profit.com.pk

Synchronising price fluctuation withinternational market Page 02

Friday, 11 May, 2012

ISLAMABAD

AMER SIAL

The Annual Plan Coordination Com-mittee (APCC) on Thursday finalized atotal national development outlay of Rs825.2 billion, with federal componentof Rs 350 billion and provincial shareof Rs 475 billion for the next fiscal year2012-13.

The committee also decided thatpriority will be given to complete on-going projects, while new un-approvedprojects will be discouraged as they maycause thin spread resource allocation re-sulting in time and cost overrun.

Deputy Chairman Planning Com-mission Chairman Dr Nadeem-ul-haq

chaired the meeting. he said the pro-posed PSDP for the next fiscal year hasbeen prepared in line with the growthstrategy framework and to achieve thegovernment’s nine points agenda to en-sure inclusive growth, reducing poverty,achieving MDGs, minimizing wastages,ensuring balanced development, food,water and energy security. The proposedPSDP also articulates the division ofsubjects between provincial and federalgovernments after passage of 18th con-stitutional amendment.

APCC was informed that the nextyear plan envisages a GDP target of 4.3percent which has been fixed under thegrowth strategy. The targets will beachieved through improvement in pro-ductivity and competitiveness, reformsin the markets, promoting cities as re-gional clusters, improve connectivity,

reforming the civil service, institutionsand PSes, harnessing the potential ofyouth and embarking on result basedmanagement.

In the total proposed PSDP 2012-13, the size of foreign assistance hasbeen estimated at Rs 120 billion. Newschemes for capacity building or forconstruction of housing and devolvedsubject’s projects have been excluded.Federal ministries and divisions haveformulated their own development pri-orities while remaining in their ap-proved ceilings and adoptingguidelines of the Planning Commissionand Finance Division. The emphasishas been placed on completion of on-going priority projects.

While reviewing PSDP 2011-12, itwas informed that no reduction in cur-rent year’s PSDP size was made to help

restore GDP growth. As such, the Na-tional Development Outlays 2011-12 re-mained at Rs 730 billion. It wasinformed that foreign assistance in-creased than the budgeted allocation ofRs 39 billion to Rs 90 billion.

The releases to the executing agen-cies have been more streamlined so asto reach the project authorities on afast track basis. So far, 91 percent ofthe PSDP allocations have been re-leased. emphasis was placed on timelycompletion of projects by making spe-cial efforts. About 174 projects wouldlikely to be completed during the cur-rent fiscal year.

Review of Annual Plan 2011-12 andproposed Annual Plan 2012-13 waspresented by Joint Chief economist,Planning and Development DivisionSohail Rehan. APCC was informed that

performance during the current fiscalyear was satisfactory. The GDP growthis expected to be 3.7 percent as against3 percent achieved during the last year.Despite floods, the agriculture sectorhas performed better and major cropsincluding cotton, rice, maize, and sug-arcane witnessed sizable growth overthe last year. The Wheat crop, how-ever, is expected to be around 23.2 mil-lion tons, which is 2 million tons lessthan the last year production.

APCC was also informed that CPIand food inflation are easing down.CPI inflation is expected to be around11 percent during the year as against13.7 percent during the previous year.Similarly, food inflation has witnesseda big reduction from 18 percent in thelast year to 11.5 percent in the currentyear. The large-scale manufacturinghas shown some improvement. The ex-ternal sector, especially export is ex-pected to be behind target, whileworker remittances have shown posi-tive growth.

LET’S bEEf UP ThE PUbLIC SECTOR

Handing overthe baton

g NA body suggestsOGRA’s handing over topetroleum ministry

ISLAMABAD

ONLINE

The National Assembly legislativebody, while showing its concerns overfunctions of Oil and Gas RegulatoryAuthority (OGRA), suggested to give itunder the control of the Ministry ofPetroleum or make it a separateministry. The meeting of NationalAssembly Standing Committee onPetroleum and Natural Resourcesheld under the chair of Sardar TalibNakai in which committee stronglyshowed its reservation over absence ofSecretary Cabinet in the meetings ofthe standing committee. Memberssaid that she should be here to answerthe queries of members. Rana Afzaalhussain said that present governmentis ridiculing the supremacy of theparliament as more than fiftyrecommendations have been sent bythe committee but no action has beenseen so far over theserecommendations. he said thatOGRA has become white elephant andit should be given under the control ofthe ministry of petroleum and naturalresources. he said that PrimeMinister is also facilitating OGRAofficials in corruption and is part ofthe game. During the meeting, theMinistry of Petroleum and Naturalresources and officials of OGRA weredifferent opinion over pricing ofpetroleum products. Barjees Tahirsaid that OGRA has failed to provethat its existence is essential so itshould be dissolve or it should begiven under the control of theministry. Committee suggestedChairman Talib Nakai to give OGRAunder the control of the ministry ofpetroleum and natural resources or itshould given status of separateministry. Federal minister forpetroleum and Natural Resources DrAsim hussain said that OGRA followspolicies given by the ministry ofpetroleum however its capacitybuilding is required. he said that tento fourteen rupees of GST goes toprovinces while only four rupees goesto federal government.

APCC proposes Rs 825.2b PSDP fornext fiscal

ISLAMABAD

ONLINE

The United Nation eco-nomic and Social Survey ofAsia and Pacific (eSCAP)has projected the economyof Pakistan to grow by 4 per

cent during the year 2012.According to a report launched by

eSCAP on Thursday, the Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) in Pakistan is projected togrow by 4 per cent in 2012 which is an im-provement from 2.4 per cent growth in 2011.

Speaking at a report launching cere-mony held here, Dr. Ashfaq hassan, aneconomist said that the economic growthof the country has increased mainly due tothe enhanced output of agriculture sector.

he said the agriculture sector was im-proving due to the post-flood recovery incotton, rice, wheat, sugar cane and otherminor crops.

Dr. Ashfaq said cut in monitory pol-icy by 200 basis points by the State Bankof Pakistan also supported the economicgrowth of the country.

“Pakistan, after several increases inthe policy rate, lowered the policy rate by

50 basis points in July 2011 and furtherby 150 basis points in October, 2011 de-spite inflation remains elevated.

The moves were aimed to stimulateprivate investment and economicgrowth”, Dr. Ashfaq said while elaborat-ing the report. The GDP growth in thecountry slowed considerably to 2.4 percent in fiscal year 2011 from 3.8 per centin the previous year, mainly due to pre-vailing security concerns, the exogenousshock from elevated oil prices and un-precedented floods in a large part of thecountry and shortage of electricity andnatural gas have also hampered the eco-nomic growth, he added.

The economic Survey of Asia re-ported that to reduce the budget deficit inPakistan, the government was making ef-

forts to improve tax compliance andbroaden the tax base.

The report said that current accountof balance of payments in the countryregistered surplus in 2011.

“In Pakistan, the external sector regis-tered a surplus on the current account, mak-ing it a bright spot of the economy in 2011”,the report added. According to the reportthe exports increased by 29.3 per cent andworkers’ remittances reached an historiclevel of more than $11.2 billion in 2011.

Rising prices of value-added textileshelped propel the rapid growth of ex-ports. Foreign exchange reserves also in-creased considerably.

The report further said that in orderto address energy shortages, the govern-ment should take various measures in-

cluding setting up viable new power proj-ects, minimizing transmission and distri-bution losses including theft ofelectricity, increasing exploration of nat-ural gas, crude oil and coal, tapping of re-gional markets and setting upinfrastructure for energy imports.

The report said that widespreadpoverty continues to be major challengein South Asia. “To fight against poverty,countries need to continue to implementeconomic reforms to improve productiv-ity, strengthen public institutions, im-prove economic governance and buildsocial safety nets to protect the more vul-nerable segments of the population”, theeconomic Survey of Asia added.

Clovis Freire, representative said onthe occasion that Asia and the Pacificfaces another year of slowing growth asdemand for its exports falls in developednations and capital costs rise, but the re-gion will remain the anchor of global eco-nomic stability.

he said that the growth rate of the re-gion’s developing economies is projectedto slow down to 6.6 per cent in 2012 from7.0 per cent last year compared to astrong 8.9 per cent in 2010.

SCRUMPTIOUS RECIPES

AVENUE

OF ESCAP

UN’S OPTIMISM

g Pakistan economy to grow by4 percent in 2012: reportg Agriculture touted as thebackbone of economic growth

PRO 11-05-2012_Layout 1 5/11/2012 3:40 AM Page 1

news02Friday, 11 May, 2012

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

Through underground gasificationtechnology, electricity can be gen-erated at Rs 3 to 4 per unit whilediesel can be produced at $40 perbarrel. This was stated by MemberScience and Technology, PlanningCommission Dr Samar Mubarak-mand while speaking at oil and gasexhibition and conference POGee-2012 held here at Karachi expoCentre Thursday.

The nuclear scientist said the un-derground gasification (UGC) tech-nology was the cheapest solution toproduce electricity, natural gas anddiesel in the present scenario of skyrocketing oil prices. he said 80,000megawatts of electricity was beingproduced through underground coalgasification in different countries ofthe world including South Africa, Aus-tralia, China, Russia, Poland, Czechand Uzbekistan. Similarly, SouthAfrica was producing 160,000 barrelsper day from UGC technology whileChina was providing 1,550 mmcf perday from UGC project to Beijing andadjacent cities as town gas. Dr Samarpointed out that Australia is commis-sioning 8,000 MW through under-ground coal gasification.

he said 20,000 barrels of dieselper day can be produced at a cost of$650 million from Thar coal underUGC project. “We can directly sup-ply gas to fertilizer industry as feed-stock from Thar coal under UGC, heopined,” he said. he opined thatcommissioning of UGC projectwould serve as a game changer forenergy-scarce Pakistan’s economy.“We have successfully commis-sioned the first phase of UGC pilotproject by burning the gas flame atThar coal field and now we needmoney equivalent to $ 116 millionto generate 100 MW of electricity.”

Dr Samar said several foreigncompanies from China, UK, CzechRepublic and Australia were inter-ested to start UGC projects in Thar,but that would increase the cost ofpower generation like IPPs or RPPs.

he said new technology was alwaysbeing opposed in Pakistan and thiswas the reason why the money wasnot being released for the project.

On the occasion, MuhammadYasin executive Director Oil and GasRegulatory Authority (OGRA) said gasdemand in the country was rising ex-ponentially while its supply wasshrinking. The current gas demandwas 5.6 billion cubic feet per day whilethe supply is 3.8 bcf per day, leaving agap of 1.8 bcf per day, he added.

he said gas demand would riseto 6.2 bcf per day during 2015-16while the availability would be 4.5bcf per day. The demand for naturalgas would reach 7.7 bcf per day whileits availability would fall to 1.2 bcfper day due to depleting gas reservesand decline in new recoveries, he ob-served. Yasin said the supply of 500mmcf per day of liquefied natural gas(LNG) is expected in 2013-14 whileimport of gas from Iran (first 263mmcfd) is expected in 2015-16.

Program leader SAARC energyCentre, Dr Muhammad Pervezsaid that energy trade can be initi-ated with SAARC under the SouthAsia energy ring and added thatvarious action plans are underwayto promote cheaper energy withinthis block.

Chief Operating Officer SSGCLPG Pvt Ltd, Malik Usman hasansaid his company has floated tenderfor the start of two projects to sup-ply 50 mmcf per day, one for thesupply of gas to KeSC and the sec-ond for other industrial units.

DGM operations National GasCompany Oman, Sanjeev KumarSinha said that synthetic naturalgas (SNG) is the solution to energycrisis. Sales expert Ultraflux,France, Vincent Raimbaud said thatoil and gas production can be en-hanced by using new technology. -

ELECTRICITY bILLS MIGhT STOP CAUSINGbANKRUPTCY AfTER ALL

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s PresidentMian Abrar Ahmad has urged the Governments of Pak-istan and Iran to introduce banking channel and makearrangements for currency swap to enhance Pak-Iranbilateral trade.

exchanging views in the reception meeting at KCCIin the honour of Mayor of Mashhad h.e. Syed Muham-mad Pejman, he asserted upon the need to take meas-ures such as economic integration and reduction intransaction costs, port-to-port activities and customsmechanism to expand the volume of bilateral trade.

he urged to activate and develop regional tradingblock of eCO countries, particularly between Pakistan,Iran and Turkey. he proposed that the trade betweenPakistan and Iran should be permitted in local curren-cies instead of dollars and the trade through railwaysand road be regularized.

he was of the view that Pakistan has been severelydiscriminated by West and as energy-hungry country weshould not accept any dictation on Iran-Pakistan-IndiaGas pipeline project which is burning need for our coun-try to overcome the energy crisis and for industrializa-tion. The status of $ 7.5 billion Iran-Pakistan-India(IPI) Gas Pipeline can enhance the economic relation-ship with Iran. he highlighted the existing tremendouspotential for Pak-Iran bilateral trade and identified pos-sibilities of joint ventures in value-added agricultural,mining and engineering sector. To enhance bilateraleconomic and commercial cooperation, he voiced to es-

tablish banking channel as the business transactions be-tween Iran and Pakistan was routed through AsianClearing Union which was more time-consuming thana normal letter of credit (LC), while opening a LCthrough Iran’s sister companies in Dubai also adds tocost. he appreciated that the Pak-Iran Trade during lasthalf decade increased from $389 million to $1.2 billion,however, it is not aligned with the real existing trade po-tential. he emphasized to deepen the existing Preferen-tial Trade Agreement to be followed by Free TradeAgreement. he said that Iran can export to CentralAsian Republics China and Indiavia Pakistan.

he said that Pakistan was one of the fastest growingeconomies of the world, however, its pace was sloweddue to energy crises. he lamented that Pakistan lacksenergy security plan and he urged the government to de-vise a strategy on war-footing to produce 40 per centelectricity from nuclear, remaining 40 per cent fromcoal and rest from other energy resources. he lamentedthat successive governments never paid attention totake the benefits of Pakistan’s geostrategic position asgateway to China, Iran, India, CentralAsian RepublicRepublics and Middle east, while exploring the eco-nomic and commercial opportunities in the region. heemphasized that Pakistan should do trade with the re-gional countries and with trading blocks for the swift re-vival of the economy. he said that the biased policies ofUSA & West never allowed economic independence toPakistan as allowed to other countries in the region. hesaid that Pakistan was facing Non-Tariff Barriers to ex-port in terms of restricted market access and un-liber-alize business visa regime from West.

PETROLEUM PENDULUM

Remittances up by

20pc to $10.88bn

in July-April FY12

Karachi Chamber of Constructive IdeasEYEING IRAN

ThREE ChEERS?1/5 RISE

g Electricity can be generated at Rs3 per unit:Dr Samar Mubarakmand

ISLAMABAD

APP

MINISTeR for petroleumand Natural Resources DrAsim hussain on Thursdaysaid that the Ministrywould take up a proposal to

evaluate the petroleum prices on fortnightlybasis instead of monthly basis.

he said the proposal would be placed be-fore next meeting of economic CoordinationCommittee (eCC) with an objective to pass onthe impact of fluctuation of petroleum pricesin international market to consumers.

Responding to the questions, raised in theQuestion hour in the

Upper house of the Parliament, he saidthere were concerns being raised by certainquarters that the decrease in petroleum pricesin the international market was not beingpassed on to the consumers. Therefore, theMinistry had formulated the proposal in thisregard, he added.

Responding to a question by Col. (R) TahirMashhadi as to why Pakistan was not pur-chasing oil from Iran on lower rates, the Min-ister said Iran was itself an oil-deficientcountry and this was the reason that oilwas not being purchased from Iran.Asked whether there was any plan toprovide subsidy to the people atlarge, the Minister said that therewas 16 percent GST and Rs 10 pe-troleum levy per litre of the petro-leum products. he said 70 percentof the GST share goes to theprovinces and the provincial govern-ments have refused to do so. he saidthe federal government however hadsacrificed its share and instead of Rs10, the government was charging Rs7/per litre as petroleum levy.

Responding to another query aboutimport of LNG, the Minister saidthat after the apex court deci-sion, the Mashal projecthad become controversialand the sponsors of the

project had fallen bankrupt. he said the Min-istry was re-initiating the LNG project and thematter would be taken to the eCC.

About the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gasline project,the Minister said the project was on track and itwould be completed by year 2014 despite snags.he said the country was facing acute gas short-age and demand was on the rise. he said lastyear, the diesel import had decreased due to in-crease in gas consumption. he said if Pakistancontinued to waste its precious gas resources onCNG and domestic consumers, it would have toface serious consequences in future. he said along term constructive policy would have to beevolved to meet the future challenges.

“Due to the absence of a long-term policy,we don’t know what will happen after year2020 when one of our rich reservoirs wouldcome to an end,” he added. he said OGRAneeded to be placed under the Ministry of Pe-troleum and he had put up this proposal to thePrime Minister which was turned down. heasked the house to make this recommenda-tion to streamline the OGRA affairs. he saidPakistan had rich reserves of tight gas but itsexploration was very costly.

State Minister for Water and Power Tas-neem Qureshi assured the house

that he would conduct visitsacross country to clamp

down power theft andwhosoever would be foundinvolved in deliberate

power theft would bedealt with accordingly.he said check-meterswould be installed atevery transformer to re-

duce the power leakagesand losses.

KCCI seeks banking channel, currency swap to enhance Pak-Iran tradeISLAMABAD

APP

Pakistan can easily triple its milk productionby employing simple methods while latestmeasures can further milk output by 900 percent. Pakistan has a impressive dairy industrywhich can be exploited to its real potential,said economic Councilor embassy of Nether-lands, Ian Van Ranselaar here on Thursday.

he said a developed environment can helprevolutionize Pakistan’s dairy industry. “ADutch cow produces nine times more milk aPakistani cow or buffalo can produce”, he saidand added that some measures are needed tobring per cow production of both friendlycountries at par. The Dutch diplomat wastalking to Vice President Federation of Pak-istan Chamber of Commerce and Industry(FPCCI) Mirza Abdul Rehman, Chairman Co-ordination Atif Akram Sheikh and ChairmanMedia Malik Sohail.

Ian Ranselaar further said that 16 Pak-istani major dairy stakeholders are due toleave for Netherlands to know the latesttrends and techniques. he said currently bal-ance of trade is in favor of Pakistan and theyare working on various projects to boost Pak-istan economy. The diplomat said variousPakistani products including rice, textiles,surgical goods, sports hardware, leather prod-ucts and fruits are of superior quality but local

entrepreneurs lag behind in branding whichhas been identified as a major obstacle.

“Security situation in Pakistan is not asbad as perceived in many countries which isshying away investors. Pakistan should im-prove its perception”, the diplomat remarked.

The Dutch diplomats were all praise forthe tireless efforts of Pakistan CommercialCouncillor in hague. On the occasion, MirzaAbdul Rehman said with 180 million popula-tion, Pakistan has great potential for invest-ment, vast space for business activities andthere is no issue of law and order.

Atif Akram Sheikh said both the countrieshave good political ties which should supple-ment our trade relations. Pakistan has threetimes the animals that Germany has, butyields are one-fifth of Germany’s and one-third of New Zealand, representing a signifi-cant loss, he added. Business community issatisfied with the efforts of the Ambassadorhugo Gajus Scheltema, said Sheikh, addingthat issuance of visa should be made easier.

Malik Sohail said being the fourth largestproducer of milk in the world, Pakistan pro-duces 35 billion liters of milk from around fivemillion animals which is worth Rs.177 billion.

“Our dairy sector is growing by five percent per annum while demand is increasing byfifteen per cent which calls for urgent meas-ures to address issues effecting production”,he underlined.

Dutch uncle gives milking tipsQUINTESSENTIAL MOO MOMENT

Pakistan has potential to triple milk production by 900 pc: Netherlands

Synchronisingprice fluctuationwith int’l marketg Ministry to move ECC to conduct petroleum prices evaluation on fortnightly basis

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

The Pakistanis working abroad sentback home over $10.876 billionduring first 10 months, July 2011–April 2012, of the current fiscal year2011-12, reported the central bankThursday. This, the bank said,shows an impressive growth of20.23 percent or $1830.38 millionwhen compared with $9.046 billionreceived during the correspondingperiod of FY11. According to StateBank, during the period in reviewthe inflow of remittances fromacross the globe showed an upwardtrend. The inflows from SaudiArabia, UAe, USA, UK, GulfCooperation Council (GCC)countries (including Bahrain,Kuwait, Qatar and Oman) and eUcountries amounted to $2.987billion, $2.386 billion, $1.922billion, $1.263 billion, $1.226 billionand $304.59 million, respectively.These receipts were against lastyear’s $2.085 billion, $2.091 billion,$1.677 billion, $990.92 million,$1.063 billion and $290.77 million,respectively, in July-April of 2011.The remittances received fromNorway, Switzerland, Australia,Canada, Japan and other countrieswere counted, accumulatively, at$785.65 million as against $846.36million received last year. A monthlyaccount of remittances depicts thaton average the remittances for July-April period comes out to $1.087billion compared to $904.66 millionof same period in FY2011,registering an increase of 20.23percent. In April, $ 1.141 billionwere remitted that were up by 10.73percent compared with $ 1.030billion received in the same monthof 2011. “Almost all of this growth inremittances during April, 2012 overthe corresponding period of the lastfiscal year was through bankingchannels,” the central bank said.Country-wise receipts during Aprilfrom Saudi Arabia, UAe, USA, UK,GCC and eU countries amounted,respectively, to $332.43 million,$245.33 million, $198.00 million,$131.82 million, $127.12 million and$31.14 million.

PRO 11-05-2012_Layout 1 5/11/2012 3:40 AM Page 2

news

Friday, 11 May, 2012

03

Allied bank to launch mobilebanking services

LAHORE: Allied Bank Limited, one of thelargest banks in Pakistan inked a TechnologySupport Agreement for the deployment of mo-bile banking services with Sybase, an SAPCompany, the global leader in mobile com-merce services and Abacus Consulting, theleading consulting, technology and outsourc-ing firm in the region. The deal was closed atthe head Office of the Bank today. Khalid A.Sherwani, President/CeO, Jalees Ahmed, ex-ecutive Director - Strategic Planning, Zia Ijaz,Group Chief - Commercial & Retail Banking &Mujahid Ali, Group Chief - Information Tech-nology from Allied Bank, Asad Ali Khan, Pres-ident & Abbas Ali Khan, Senior Partner fromAbacusConsulting and hasan Jamal, Countryhead - Pakistan from SAP were present on theoccasion along with other officials. Pakistanhappens to be one of the fastest developingmarkets in the world for mCommerce andthese services will create opportunities of un-precedented scale for bank customers. AlliedBank’s decision to deploy mCommerce solu-tion will enable it to offer mobile phone basedfinancial and non-financial services to its cus-tomers. On the occasion, Sherwani com-mented “Allied Bank, being one of the largest

banks in Pakistan, has been capitalizing ontechnology to provide fast and cost efficientservices to its customers. The imminent imple-mentation of mCommerce solution would fur-ther enhance Allied Bank’s capacity to extendits services to wide range of banking customersand help in extending financial inclusion to thehitherto untapped market segments”.

PTCL introduces “Life Made Easy”re-charge serviceISLAMABAD: Pakistan TelecommunicationCompany Limited (PTCL) has launched itsnewest “Life Made easy” re-charge servicethrough which Vfone and eVO customers canrecharge t heir accounts through a nationwidenetwork of Uload retailers. PTCL customers ofVfone and eVO can now enjoy instant rechargeof minimum Rs.20 through nearly 150,000 re-tailers situated across the country. Customersand retailers will get SMS alerts for allrecharges, which will help them keep track oftheir account status. “PTCL has always strivedto provide the best services and exciting offersto its valued customers,” said PTCL Senior ex-ecutive Vice President Commercial, NaveedSaeed. “PTCL’s focus remains our customers’convenience and the new ‘Life Made easy’ serv-ice will certainly bring a qualitative differenceto the lives of our customers.” “Keeping in mindthe needs of our customers, we will keep up-grading PTCL’s services in future,” said execu-tive Vice President Wireless, Omar Khalid.

PEMRA to take action againstderogatory programmes, excessiveadvertisements, foreign contentISLAMABAD: PeMRA, in pursuance to thedecision of the Authority in its 75th meetingheld last day at PeMRA headquarters Islam-abad has issued final notices to TV channels in-volved in airing derogatory, humiliatingprogrammes purposely meant for character as-sassination of individuals and organization inthe guise of parody or satire. The Authority alsoconclusively asked channels to stop excessiveadvertisements and foreign content being runbeyond the permissible limit. As per law TVchannels cannot run more than 12 minutes ofadvertisement in an hour. Similarly, the pro-portion of foreign content cannot be beyond10% of total broadcast in 24 hours. The Author-ity earlier in October last year had also issuedadvice to all channels asking them to exercise

prudence while airing satirical or comical pro-grammes as these programmes should not betargeting any specific individual or organiza-tion. Adding insult to or disgrace someone is noway an act of joy but are highly condemnablebeing unethical and immoral. No law of theland even Islam and the freedom of expressionand speech enshrined under Constitution ofPakistan permit such acts to defame, malign,slander or harm repute of others merely on thebasis of personal likings or disliking.

CORPORATE CORNER

Major Gainers

Company Open High Low Close Change Turnover

Unilever Food 2990.06 3139.56 3000.00 3139.01 148.95 175Rafhan MaizeSPOT 2902.00 3047.10 2950.00 3047.00 145.00 442Nestle Pakistan Ltd. 4122.31 4320.00 4150.00 4199.75 77.44 2,102Colgate Palmolive 861.00 875.00 850.00 875.00 14.00 180Sanofi-AventisXD 168.58 176.75 168.58 176.70 8.12 1,606

Major Losers

Siemens Pakistan 718.97 702.00 683.10 685.57 -33.40 1,345Indus Dyeing 438.10 416.32 416.20 416.29 -21.81 69UniLever PakSPOT 7341.25 7400.00 7100.00 7326.43 -14.82 315Island Textile 228.73 217.50 217.30 217.30 -11.43 1Shezan Inter. 172.94 168.01 165.00 165.69 -7.25 3,900

Volume Leaders

P.T.C.L.A 16.05 16.90 15.90 16.20 0.15 47,264,734Lotte PakPTA 9.12 10.06 9.13 9.94 0.82 38,610,901D.G.K.Cement 45.84 46.55 44.70 46.22 0.38 25,254,141Jah.Sidd. Co. 16.46 17.46 16.25 17.46 1.00 22,052,868Bank AL-Habib 28.00 29.40 27.74 29.24 1.24 16,474,965

Interbank RatesUS Dollar 90.8170UK Pound 146.2971Japanese Yen 1.1401euro 117.8351

Dollar EastBuy Sell

US Dollar 91.10 91.80Euro 117.58 118.40Great Britain Pound 146.45 147.43Japanese Yen 1.1358 1.1433Canadian Dollar 90.38 91.49Hong Kong Dollar 11.58 11.75UAE Dirham 24.78 24.92Saudi Riyal 24.28 24.41Australian Dollar 91.02 93.09

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

PAKISTAN stocks closedbearish on investor con-cerns over outcome of newrestrictions on US aid andassistance subject to certifi-

cation by US Secretary of State. Viewedby Ahsan Mehanti, Director at Arif habibInvestments Limited.

The Karachi Stock exchange (KSe)100-share index declined 193.40 points or1.32 percent to close at 14,420.19 pointsas compared to 14,613.59 points of theprevious session. The KSe 30-share indexshed 187.49 points to close at 12,558.94points as compared with 12,746.43 points.

The market turnover was down to268.853 million shares after opening at318.885 million shares. The overall marketcapitalization declined 0.05 percent andtraded Rs 2.683 trillion as against Rs 3.732trillion. Losers outnumbered gainers 94 to225, while 51 stocks were unchanged.

Mehanti added “Limited foreign inter-est, fall in global stocks and commoditiespending eurozone debt crises, outstandingcircular debt issues in pakistan energy sec-tor and uncertainty over federal budgetannouncements for banking sector playedcatalyst role in bearish sentiments amid

consolidation in stocks across the board atKSe.” The KMI 30-share was plunged by356.26 points to close at 24,767.74 pointsfrom its opening at 25,124.00 points. TheKSe all-share index closed with a loss of134.57 points to 10,116.60 points asagainst 10,251.17 points.

P.T.C.L.A was the volume leader inthe share market with 31.447 millionshares as it closed at Rs 15.33 after open-ing at Rs 16.20, down by 87 paisas. D.G.KCement traded 28.602 million shares asit closed at Rs 46.83 after opening Rs46.22 gaining 61 paisas. Lotte PakistanPTA traded 25.710 million shares as itclosed at Rs 9.77 from its opening at Rs9.94, decreasing Rs 17 paisas. FatimaFertilizer Company XD traded 23.424million shares and closed at Rs 26.14 asagainst its opening at Rs 26.89, shed byRs 75 paisas. engro Corporation traded17.393 million shares as it closed at Rs113.67 as compared to its opening at Rs118.93, decreasing Rs 5.26 paisas.

On the future market, the turnover de-creased to 22.822 million against 23.241million shares of Tuesday. The UnileverFood SPOT and Colgate Palmolive, up Rs56.64 and Rs 43.75, led highest price gain-ers while, Unilever Pakistan SPOT andRafhan Maize SPOT down Rs 86.43 andRs 42.25 respectively, led the losers.

bEAR hUG

Bears breed on apprehensiong US aid restriction, profit-taking drags KSE down 193.40 pts

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

Pakistan’s exports increased by 11.94 percent in

April 2012 over March 2012. export data showed

a declining trend in the first five months of the

current fiscal year; however, during last five

months – since December 2011 – it is

continuously increasing. During first five months

(July-November) of the fiscal year 2011-12, the

average month-over-month export growth was -

8.5 percent. however from December 2011 this

trend reversed and showed a positive trend. The

average month-over-month export growth during

last five months has been 8.13 percent. This has

been possible from the resilience of our business

community who despite having the non-

availability / shortages of gas and electricity.

As per released data, Pakistan exports during ten

months of the fiscal year 2011-12, decreased by 3.3

percent. The cumulative trade figure shows that

Pakistan’s exports during July-April 2011-12 were

US $ 19.43 billion, while in the corresponding

period of the last fiscal year, exports were $ 20.09

billion. Imports during July-April 2011-12 were $

37.042 billion as compared to $ 32.263 billion

during the same period of the year 2010-11,

registering a 14.81 percent increase. On the other

hand Pakistan’s exports during April 2012 were

valued at $ 2.24 billion which was 4.91% lower than

the level of $ 2.365 billion during April 2011.

Imports during April 2012 were valued at US $

3.757 billion registering an increase of 15.7 per cent

over the imports of $ 3.247 billion in April 2011.

Exports dwindle

ffC reduces prices by Rs.145 per bag

ISLAMABAD

APP

Fauji Fertilizer Corporation (FFC) has reduced urea prices byRs.145 per bag including of General Sales Tax (GST) to Rs.1650per bag which will be effective from May 11 (Friday). StockAnalyst, Zaheer Ahmed told APP that the reduction in prices isprimarily due to record inventory available with localmanufacturers approximately around 0.85 million tons and inaddition, imported urea in pipeline which will be available tofarmers at a subsidized rate, cheaper than local brand. hebelieved that the price decline may improve sales of localbranded urea whose price gap with imported urea is now beingnarrowed down to Rs.40-50 per bag after recent reduction inurea prices. “Moreover, other companies of fertilizer sectorsincluding engro, FFBL and Fatima is also expected to follow byreducing the prices in few days”, he added. “however, the pricedecline of Rs.145 per bag is expected to reduce the earnings ofFFC in current year by Rs1.8 per share, provided new pricesremain the same for rest of the year”, Ahmed said.Besides, the earning of engro, FFBL and engro may also bereduced by Rs.2.4, Rs.0.45 and Rs.0.2 per share respectively, ifthe companies followed by reducing the prices of urea.

SECP to support insurance reforms

KARACHI

ONLINE

The best international practices in the field of insurance should bestudied and one must learn from the experiences of otheremerging markets where the insurance penetration is much higherthan Pakistan. Mr Muhammad Ali, the SeCP chairman, said thison Thursday, while chairing the first meeting of the InsuranceIndustry Reform Committee, which has been formed by the SeCP.he further emphasized the importance of the incremental usage oftechnology in delivering the insurance products to the massesresulting in the amplified efficiency of insurance companies. Thecommittee consists of industry experts, professionals and SeCPofficers. It is looking at areas like regulatory reforms, marketdevelopment, operational challenges, education and awarenessand technology development. Mohammed Asif Arif, the SeCPCommissioner for Insurance, said that the SeCP fully supports thereforms in the insurance industry. he further said that thecommittee with its zeal and commitment will come up withspecific recommendations for the growth and development of theinsurance industry, which would contribute to economic growthby improving the financial system functions, both as a provider ofrisk transfer and indemnification and as an institutional investor.

ISLAMABAD: Mr. Sardar Tanvir Ilyas Khan, CEO ofThe Centaurus pictured with senior media personsduring a Media Familiarization Trip and Lunchhosted by The Centaurus Marketing Team on 9thMay, 2012.

PESHAWAR: Mr Bilal Mustafa Managing Director, TheBank of Khyber (BoK) presenting Cheque forJournalist’s welfare to Mr Arshad Aziz MalikPresident, Khyber Union of Journalist (KHUJ) at BoKHead Office Peshawar.

KARACHI: Senior Management of JS Bank and JSInvestments joined the team of JS Bank’s New ChalliBranch, Karachi to celebrate the start of DistributionCampaign of JS Investments’ Mutual Funds by theBranch. Picture shows Mr. Rashid Mansur, CEO of JSInvestments (2-R) and Mr. Kamran Jafar - Group HeadRetail Banking, JS Bank (4-R) accompanied by theirrespective Management Teams.

GUJRANWALA: Federal Minister for Communications DrArbab Alamgir Khan inaugurating the Khayali Flyover.

g Pakistan’s exports during last tenmonths decrease by 3.3 percent

PRO 11-05-2012_Layout 1 5/11/2012 3:40 AM Page 3