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Latest Prize Bond Draw Result for Rs.200/-: Check It Now!

2010-03-15T16:15:00.003+05:00

Latest Draw (41st): The Results of P.B. Rs. 200/- have been announced, draw held at City Faisalabad: 1st Prize of Rs.750,000/- PB# 349928, 2nd Prize of Rs.250,000/- PB# 509493, PB# 695667, PB# 785280, PB# 579777, PB# 139854, Complete results of other prizes are available Soon.

Open Market Currency Exchange Rates (Forex Rates) in Pakistan

2009-12-05T15:05:00.000+05:00

Updated on: Sat, December 5, 2009, 13:30 (PST) Arrows of currency trend in the chart show forex exchange rates compared with the latest forex exchange rates Following are indicative forex exchange currencies rates Courtesy : ECAP
Remittance	Buying	Selling	Trend
US Dollar DD	0.0	0.0
US Dollar TT	0.0	0.0
Currency Notes
US Dollar	83.45	83.75
Kuwaiti Dinar	285.94	292.46
Malaysian Ringgit	0.0	0.0
Norwegians Krone	14.68	14.89
UK Pound Sterling	137	138
Saudi Riyal	22.02	22.27
Singapore Dollar	0.0	0.0
Swedish Korona	11.99	12.17
Swiss Franc	82.49	83.61
U.A.E Dirham	22.51	22.77
Bahrain Dinar	218.35	221.50
NewZealand $	43.5	43.8
Omani Riyal	213.84	216.99
Australian Dollar	76.16	77.31
Danish Krone	16.68	16.91
Euro	124.50	125.50
Thai Bhat	0.0	0.0
Canadian Dollar	78.10	79.00
Hong Kong Dollar	10.51	10.78
Qatari Riyal	22.54	23.02
Indian Rupee	1.58	1.68
China Yuan	0.0	0.0
Japanese Yen	0.9350	0.9450
Forex Open Market Analysis

Rice, sugar prices start falling

2009-12-05T14:57:00.001+05:00

KARACHI: Prices of various varieties of rice have declined by Rs2 to Rs10 per kg, while supply of sugar from the mills has resulted in some stability in its wholesale rates. A wholesale rice trader said that the price of a normal variety fell to Rs48 from Rs50 per kg, while Basmati (ponia) rice is now available at Rs45 as against Rs50 earlier.

He said the new 386 Punjab variety now sells at Rs35 as compared to Rs40 per kg, Kernal Basmati price fell to Rs75 from Rs80 per kg, while Kernal special Basmati rate has declined to Rs90 from Rs100 per kg. A retailer said that Kernal Basmati super rate is now tagged at Rs120 as compared to Rs125 per kg. Irri-6 price

fell to Rs24 from Rs26 per kg while Basmati sela rate plunged to Rs95 from Rs115 per kg. Shopkeepers said that the prices had declined owing to some declining trend in rice exports from July onwards. As a result ample supplies of various varieties of rice had arrived in the local markets. Figures of Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) gave a dismal picture of rice export. Pakistan s total rice exports (basmati and others) fell by 33.4 per cent in value during July-Oct 2009, fetching only $537 million (809,872 tons) as compared to $806 million (787,222 tons) in the same period of 2008. Basmati exports fell by 51 per cent in value and 33 per cent in quantity to $240 million (228,991 tons) in July-Oct, 2009 as compared to $488 million (342,350 tons) in the same period of 2008. Exports of other varieties stood at $296 million (580,881 tons) in July-Oct 2009, as compared to $318 million (444,872 tons) in the corresponding period of 2008. However, vice-chairman Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (Reap), Rafiq Suleman said exports had been going up. He claimed that during July-Nov 2009, non-basmati exports went up by 32 per cent to 993,617 tons as compared to 751,770 tons in the same period of 2008. Basmati exports, however, went down slightly by six per cent to 372,686 tons during July-Nov, 2009 as compared to 398,327 tons in the same period of last year. Rafiq added that as exports are picking up, total exports of rice in the current financial year is likely to achieve target of $2.2 billion while in the last fiscal year, exports fetched $2.04 billion. Sugar The wholesale sugar price is now quoted at Rs51-52 per kg as compared to Rs58 per kg a month back but the retailers are not ready to pass on this impact to the consumers. Majority of the retailers are charging Rs60 per kg in many areas, while some are demanding even more than Rs60 per kg. Wholesalers said if the supply of sugar from the sugar mills improves further in coming days, the rates would further fall.

IMF tells India not to raise policy rate

2009-09-11T11:01:00.000+06:00

Friday, September 11, 2009
LAHORE: The International Monetary Fund either adopts country specific policies on bank mark-up or perhaps deliberately waits for an economy to bog down before suggesting a hike in interest rates as is evident from its advice to keeping current policy rates to India. The inflation in India is on rise it crossed 8 per cent in August with fear that the drought would further impact food prices and inflation. The policy rate in India is 3.5 per cent. Even at such low policy rate IMF has advised India not to increase it on the fear of stalling economic recovery. Pakistan on the other hand is still being pressed to keep a check on its interest rates though the inflation has halved from a peak of 25 per cent last October 2008 to 12 per cent in June 2009. The central bank of Pakistan during this period has decreased its policy rates by 3 per cent from 16 to 13 per cent. This has stifled demand of private sector credit. In fact the private sector has shown negative credit growth during past seven months. Kalpana Kochhar the Asia Pacific Deputy Director of IMF told media at the sidelines of an event that he believes it is too early to withdraw policies that have ensured liquidity and monetary easing in India. He said there are signs of the Indian economy recovering, but it is prudent to wait and see that these signs become well established Kochhar warned that unwinding the stimulus policies would be led by withdrawal of liquidity which would be followed by rate hikes. The most interesting observation he made about increasing inflation in India was that it was supply-driven and it certainly complicates matters. But even then he opined that it has not driven at this point by runaway demand and overheating....

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Remittances rise 31.78pc to $780.5 million

2009-09-11T10:31:00.001+06:00

Friday, September 11, 2009
KARACHI: Pakistani workers living abroad sent home record remittances of $780.53 million in August 2009, showing a jump of 31.78 percent over same month last year, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday. This is the second consecutive month that record remittances have come into the country. In July an amount of $744.85m was received. SBP insists that it s Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI), which was launched recently to bring remittances into the formal loop, has started to show result. But there are no credible data available to substantiate that claim. During the first two months July-August of fiscal year 2009-10, an amount of $1.525bn was sent home by overseas Pakistanis, showing 25 percent rise when compared with $1.219bn received in the same period last year. The monthly average remittances for the period July-August 2009-10 comes out to $762.69m as compared to $609.76m during the same corresponding period of the last fiscal year, registering an increase of 25 percent. Pakistanis living abroad sent home record $7.811 billion during financial year 2008-09, beating the previous annual high of $6.451bn transferred a year before. Remittances have become lifeline for the economy at a time when country s reliance on international lenders has increased to meets its foreign debt liabilities. Industry people offer varied reasons for the increase in remittances. Some say it is a repercussion of global recession, which has cost many expatriates to lose their jobs and now they are transferring their savings back home. But there is no evidence of this happening. On the other hand, bankers say government s action against two big exchange companies has weakened the hawala dealers.....

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Remittances rise 31.78pc to $780.5 million

2009-09-11T10:31:00.000+06:00

Friday, September 11, 2009
KARACHI: Pakistani workers living abroad sent home record remittances of $780.53 million in August 2009, showing a jump of 31.78 percent over same month last year, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday. This is the second consecutive month that record remittances have come into the country. In July an amount of $744.85m was received. SBP insists that it s Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI), which was launched recently to bring remittances into the formal loop, has started to show result. But there are no credible data available to substantiate that claim. During the first two months July-August of fiscal year 2009-10, an amount of $1.525bn was sent home by overseas Pakistanis, showing 25 percent rise when compared with $1.219bn received in the same period last year. The monthly average remittances for the period July-August 2009-10 comes out to $762.69m as compared to $609.76m during the same corresponding period of the last fiscal year, registering an increase of 25 percent. Pakistanis living abroad sent home record $7.811 billion during financial year 2008-09, beating the previous annual high of $6.451bn transferred a year before. Remittances have become lifeline for the economy at a time when country s reliance on international lenders has increased to meets its foreign debt liabilities. Industry people offer varied reasons for the increase in remittances. Some say it is a repercussion of global recession, which has cost many expatriates to lose their jobs and now they are transferring their savings back home. But there is no evidence of this happening. On the other hand, bankers say government s action against two big exchange companies has weakened the hawala dealers.....

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SBP-PC row over microfinance domain

2009-09-11T10:24:00.000+06:00

Friday, September 11, 2009

ISLAMABAD: The Planning Commission and the State Bank of Pakistan have divergent views on issues related to micro-finance as the latter has sent an official communication barring the planning managers from intervening in the domain of the central bank, it is learnt. However, the Planning Commission has pointed out that the regulation of the micro credit were not up to the mark, resulting into increasing intermediatory cost of microfinance institutions in the range of over 30 to 40 percent in shape of mark up, which is continuously being charged from small voiceless borrowers. A tug of war persists as the Governor State Bank (SBP) has written official letter to Secretary Planning Division by raising objections on active persuasion of Planning Commission s Social Sector Initiative to plunge into the affairs of the microfinance by arguing that it was not jurisdiction of the PC to interfere into the matters of financial sector.
The Planning Commission high-ups say that the operation side of microfinance definitely lies under the jurisdiction of the SBP. However, its policy side falls into the mainstay of the Planning Commission and it will continue to give its input for formulating the upcoming National Micro Credit Policy. Talking to The News on Thursday, Secretary Planning Commission Ashraf M Hayat said that the poverty is the main concern of the Planning Commission as it wanted to devise policies in order to tackle this menace effectively. The Planning Commission s Member Social Sector, Shaukat Hameed, when contacted, said that they were working on microfinance institutions for last six months where they found flaws in regulations. We are giving our recommendation to rectify the situation, he added.

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Dollar drops to near one-year lows

2009-09-11T10:17:00.000+06:00

Friday, September 11, 2009

NEW YORK: The euro rose versus the dollar on Thursday, hitting a new high for 2009 after a report showed a drop in the number of new US jobless claims last week. Analysts said the improvement in the weekly labor data supports investors recent demand for riskier investments in stocks, commodities and other currencies. The US dollar tends to benefit from higher risk aversion in global markets as it is perceived as a safe-haven asset and sells off when appetite for risk increases. The jobless claims data looks like a pretty healthy improvement from the previous week. We saw a healthy decline in both the initial claims number and the continued claims component of the report, said Omer Esiner, a senior market analyst at Travelex Global Business Payments in Washington. What we re seeing this morning is a little bit of an improvement in risk appetite. As a result, the US dollar is falling once again pretty much across the board, Esiner said.

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Money-mongers, panic buying behind sugar imbroglio

2009-09-11T09:16:00.001+06:00

Friday, September 11, 2009

LAHORE - The Punjab government has ample sugar stock but it is, on the one hand, farmers, millers, stockists, dealers and shopkeepers who are hell bent on fleecing money while on the other, panic buying among consumers putting a damper on efforts to stabilise sugar price and streamline the supplies. These were the views of members of inspection teams deployed to raid Sasta Ramazan Bazaars in the City on Wednesday.

Tehsildar Assad Butt while in surprise raid in Shalamar Sasta Ramazan Bazaar found many people carrying more than allotted quota of sugar. He himself has taken back sugar bags of one kilo from many consumers who were found possessing with more than allotted sugar. He said after the fresh instructions of Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif, only one kilo sugar is being sold to all individuals after punching their respective newly Identity Cards but people use to come out with all their family members to purchase sugar. He said earlier, chemical ink was used on sugar purchaser s thumb but few minutes after they came back after removing the ink. Now government has given us instruction to punch cards, he added.

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KESC owes Rs13.65b to SSGC, pays Rs1.34b

2009-09-08T12:16:00.001+06:00

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) has paid Rs1.34 billion to Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), out of the total amount of Rs4 billion of the monthly bill charged for the month of August. The outstanding dues of Rs13.65 billion has yet to be paid by the KESC to SSGC, the source disclosed. “The KESC has the monthly gas bill of around Rs3 to Rs4 billion that is separate from the sum accumulated as liabilities, which is Rs13.65 billion.

During the month of August, the KESC has made payments twice, one on August 15 and the other on August 26. Nothing has been paid for the month of September, it was decided between the two utilities that the KESC will pay Rs550 million from the arrears along with the current bill. But the payments made in August are apt to explain the situation,” said the source. He added that the company understands that the KESC is facing financial crisis but at the same time it should be kept in mind that SSGC is also a utility, and if payments are not made on time, SSGC will also face financial problem. “The claim that the gas pressure is low is incorrect. SSGC has agreed to supply 256 MMCFD of gas to the KESC, but on Friday when the three units of Bin Qasim Power Plant and Korangi Thermal Power Plant went off, SSGC was supplying 270 MMCFD of natural gas. After those units were closed for maintenance, KESC is now receiving 235 MMCFD of gas for power generation. The SSGC is facilitating KESC as much as possible but the utility should also realize the situation,” he further added.

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India quits IPI gas pipeline project

2009-09-08T12:11:00.000+06:00

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

India has exited from a gas pipeline deal it earlier planned with Iran and Pakistan, Mehr news agency reported citing Pakistani diplomat. “India has definitely quitted the IPI (India-Pakistan-Iran) gas pipeline deal,” the report said Sunday citing Pakistani ambassador to Iran, Muhammad Bux Abbasi. Iranian officials, however, said India has not yet officially declared its intention. In May this year, Tehran and Islamabad signed a $7.5-billion deal for supply of gas from Iran to Pakistan. As per the deal, Iran will initially supply 30 million cubic meters of gas per day to Pakistan which would be later increased to 60 million cubic meters per day. Iran, Pakistan and India had conceptualised the project in 1990s to help boost peace and security in the region, besides mitigating the power crisis. India stopped negotiations on the project due to tension with Pakistan, although Iran repeatedly encouraged New Delhi to rejoin the process, according to the report. The pipeline will run 2,775 km when linked with the three countries. The project would have greatly benefited India, which lacks sufficient natural gas to meet its rapidly increasing domestic requirements. Pakistan has been facing electricity shortfall of more than 3,000 megawatts and plans to generate 4,600 megawatts from Iranian gas. Islamabad has also been under pressure from Washington to abandon the deal.

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Gold steadies below $1,000

2009-09-08T12:08:00.001+06:00

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

LONDON: Gold held broadly steady on Monday just shy of $995 per ounce, consolidating stellar gains last week that took it tantalisingly close to the $1,000 psychological level, with buyers encouraged by dollar weakness. Investment in palladium continued to jump, sending prices close to highs for the year, with fund holdings swelling on expectations depressed auto demand would pick up. Spot gold stood at $994.70 per ounce by 1348 GMT, broadly steady from $993.40 quoted late in New York last Friday. The price rose as far as $997.20 last week, its highest since February, when it briefly topped $1,000. Gold found support at lower levels but trading ranges were narrow and volumes were said to be thinner, with investors restraining themselves due to Monday’s US public holiday. A confluence of dollar weakness, making the metal more attractive to non-US investors, and doubt about the sustainability of global economic recovery prompted a spate of investors to seek refuge in gold last week, as prices hit six-month highs. Analysts said a run to $1,000 was inevitable. “It will have a go, we are within reach,” said Ole Hansen, senior manager at Saxo Bank. “Within the first few days of this week we should have an attempt.”

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US Financial assistance

2009-09-07T11:15:00.000+06:00

Monday, September 07, 2009

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Sunday said the United States should channelise disbursement of its financial assistance to Pakistan through the existing mechanism of the government of Pakistan. He underlined the fact that disbursement through NGOs involves out of proportion administrative expenses, sometimes to the extant of 35 - 40% and hence, actual amount spent on the welfare of the public gets drastically reduced. The Prime Minister was talking to the US Deputy Secretary of State for Resources and Management, Jacob J. Lew who accompanied by the Acting Administrator of USAID, Alouso L. Fulgham called on him here at the PM House on Sunday evening. Prime Minister Gilani suggested that the US Deputy Secretary of State should have detailed meetings with the Minister and the Secretary of Finance to work out mutually agreed modalities on the procedure of financial assistance. He pointed out that the Benazir Income Support Programme, Higher Education Commission, the existing basic education and the basic health units in Pakistan should be considered for the US assistance for education, health and poverty alleviation sectors.

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Rs 6.5b to be spent on Gilgit-Baltistan

2009-09-07T10:40:00.000+06:00

Monday, September 07, 2009

GILGIT : The Federal Government would spend Rs 6.5 million on socio-economic uplift of region as it has approved Annual Development Plan (ADP) for 2009-2010, Senior officials of the administration said. The ADP 2009-2010 was approved by the Chairman Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira and accordingly the plan was circulated among all government departments, Secretary Planning and Development, Abdus Sattar told APP by phone. He disclosed some 767 development schemes would be executed this year and out of them 94 were new projects in the ADP. The government is specially focusing on power sector so that the huge water potential is harnessed for the energy production.

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Government crackdown against sugar mills

2009-09-07T10:20:00.001+06:00

Monday, September 07, 2009

KARACHI: The sugar mills owners have expressed their inability to pay off/retire Rs 40 billion loans and advances that they owed to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) due to ongoing crackdown against the millers by the government. Talking to Chairman Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) Iskandar Khan said due to the crackdown of law enforcement agencies

on the directives of government against sugar mills, the industry became bankrupt and it is impossible to retire the huge amount till October 31. The PSMA chairman said the government had opened tenders for the import of expensive sugar from international market by neglecting the local industry due to which the millers could not sold their sugar stocks in the market. Currently, the sugar mills have a stock of 1.3 million tons of sugar, but the government has started crackdown against the sugar mills to recover the stock under the cover of hoarding. The sugar mills owners have decided to close their factories and stop supply of white refined sugar to the wholesale market until the operation against the millers is stopped, he added.

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Japan suspends aid to Third World

2009-09-07T09:49:00.000+06:00

Monday, September 07, 2009

KARACHI: The new Japanese government has suspended aid to the Third World countries and Pakistan will be the worst hit among these states, Aaj News reported. According to the channel, Japan's new government has taken this decision to provide free education to its citizen. Democratic Party of Japan, which has recently won the elections, has taken this decision in the light of its manifesto.

The channel said that Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project is in jeopardy following the Japanese government decision.

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NFC technical committee decision

2009-09-07T09:39:00.001+06:00

Monday, September 07, 2009

ISLAMABAD: The National Finance Commission (NFC) Technical Committee on Saturday decided that vertical distribution of resources between center and provinces would be determined in the light of their expenditures benchmark. The first meeting of the committee was presided over by Secretary Finance Salman Siddique here at the Ministry of Finance and was attended by the Finance Secretaries of the provinces.

The macroeconomic framework for expenditures between the federation and provinces would also be determined for the next five years along with the NFC award. It is learnt that the meeting discussed growth rate for the future expansion of expenditures as well as vertical distribution formula between the federation and the provinces.

The new macroeconomic framework of provinces for five years would be based on the economic reports of the provinces and their future expenditures would be calculated on these grounds.

Secretary Finance Salman Siddique later talking to media on the sidelines of the launching of World Bank Pakistan Tax Policy Report, said that once the benchmarking of federal and provincial expenditures is completed, a clear macroeconomic picture would be available for determination of federal and provincial governments shares in federal revenues.

The issues before the technical committee are to determine federal and provincial expenditures, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rates to be achieved in next five years and as to what should be the base for vertical distribution of resource between federal government and four provinces.

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THE RUPEE: dollar gains more

2009-09-05T11:30:00.001+06:00

Saturday, September 05, 2009

KARACHI: Persisting demand for dollars did not allow the rupee to shed its losses against the greenback on the currency market on Friday, dealers said. On the interbank market, the rupee shed five paisa against dollar for buying and selling at 82.90 and 82.95, they said. Market sources said that the weaker rupee is good to attract the buyers in the international market, in the meantime, they said that the rupee may trim its losses as a result of easy supply of the US currency.

During the final Asian session dollar held steady above this week's seven-week low against yen and kept a firmer tone against euro as investors hunkered down to await US non-farm payrolls later in the day. The market is uncertain how dollar will react to the August non-farm payrolls report due at 1230 GMT, after it lost its toehold above 93.00 yen at the start of this week and hit its lowest since mid-July just above 91.90 on Thursday.

OPEN MARKET RATES: The rupee retained its levels against dollar for the second day for buying and selling at 82.70 and 82.80, dealers said. Meanwhile the rupee gained 20 paisa in terms of euro for buying and selling at Rs 117.55 and Rs 118.05, they said.

Open Buying Rs 82.70 Open Selling Rs 82.80

Interbank Closing Rates: Interbank Closing Rates For Dollar On Friday.

Buying Rs 82.90 Selling Rs 82.95

(BRecorder)

Low tariffs caused power crisis: WB

2009-09-05T11:28:00.001+06:00

Saturday, September 05, 2009

ISLAMABAD: The World Bank believes that the absence of conditions from donors in the last few years has paved the way for Islamabad not to hike electricity tariff in accordance with the generation cost, leading to creation of the monster of circular debt that compromised country s ability to provide uninterrupted power to its consumers. When there were no conditions, the pricing formula to adjust electricity tariff simply disappeared, WB Senior Energy Specialist Rashid Aziz said while expressing his views in a panel discussion organised by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) on the impact of circular debt at the Auditorium of Planning Commission on Friday. Member Planning Commission Shaukat Hameed pointed out that the tariff of power generation from Basha dam was proposed at 10 to 12 cents in the PC-1 so cheap electricity would not be available now. He criticised the IPPs, saying that the government guaranteed in 1996 to get electricity at 18 cents. It was also pointed out that the issue of circular debt could not be solved by injecting Rs200 billion through loans from the ADB or launching securitisation bond for overseas Pakistanis. Our banking system is not in position to arrange financing of Rs200 billion, so it requires tackling the issue, Federal Secretary Ministry of Textile Dr Waqar Masood said. Referring to an IMF document, he said the tariff is still short by 21 to 41 per cent in accordance with various estimates. The WB expert on energy, citing an example, said it is quite clear that when you go to market for purchasing a dozen eggs with a price of Rs50 but if you pay Rs30 it will not be possible to get a dozen eggs. But the same is not the case in the power sector. When asked to comment on increased level of electricity after installing of expensive Rental Power Plants (RPPs), he said that there was no gas available to fully utilise avenues of power generation.

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Oil prices drop after US jobs data

2009-09-05T11:26:00.000+06:00

Saturday, September 05, 2009

LONDON: Oil prices fell on Friday after the world s biggest energy consumer the United States reported a rise in its unemployment rate and as traders booked profits before a long US holiday weekend. Ahead of the employment data crude futures had been rising steadily, recovering from falls suffered on Thursday. New York s main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery, dipped five cents to $67.91 a barrel after the US jobs report for August. Brent North Sea crude for October delivery was 23 cents lower at $66.89 a barrel in afternoon London trading. The US unemployment rate jumped to 9.7 per cent in August as 216,000 jobs were lost, the US government said on Friday in a report suggesting steadying labour market conditions. The jobless rate rose three-tenths of a point to the highest level since June 1983, but the data nonetheless showed an easing of the massive pace of job losses in an economy struggling to emerge from recession. Elsewhere, oil traders were gearing up for next week s OPEC ministerial meeting in Vienna to decide on the cartel s crude production levels. Angola, 2009 president of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has said the cartel should maintain production at existing levels during the September 9 meeting. OPEC has influence over global oil prices because the cartel pumps about 40 per cent of the world s crude. In a mixed trading week, crude futures fell sharply from levels above $70 on Monday and extended losses before stabilising on Wednesday as official data showed US crude stocks had dropped by an expected 400,000 barrels.

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NIT to introduce two new mutual funds

2009-09-05T11:24:00.000+06:00

Saturday, September 05, 2009

KARACHI: The National Investment Trust (NIT), a leading mutual fund company being managed by the government, formally announced plans on Friday to diversify its product base from a single equity fund to a bond and income fund. According to NIT Chairman and MD Tariq Iqbal Khan, the Trust was going to introduce two new mutual funds, but these would not be belonging to the equity segment this time. One of these would be a bond category fund while the other would be an income fund, he said. The difference among above mentioned three categories of funds is that the received money from unit holders in the equity fund is invested in the stock market; the bond funds are invested in bond markets, while income funds are invested in some fixed-income schemes. All the three categories have different level of risk and reward as well. Talking to a group of reporters in his office, Khan said the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has given go-ahead single to the Trust to launch its bond fund, the NIT Government Bond Fund (NIT-GBF). Today in the afternoon, we are going to register NIT-GBF with the registrar and its Initial Public Offering (IPO) is expected to take place sometime after Eid. We, therefore, are trying our best to bring its prospectus in the market before Eid, he explained. As far as the introduction of another fund in the income segment i.e. NIT Income Fund (NIT-IF) is concerned, work on this product is also under way simultaneously and approval for the fund has also been sought from the SECP, which is expected any moment, he said. Since NIT was subject to be sold into the private sector in the near past so that it was not striving to expand operations at that juncture of business.

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SBP unveils new scheme for cotton

2009-09-05T11:19:00.001+06:00

Saturday, September 05, 2009

KARACHI - State Bank of Pakistan on Friday announced a new financing facilities scheme for cotton ginners with a view to modernize their factories to produce quality ginned cotton for the textile value chain and to minimize electricity consumption. This scheme is only available for SME borrowers, as defined in Prudential Regulations for SMEs. This scheme has been effective from September 04, 2009 (Friday) and shall remain valid only up to December 31, 2010 on first come first served basis and subject to availability of funds under the Scheme. In a circular issued by central bank, it was stated that financing under the scheme would be available for a maximum period of seven years including a maximum grace period of six months. Financing facilities under the scheme shall be provided through all commercial banks and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs). According to SBP, financing shall be available only for Balancing, Modernization and Replacement (BMR) of Cotton Ginning Factories. SBP further said cotton seeds crushing machinery installed in the premises of ginning factories shall also be eligible to avail financing facilities under the scheme. Financing shall be available for purchase of only new locally manufactured plant, machinery & equipment. Financing for purchase of new generators up-to a maximum capacity of 500 KVA shall also be eligible. The capacity of generator shall, however, not be in excess of the ginning factory s in-house energy requirements or upto 500 KVA, whichever is less. As per details, SBP announced different mark-up rates for different periods for financing this scheme, for instance, for the tenure of 3 years, banks will charge 6 per cent rate of refinance, 2 per cent spread with 8 per cent end users rate while over 3 years and up-to 7 years period, this facility will be available on paying 6.50 per cent rate of refinance, 2.5 per cent bank spread and 9 per cent end user rate from the borrowers. Over 5 years and up-to 7 years rate of refinance will be 7 per cent, spread 3 per cent and 10 per cent end users rate respectively. It is important t note that financing rates shall be revised on annual basis effective from July each year and mark-up shall be paid on quarterly basis.

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Gold may touch $1,200

2009-09-05T11:16:00.001+06:00

Saturday, September 05, 2009

International gold prices may touch $1,200 an ounce by the end of December, 2009, a top trade official said on Friday. “Investment demands by gold exchange-traded funds and China buying more gold reserves will help achieve this target,” said Suresh Hundia, president of the Bombay Bullion Association on the sidelines of a conference.

Gold steadied below $990 an ounce on Friday, consolidating a potent two-day rally that took the market to within a whisker of $1,000, with inflation concerns and jitters over stock market gains stoking investor interest. Buying of gold exchange-traded funds picked up, with holdings of the largest, New York’s SPDR Gold Trust, posting its biggest one-day percentage rise since March. India is a major importer of gold.

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THE RUPEE: all-round gains

2009-09-03T10:42:00.004+06:00

Thursday, September 03, 2009

KARACHI: The rupee retained its firmness against dollar on the currency market on Wednesday, dealers said. On the interbank market the rupee extended its gains, rising 22 paisa versus dollar for buying at 82.70 and rose by 23 paisa for selling at 82.75, dealers said. In the third Asian trading session yen retreated from a seven-week high against dollar and euro, pushed back after economic growth in Australia supported the case for an early rise in rates and powered the Australian dollar higher.

Most regional shares fell as concerns about the financial sector outweighed data showing growth in the US manufacturing sector and dragged Wall Street down, sending the low-yielding yen up against riskier currencies initially.

OPEN MARKET RATES: The rupee managed to gain 30 paisa against dollar for buying and selling at 82.70 and 82.80, dealers said. The rupee also picked up 20 paisa versus euro for buying and selling at Rs 117.15 and Rs 117.65, they said.

Open Buying Rs 82.70
Open Selling Rs.82.80

Interbank Closing Rates: Interbank Closing Rates For Dollar On Wednesday

Buying Rs.82.70
Selling Rs.82.75

(BRecorder)

Budget deficit at 5.2pc of GDP

2009-09-03T10:41:00.000+06:00

Thursday, September 03, 2009

KARACHI - The fiscal and budget deficit target set by Ministry of Finance for the year 2009-10 could face some slippages and fail to materialize if the government is proved unsuccessful to tackle the issues of tax administration and electricity subsidies, an analyst showed this concern on Wednesday. Muzzammil Aslam, Head of Research at JS Global, said that IMF would strictly follow the deadlines of performance criteria set in its latest review especially related to taxation and electricity tariffs with an aim to re-balance budgetary deficit. He further said the government has also committed to fulfil the new structural conditionalities within a certain time framework given by IMF however, any difference in real and estimated cost of budget deficit is unlikely to strain IMF program, as Finance Ministry has already taken the performance waiver from IMF in the second review. He also mentioned that the related program commitments have been converted into structural benchmarks for the third review. IMF has further asked Pakistani authorities to introduce a broad-based VAT to correct the structural shortcomings in Pakistan s tax system, which relies on a very narrow tax base. The introduction of a broad-based VAT in mid-2010 is a key pillar of their fiscal strategy.
The fiscal deficit target was missed by 90bps for FY09 if compared to IMF projection, the analyst added.
It is important to mention that the government has estimated budget and fiscal deficits to be stayed at 4.6 per cent and 7.6 per cent of GDP respectively for the current financial year.

It must be recalled that the government has amended by a Presidential Ordinance of the NEPRA Act to ensure monthly determination by NEPRA of the fuel adjustment surcharge in line with international fuel prices, quarterly determination of overall electricity tariffs by NEPRA and notification of the adjusted tariffs within 15 days. Later, by September 15 government s has to take approval for making regulations to form new occupational groups within the FBR and revision of the structure of Regional Tax payer offices and submission of the VAT law to Parliament by end of 2009.Both conditionalities have macroeconomic relevance as in the absence of a de-politicized mechanism for regular electricity tariff adjustments, sizable financial imbalances in the electricity sector are likely to resurface. The adoption of a broad-based VAT is the cornerstone of the revenue effort over the medium term, and a crucial component of the authorities strategy to finance the needed increase in public investment without recourse to external borrowing or crowding out domestic private investment. imilarly, the government has reached a revised agreement with World Bank and ADB staff on a schedule for tariff increases that postpones the elimination of tariff differential subsidies to 2010/11. The budget deficit for the fiscal year 2008/09 (July-June) was 5.2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), higher than the government target. The deficit for fiscal year 2008/09 was targeted at 4.3 percent of GDP and was 3.0 percent for the first nine months ending March 31. According to the FY09 fiscal accounts that were released by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), MoF reported a deficit of 2.2 per cent of GDP in the 4QFY09 alone. The extra-ordinary deficit for the last quarter was led by aggressive development spending of Rs 210 billion, as a result of which, the total expenditure came in at Rs455bn in FY09.

Overall, the financing mix of the deficit was tilted in the favour of domestic (internal) financing, led by Rs 251 billion investment in NSS scheme and Rs 260 billion investments by banks. In revenue, last year will be remembered as the most volatile year in the recent past, as oil prices remained volatile; making an all time high of $147/bbl in July 2008 and a low of $32 in February 2009. While the former has impacted the expenditure side led by huge subsidies and the latter affected the overall FBR tax collection ability. Overall, tax revenue target was missed by fair margin and came in at Rs1.2 trillion (up 14.6 per cent) or 9.2 per cent of GDP. Direct tax collection growth remained dismal and came in at 13 per cent compared to sales tax and excise duty. Both were up 17.3 per cent and 38 per cent respectively. The performance of non-tax revenue sector remained robust and depicted a growth of 44 per cent led by SBP profits and defence income. While the current expenditure rose by 9 per cent and development expenditure remained at Rs 455 billion, lower than the target of 550 billion. The fundamental reason for the containment of current expenditure was the pass down of fuel price subsidy and partly electricity subsidy. However, interest payment has slightly inched up to 637 billion or 4.9 per cent of GDP. The budget deficit for the full-year came in at Rs 680 billion or 5.2 per cent of GDP. Similar to FY08, the bulk of the financing was done through domestic sources. Though the external gross receipts remained higher but the higher re-payment of external debt kept the share of external sources subdued. The majority of the domestic funding came through investments in saving schemes and bank investment in Treasury bill.

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