to arecord low of 90 rupees against Us dollar bythe end of this financial year, according toeconomic observers.

177pc rise in import bill,rupee to fall against dollar

g Rupee down to 88.04 against a dollar on Monday g burgeoning import billkeeps inter-bank market under pressure g Import bill of the country accumulates to over $13.4 billion

this depreciation, theanalysts believe, wouldprimarily be led by the fastdeteriorating numbers in thecountry’s current accounts that,during first four months of FY12 (July-October),saw a deficit $1.5 billion compared to $541 millionof the corresponding period last year. “the declineof rupee is imminent it would depreciate up to 90-rupee by the end of this (fiscal) year,” viewed theeconomist, Asfar Bin shahid. Other economicobservers second this opinion saying the Pakistanicurrency, which had remained stable against thegreenback at rs86 for last couple of years, was allset to shed some value by end-June. “We believethe rupee value could go down to 90 (rupees) bythe end of June (FY2012),” said Mohammadsohail, chief executive officer of toplinesecurities. the analyst said rupee depreciationagainst the dollar, however, remained“controllable” by around 1.5 percent in FY12Ytddespite signs of weakness in the current accountnumbers. the view seems to carry enough weightif analysed in the backdrop of ongoing trend onthe local inter-bank market. Monday only sawthe dollar surging to, what the market sourcessaid, a record high of 88.04 against rupee.“Pakistani rupee hits record low of 88.04 to adollar,” said a money dealer.

Current accountdeficit hits $1.5b

“On average our daily surplus supply to theinter-bank market ranges from 5 to 6 milliondollars,” the FAP chief told Profit. theremaining 20 per cent, the dealer said, wasgoing to ordinary buyers. instead, Bostansaid, the inter-bank market was more volatilewhere the past one month had seen localcurrency dropping by at least 2 rupeesagainst a dollar. “i would propose a low interest rate regimeby the central bank and that depreciation to90-rupee level would prove highlyinflationary for the ailing economy,” thesenior currency dealer replied when asked togive his outlook on the future rupee-dollarparity. economists like A.B shahid arecritical of the economic managers for theirfailure to arrest the flight of capital from thecountry. the analysts said the governmentshould have incentivised the risk-averseinvestors, implement an across-the-boardausterity plan and control its currentexpenditures that were eroding much of itsbudgetary borrowings from the central andscheduled banks.

Inter-bank supply at

the latest fall is attributedto the “increased” importpayments made by importersthrough the inter-bank market.According to state Bank data forJuly-Oct FY12, the import bill of the countryaccumulated to over $13.4 billion, up 23 per centor $2.521 billion compared to $10.879 billion ofthe same period in FY11. this widened thecountry’s deficit-prone trade balance to $5.2billion against $3.7 billion of the previous year.“Yes, the rupee devalued on Monday to 88 butthere is no panic buying on the open market whichis still stable and has no supply demand problem.thus this (decline) is because of the inter-bankmarket,” said Malik Bostan, president ForexAssociation of Pakistan (FAP). the sBP chiefspokesman syed Wasimuddin confirmed that therupee depreciation was on the back of importpayments and that the inter-bank market hadcatered to the dollar need of the importers.terming the predicted downfall of the rupee to the90-rupee level as highly inflationary for a fragileeconomy, Bostan said open market was still doingwell by surrendering 80 per cent of its surplusdollars to the inter bank market.

Import bill up by 23 per cent $5-6m

lCCI, JCSC discussnAto attack,Mfn status

LAHoRE

STAFF REPORT

President of LahoreChamber of Commerce andindustry irfan Qaiser sheikh,

senior Vice President Kashif YounisMeher and Vice President saeednazar had an hour-long meetingwith chairman of Joint Chiefs ofstaff Committee General Khalidshamim Waynne and stronglycondemned nAtO aggression andtermed the incident as an attack onPakistan’s sovereignty. they hadalso discussed economic challengesbeing faced by the country withChairman JCsC. According to details, during theirmeeting Chairman JCsC and LCCioffice-bearers said entire businesscommunity unanimously condemnsthe nAtO attack on security posts inMohmand Agency, martyring 24security forces personnel andinjuring 13 others. they said thatwhole nation was standing withPakistan Army and fully supportsthe stance of government andPakistan armed forces on the issueof nAtO aggression. they said thatnAtO forces was calling Pakistanally in the war against terrorism buttreated like an enemy and Pakistanination would not tolerate any suchaggression in future.they said Pakistan had faced a lossof thousands army personnel andcivilians and more than $60 billionin war against terrorism. they saidinternational community shouldtake notice of this blatant violationof international norm. they said acute electricity, gasshortage, over 72 per cent hike inelectricity prices in last five months,highest ever markup, huge bankingspread, rs600 billion annually lossin state-owned enterprises,unskilled workforce and poorinfrastructure are the main factorsof economic meltdown.irfan Qaiser sheikh, Kashif YounisMeher and saeeda nazar informedChairman JCsC that certain sectorshave reservation on MFn status toindia. Government must removereservations of pharmaceutical,automobile, motorcycle,petrochemical, autoparts, sugar,textile, cooking oil and gheeindustries before signing MFntreaty document with india.they said that Lahore Chamber ofCommerce and industry was infavour of trade promotion withregional countries; especially withnext door neighbours for the sake ofpeace, prosperity and economicrevival. But MFn status must not beat the cost of industry thereforeprivate sector must be taken intoconfidence before signing MostFavoured nation treaty with india.On the occasion, issues of Pak-iranGas pipeline project and securitysituation also came underdiscussion. At the end, chairman ofJoint Chiefs of staff CommitteeGeneral Khalid shamim Waynnepresented mementos to LCCioffice-bearers.

ISLAMABAD

JALALUddiN RUMi

tHe Prime Minister syed Yousafraza Gilani is likely to chair ameeting to be briefed over theprogress on various development

projects in Karachi on thursday, novem-ber 30, at Governor House Karachi.

PM will be given a briefing on Lyariexpressway; Mass transit project; KarachiCircular railway (KCr); M-9 road project;Orangi town sheme; scheme-33; north-ern bypass and Hyderabad Package facingdelay due to the shortage of Public sectordevelopment Programme (PsdP) funds.

the Planning Commission of Pakistanon tuesday delivered a briefing to a dele-

gation of Muttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) comprising of dr nadeem ehsan,state Minister for Overseas Pakistanis andsyed tayyab Hussain, Parliamentarianfrom Hyderabad, on Karachi projects. thePakistan People Party (PPP) senatorsughra imam and deputy Chairman Plan-ning Commission dr nadeem ul Haq werealso present in the meeting.

the MQM representatives have ex-pressed their dissatisfaction and com-plained over the delay in the developmentprojects for current fiscal 2011-12. theplanning commission officials told themeeting that only rs5.3 billion have beenreleased to date for 75 development proj-ects in Karachi. For these projects rs22.8billion were supposed to be released in

current fiscal under PsdP. the total ex-pected completion cost of these 75 projectsin Karachi is rs178.4 billion.

deputy Chairman Planning Commis-sion of Pakistan dr nadeem-ul-Haq, saidthat parliament needs to make amend-ments and introduce legislation into thecivil service rules for better management.He said that government is facing diffi-culty to fund these projects. He said thatdevelopment work on M-9 will start inMay 2012, next year.

dr nadeem Ahsaan, state Minister forOverseas Pakistanis said that unfortu-nately; the city that produces 70 per centof the total revenue is facing scarcity offunds for its own development projectswhich is unjustified. He said that as a pub-

lic representative we have to answer thequestions of the people related to the de-velopment of their areas.

He said that MQM has vacated 33 kilo-meter area resided by the Katchi Abadis;and now the matter is resting with the fed-eral government to show political will tostart work on the project. He said to allo-cate amount for the development projectsis not enough; as the government needs torelease funds for their timely comple-tion. He said that PC-1 has been sent to thefederal government to build federal hospi-tal in Hyderabad.

the planning Commission briefedMQM delegation about on going progresson these projects just to have it finalisedbefore a meeting to be held PM Gilani.

PM Gilani to

review development

work in Karachig Rs5.3 billion released for development against Rs22.8 billion requiredg total expected cost of completion of 75 projects stands at Rs178.4 billion

g lCCI in favour of tradepromotion with regionalcountries

g Certain sectors havereservation on Mfnstatus to India

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