81 days

[Al Bhatti]

do we have any untried leaders that we can try?

They make sure non come to the scene.

If out of 180+ million we cannot find a few honest hundreds to sit in the parliament then what use is the nation.

 

[Jazzbot]

Mr. Pti have you given deep thought on wht PTI they have achieved in those 81 days ? other then crying over their defeat in elections ?

I'm not playing blame game ,but for the sake of pakistan there is no 1 more capable to run pakistan then PML N Period.!

Every province have chosen their own representatives according to their own likes n beliefs exactly how they did last time.Punjab voted for PML,N 30% for nawaz sharif n 70% Shabaz sharif n how he handle n diverlied for Punjab.Now if any1 beat Shabaz sharif the way he runs his province then we'll talk on that when it happens...

Today's Jang News story: Jang Multimedia

Your own current Governor Punjab has kicked your super capable Shahbaz Sharif in nuts..

 

[iioal malik]

I'm not sure who you're referring to as Mr. PTI, however let me reply to your post here.
PTI is doing a lot of things in KP, lots of new things. I cannot post a complete detail here, but you can refer to http://www.defence.pk/forums/national-political-issues/253166-naya-kpk-news-updates.html for further details. Everything is being discussed there in detail and is being updated on daily basis. If you care to know more about what PTI is actually doing in KPK, then everything is available for you in that thread, otherwise if you wanna just cry around and blame PTI for every sh!t happening in Pakistan, then please carry on.

Its your personal opinion. This super capable PML-N has ruled Punjab 5 times in past and are ruling Punjab 6th time now. Being a Punjabi and spending my whole life in Lahore, I can bust PML-N's capability easily, and it will not take more than 5 minutes.

PTI is governing a province for first time, so we cannot judge their performance or make a conclusion until their tenure comes to an end. But on the other hand, we have complete history of PML-N in front of us, they have ruled Punjab 5 times and Center twice. Don't tell me there were Rivers of Milk and Honey flowing nation wide in their past tenures..





I accept that there are a few good things in Shahbaz Sharif as an administrator, but he's certainly not an ideal person, politician, leader, legislator or administrator. I am however not interested to write his blunders here.

Just for a hint, he just ruled Punjab for full 5 years with almost every power to do whatever he want in Punjab, after 18th amendment. Now Punjab was hit with floods in 3 consecutive years in 2010, 2011 and 2012 and it did a lot of damage and lots of lives were wasted as a result only in Punjab. Could you just tell me what steps he took to counter future floods and to minimize the damage in future? NOTHING!!

And now we have floods hitting Punjab again this year, lots of lives has been wasted and properties damaged. Showbaz is there for photo sessions, but again he will not do a jack's sh!t to counter future floods in Punjab. Because how he will be able to do new photo sessions for cheap PR?



Pti leaders n supports own's some of the dumbest minds in Pakistan's political history kind of remind me little Endian in them for some strange reason , not saying your endian agents b4 u call me jew

I don't have time neither do any interest to have a look wht pti's up to in KPK, since the jail broke incidence i heard Imran khan blame molana diesel. that should tell every1 the kind of governess Pti is up to.


You ppl come to conclusions n judgments on others way to soon for anyone's liking Your party was 2 ashamed to accept the defeat n now throwing out more anger in ppl by holding S.C n other stakeholders responsible for your own mess, The ques is didn't Pti new she was gonna lose and the ans is big Yes, that's why Pti got rejected PPl didn't buy wht you were selling and i can assure you it will continue to happen till Pti show's the same level of maturity n decency like PML N ,

 

[ice_man]

They make sure non come to the scene.

If out of 180+ million we cannot find a few honest hundreds to sit in the parliament then what use is the nation.

HOW IS THIS THE FAULT OF A NATION???? have you seen any one willing to stand up and face challenges struggle for this nation? everyone wants to become Prime Minisiter but while sitting in their drawing rooms!

 

[Jazzbot]

Pti leaders n supports own's some of the dumbest minds in Pakistan's political history kind of remind me little Endian in them for some strange reason , not saying your endian agents b4 u call me jew

I don't care what you think about me or other PTI supporters, you are simply a no man. PTI haters can keep calling us Jew lobby or Indian agents or whatever you want, we just don't give a flying fck about it..

I don't have time neither do any interest to have a look wht pti's up to in KPK, since the jail broke incidence i heard Imran khan blame molana diesel. that should tell every1 the kind of governess Pti is up to.

If you don't have time to look into KPK's progress then save yourself the time you wasted for posting utter BS about KPK Govt without knowing sh!t about what's happening there.. You don't have time to see KPK developments but you have time to bash KPK Govt here, you paid patwaries can't do anything called constructive criticism.

You ppl come to conclusions n judgments on others way to soon for anyone's liking Your party was 2 ashamed to accept the defeat n now throwing out more anger in ppl by holding S.C n other stakeholders responsible for your own mess, The ques is didn't Pti new she was gonna lose and the ans is big Yes, that's why Pti got rejected PPl didn't buy wht you were selling and i can assure you it will continue to happen till Pti show's the same level of maturity n decency like PML N ,

I personally always try to talk with facts instead of posting baseless crap like you just did. In my last post, I've posted facts which you haven't answered may be because you have no answer to it. PTI has lost several seats in by-elections, but they are just doing protest at rigging in PP-150 while they have accepted their defeat in other constituencies. Is this that difficult to understand or comprehend?


PS: You've used DECENCY and PML-N in same sentence..

 

[iioal malik]

I don't care what you think about me or other PTI supporters, you are simply a no man. PTI haters can keep calling us Jew lobby or Indian agents or whatever you want, we just don't give a flying fck about it..




If you don't have time to look into KPK's progress then save yourself the time you wasted for posting utter BS about KPK Govt without knowing sh!t about what's happening there.. You don't have time to see KPK developments but you have time to bash KPK Govt here, you paid patwaries can't do anything called constructive criticism.





I personally always try to talk with facts instead of posting baseless crap like you just did. In my last post, I've posted facts which you haven't answered may be because you have no answer to it. PTI has lost several seats in by-elections, but they are just doing protest at rigging in PP-150 while they have accepted their defeat in other constituencies. Is this that difficult to understand or comprehend?


PS: You've used DECENCY and PML-N in same sentence..

I have told my self not to get into argument with any pti paid internet soldiers .it's like hitting your head in the brick wall , some people born idiots n end up dying as idiots.have heard Iman khan n co asking U.N to send army in order to stop rigging in up coming local body elections,gotta be true since PTi doesn't seems to trust or believe in any law or other organization in pakistan..

 

[ajpirzada]

August 24, 2013

Are Sharif’s electoral gains worth celebrating?

Ill advised economic policies

Meanwhile, some of his government’s ill advised econ-omic policies have hardly helped to inject a badly needed sense of stability. Shortly after taking charge as prime minister, Sharif oversaw a new budget that controversially introduced the idea of allowing the notoriously corrupt tax officials to gain first hand access to any bank account across the country. Supposedly, this step is meant for all tax officials to probe ‘hidden wealth’ of tax evaders. Yet, it has so far proven to have had a counter effect as the rupee has shrunk in value and anecdotal evidence suggests a number of affluent Pakistanis seeking to transfer their wealth out of the country.

Farhan Bokhari is a Pakistan-based commentator who writes on political and economic matters.

Are Sharif

no matter how much lack of confidence i have in PML-N economic team (or may i say Accountancy team), this analysis does not support the claim of 'ill advised economic policies.' how can the link be established between increased power of tax officials and people taking money abroad? any two things happening simultaneously does not necessarily imply that one is causing the other. but even if we presume that this hypothesis is correct, one should not be against this move based on the fact that the ill-gotten money has been withdrawn and sent outside the country. the cost of not doing anything at the taxation front is too much to worry about this short term cost.

 

[Jazzbot]

I have told my self not to get into argument with any pti paid internet soldiers .it's like hitting your head in the brick wall , some people born idiots n end up dying as idiots.have heard Iman khan n co asking U.N to send army in order to stop rigging in up coming local body elections,gotta be true since PTi doesn't seems to trust or believe in any law or other organization in pakistan..

Post source of your claim.

 

[iioal malik]

Post source of your claim.

O comon You didn't think I was serious right..

it was a joke in the program BNN

 

[Jazzbot]

O comon You didn't think I was serious right..

it was a joke in the program BNN

To pehle batana tha na
BTW I love those BNN guys, they always crack me with their way of comedy.. I especially love their parody of Sheikh Rasheed..

 

[iioal malik]

Lol so True BNN guys r very crafty

 

[fatman17]

Opinion 88 days


Dr Farrukh Saleem
Sunday, September 01, 2013


State-owned enterprises (SOEs) will make or break the PML-N’s economic agenda. On June 5, Nawaz Sharif took oath of the prime ministerial office. That’s a total of 88 days. SOEs cannot be turned around in 88 days. At this stage, we could do one of the two things: try and determine if the initial direction is right and/or compare what was officially promised in the manifesto with performance on the ground.



SOEs manage to lose Rs500 billion a year. The PML-N is losing Rs1.5 billion a day every day of the year. Over the past 88 days, the PML-N has already lost a wholesome Rs122 billion.



The PML-N’s manifesto had a total of 21,988 words and the word ‘enterprises’ appeared 13 times. Promise number 1: “Appoint independent and professional boards.” Promise number 2: “Assign quantifiable targets and monitor on regular basis.” Promise number 3: “PIA shall be transformed into a profitable and reputed airline of the region.”



On July 17, the PML-N government announced the establishment of a three-member commission for the “selection of chief executive officers (CEOs) of State Owned Enterprises.”That is about all. There are no professional boards anywhere; no signs of any quantifiable targets and PIA continues to lose Rs85 million a day every day of the year (on its way to lose Rs30 billion this year). For the record, the commission since its establishment has already managed to lose Rs65 billion.



The term ‘circular debt’ appeared seven times. Promise number 1: To “narrowly target tariff subsidies only to lifeline consumers who consume up to 100 units per month.” Promise number 2: “We will completely resolve the issue of circular debt.”Promise number 3: To permanently “eliminate circular debt.”



Yes, the new power policy has provisions to “narrowly target tariff subsidies”. Yes, a colossal Rs480 billion worth of circular debt was paid off within weeks of the prime ministerial oath-taking. The good news, however, ends right there. For the record, within about four weeks of the Rs480 billion payment the devil is back with a vengenance – Rs62 billion worth of new circular debt has already been accumulated.

The word ‘growth’ appeared 33 times. The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) has grown the most – and the fastest. Since the PML-N’s election victory KSE has grown by a hefty Rs800 billion or $8 billion (imagine, we are begging the IMF for a $5 billion loan).

Apparently, collective investor wisdom is very bull on the PML-N’s future economic plans. The other thing that has really grown is power generation – from 8,000 MW before the election to the current 15,000 MW.


The word ‘energy’ appeared 42 times. Promise number 1: To reduce the cost of energy. Promise number 2: To “reduce the cost of doing business.”Here’s what the new power policy promises: The peak commercial rate for energy of 29 US cents per unit as compared to 13 US cents per unit in India and seven US cents per unit in Bangladesh. To be certain, the cost of doing business in Pakistan is going up, not down.



On June 10, PM Nawaz Sharif promised to “review the performance of ministers every three months.” The review would have to take place by September 5 but to date there isn’t any Performance Assessment Framework.



Pakistani voters right now are on pins and needles. Who said that we “promise according to our hopes, and perform according to our fears?”


The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad. Email: farrukh15@************



Twitter: @Saleemfarrukh

 

[Jazzbot]

^^ That has almost nailed it.

 

[fatman17]

Opinion

Rs1 million/minute


Capital suggestion

Dr Farrukh Saleem

Sunday, September 15, 2013



Pakistan’s economic future depends on how PM Nawaz Sharif handles Pakistan’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) – some 200 of them. Collectively, they manage to lose Rs500 billion a year or an equivalent of Rs1.5 billion a day or an equivalent of Rs1 million a minute every minute of the year. Imagine, there are 525,600 minutes in a year and SOEs lose Rs1 million per minute.

In that sense, since June 5, the day Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif took the prime ministerial oath, SOEs have lost a colossal Rs135 billion. What are PM Sharif’s options? Answer: Business Process Reengineering, turnaround initiatives, sell strategic equity or straightforward divestment of equity.

Business Process Reengineering “involves the radical redesigning of core business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in productivity.” Well, Lalu Prasad implemented a 3R model-retrenchment, repositioning and reorganisation. Under Lalu, the Indian Railways began “quitting difficult markets, deleting unprofitable product lines, selling assets, out-sourcing and downsizing.” During the retrenchment phase, Lalu’s emphasis was on “cutting costs and raising efficiency.”

Honestly, what are the chances that business processes at PIA can be reengineered by the government? Honestly, what are the chances that PIA can ‘adopt a new value system’? Honestly, what are the chances that PIA can ‘reduce organisational layers’? Honestly, what are the chances that PIA can ‘eliminate unproductive activities’? The answer to all of the above questions: zero.

How about government-led turnaround initiatives? Well, we have the Japanese government-led Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation (ETIC). In 2009, the Japanese government contributed 20 billion yen and gave ETIC wide powers and a five-year mandate. ETIC’s mandate includes: to promote an overall revival of key industries; to undertake industrial reforms; to dispatch business revitalisation professionals and offer management support.

ETIC is turning out to be a lemon – an entity that has done more harm than good. Honestly, what are the chances that the government of Pakistan can dispatch business revitalisation professionals to Pakistan Steel? Honestly, what are the chances that the government of Pakistan can reform Pakistan Steel? Can we succeed where the Japanese are failing?

How about selling strategic equity? Well, we sold 26 percent of PTCL to Etisalat at $1.96 per share and PTCL shares are now trading at $0.20 per share. The government of Pakistan would have been far ahead of the game if we had sold all of PTCL. Selling 26 percent of PIA will be a mistake. The government of Pakistan will be far ahead of the game if 100 percent of PIA is sold.

Honestly, the Rs500 billion loss is not entirely a loss because there are Pakistanis who are milking these SOEs day-in-day-out. And all these beneficiaries will continue to insist on Business Process Reengineering, turnaround initiatives and the sale of strategic equity just so that they can continue the milking. The ‘secretary’ in control of half a dozen such enterprises would never let them slip through.

Honestly, SOEs are turning out to be a classic tug-of-war between beneficiaries of SOEs and PM Sharif. And while this tug-of-war continues PM Sharif’s government continues to lose Rs1 million per minute. And it is this tug-of-war that will eventually decide the PML-N’s fate.

Honestly, the only way out of this is wholesale, complete divestment of equity – sell everything in sight for whatever is offered for it. The PML-N will only be able to deliver if it restricts itself to governing. The PML-N will only be able to deliver if it completely detaches itself from the goods producing sector of the economy.

Honesty, I have been told, pays but it doesn’t seem to ‘pay enough to suit some people’.


The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad. Email: farrukh15@************. Twitter: @Saleemfarrukh

 

[fatman17]

Opinion Sell 100 percent


Dr Farrukh Saleem

Sunday, September 22, 2013


Capital suggestion


Why do we want to privatise state-owned enterprises (SOEs)? One – losses now amount to Rs500 billion a year or 26 percent of net revenue receipt. Two – the deficit is going through the roof and these losses are unsustainable. Three – the government has absolutely no capacity to reform.

Why should we privatise? One – private-sector owners behave differently from public sector managers (managerial aspect). Two – the private sector, not just in Pakistan but the world over, is more efficient (efficiency aspect). Three – to isolate commercial entities from political interference (political aspect). Four – privatisation in Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, the UK and the US has resulted in higher economic growth (growth aspect). Five – privatisation will bring in money to fill the deficit (fiscal aspect).

For the record: Malaysia sold its National Lottery. Buenos Aires sold its zoo. Czechoslovakia sold the guest house of the Communist Party. Japan sold its Japan Post. The UK sold British Telecom and British Gas. France sold France Telecom. More than 10,000 SOEs in more than 80 countries have been privatised over the past decades.

Here is our experience with selling 26 percent: In 2005, the government of Pakistan decided to sell 26 percent of the PTCL. A consortium of Etisalat and Dubai Islamic Bank gave the highest bid of $1.96 per share translating into $2.6 billion or an equivalent of Rs117 per share translating into Rs155 billion. Etisalat’s bid had valued PTCL at $10 billion.

On the Karachi Stock Exchange, PTCL shares recently closed at Rs26 per share or an equivalent of $0.26 per share (52-week low of Rs15.30). The potential loss for the government of Pakistan stands at over $5 billion. Clearly, we should have sold 100 percent of PTCL for $10 billion.

Why should we sell 26 percent? The argument goes that the new owners will turn around the company and the government will make a lot of money. That may or may not happen – and that is the definition of speculation. Should our government be in the business of governing or in the business of speculating?

Why should we sell 100 percent? Because our objective is to isolate commercial entities from political interference. Because the government’s only business ought to be good governance and not ruining commercial activity. Because there is empirical evidence that full privatisation is superior to partial privatisation. Because some of these entities are going to require capital injection (and if the government owns 74 percent it will have to pump in money).

Yes, there are powerful actors that for their own benefit want the government to retain 74 percent. Yes, hundreds of thousands would have to be laid off and the weaving of a social safety net around them is the government’s responsibility. We could learn from Brazil, Argentina and others whereby a severance package amounting to two to three years’ worth of salary and shares in the privatised entity are given to the laid-off workers.

Remember, “when buying and selling are controlled by government servants, the first things to be bought and sold are government servants.”


The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad. Email: farrukh15@************

Twitter: @Saleemfarrukh