Floods to hit economic growth: Finance Ministry

[nightcrawler]

BBC News - Angelina Jolie on juggling family and filming

 

[su-47]

Pakistan has the potential of being like Germany, we have gold, copper, coal, gas, uranium ETC.....
I wish we had a laeder who would exploit these resources.

Its surprising, but mineral wealth is often a cause for downfall, rather than economic rise.

Most developed nations (EU nations, Japan, Singapore etc), dont have much mineral wealth but are highly developed. On the other hand, some nations awash with minerals, oil etc (Many African and Central Asian nations) are dirt poor.

Mineral wealth is not the real key. The real key is utilisation of manpower efficiently. The greatest assets of the developed nations are its people.

And as i have said before, talking of 'potential' is like talking of helium deposits on the moon. Till there is a clear and efficient way to utilise it in a productive manner, its just a load of gas.

 

[STD]

This is their typical mentality.You see they follow chankya strategy whatever bs that is .Mo Pay Ram Ram and Bhagal my Churi.

If you knew it,why did your government accepted our aid/help?

You were and are in a state of tremendous despair and need foreign help,accept it.

 

[InPhilTraitor]

This is their typical mentality.You see they follow chankya strategy whatever bs that is .Mo Pay Ram Ram and Bhagal my Churi.

So this what they teach you in your school . I have seen many pakistanis use this. So, is it against Indians or Hindus or Hindu Indians ?

So much for a tolerant society.. if I read it, it is more berating of hindus than Indians, and you sir, have to understand the difference.

any way congrats for figuring us out.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

all hindu-related, all off-topic stuff such as trolling and rants should be deleted


stick to topic!

 

[SEAL]

Our economy will recover within 1,2 years needs to build Railway and highway asap and connect China and Central Asia with Gawadar port.
4,5 billion$ revenue per year is guaranteed.

 

[A.Muqeet khan]

things r not difficult even now the only thing that needs be done is to get the best management u can find and trust me pakistan will rise like in 1960

 

[Jungibaaz]

Ohh shiiitt...
You guys should shoot for Thailand and Malaysia first...
Germany!!!!

Tired of listening to this kind of stuffs from too many Pakistanis.

Man just look at the arabs! they are floating on oil, that is the reason they have large economy. A poor country cannot just magic money out for development. IT NEEDS RESOURCES!

 

[Meengla]

I am quite sure once the reconstruction effort starts, the state of these areas will be much better than it was before the flood. I must commend the USAID for doing a marvellous job, i have seen first hand the funds they have allocated for farming and education related projects in the poor areas. Once the reconstruction starts, i am sure USAID and other foreign/local agencies will help the poor farmers in modernizing their methods and techniques to yield more crops. Its only a matter of time before things start normalizing and Pakistan will again start growing at 7% economically. Unfortunately we are going through a very important self correcting process, once this painful process is over we will emerge much stronger. There is always hope my friend

Agreed.
And I like your positive approach.
One thing to consider is that people were building on the river-banks for decades. This led to the weakening of the river-banks and contributed a lot to the breaches. In future such illegal construction must not be allowed. If the predictions are correct then there will be more such monsoon seasons.
I also think that the projected growth of 4%+ for Pakistani economy prior to this Great Flood of 2010 showed that, despite a virtual state of war in and immediately outside of Pakistan, Pakistani economy is setup for growth--even robust growth. Peace is needed above all. Governance will also improve over time because media and judiciary is free and elections will ensure that, over a time period, rotten eggs will be weeded out with relatively better politicians.

 

[fawwaxs]

Over 1.31 million hectares of land destroyed: FAO

ISLAMABAD: Over 1.31 million hectares of the cultivated area have been destroyed by floods in the four provinces and Azad Kashmir, according to the preliminary rapid damage assessment carried out by the United Nations.

According to a report released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Monday, the highest loss was recorded in Punjab where about 661,637 hectares of land with standing crops were destroyed, followed by Sindh where the loss was recorded at 357,372 hectares, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 191,020 hectares and Azad Kashmir 92,370 hectares.

The report fears that crop damage would lead to food insecurity and high prices in the country.

Cotton, sugarcane, fodder and rice were the worst affected crops. Cotton crop on a total of 415,905 hectares in 39 districts of Punjab, Sindh and KP has been destroyed.

The FAO said that affected communities also suffered heavy losses in livestock and infrastructure sectors and called for delivery of immediate relief and an action plan to provide assistance on short-, medium- and long-term basis.

Cotton growers have suffered enormous losses at a critical stage of production.

Sugarcane, being the second most important cash crop after cotton in Sindh and Punjab during the Kharif season, was badly affected. The loss of sugarcane crop has been estimated at a cumulative total of 126,525 hectares in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The sugarcane crop damage will contribute to an already strained fodder shortage.

Rice, one of the major Kharif cereal crops in Punjab, Sindh and KP, was also badly hit. The report estimated a loss of 367,270 hectares of rice crop in all the four provinces.

Floods caused huge damage to the standing crop of maize in all the provinces, except Sindh where it is cultivated as the summer fodder. In KP and Punjab, the loss has been estimated to be 57,673 hectares in 39 of the 125 districts of the two provinces.

The crops of Mung and Mash pulses over 57,673 hectares in 39 districts of KP, Punjab and Sindh have been lost.

The loss of fodder crops (sorghum, maize and millets) has been estimated to be 119,431 hectares in Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh.

Vegetables grown over 56,204 hectares of land in the four provinces and Azad Kashmir have been destroyed.

Major fruit orchards which suffered heavy losses include mango, citrus and guava in Punjab; apple and peach in KP and banana in Sindh.

Citrus orchards on 4,731 hectares and mango orchards on 20,268 hectares have been damaged in Punjab.

Of the damage to other types of orchards, KP suffered the most with 4745 hectares, followed by Sindh 3,150 hectares, Punjab 688 hectares and Azad Kashmir 177 hectares.

About 274,334 animals, excluding poultry, have been lost in the floods. The total number of animals indirectly affected stands at 14.32 million, of which the maximum loss is feared in Sindh (7.37 million), followed by Punjab (4.36 million), Balochistan (1.62 million), KP (739,429) and Azad Kashmir (228,000).

At least 46,400 animal sheds have been damaged across the country. A total of 33,000 animal sheds have been damaged in Sindh, followed by 10,700 in Punjab and 2,700 in Azad Kashmir.

 

[Bombay]

USA should send 10 bln dollar extra for this flood and the economy will get back to track

And what will happen after 2 years? Go back to US again?

If Pakistan had not relied on foreign aid from day 1, and learnt some tough lessons like China(I am not saying India for obvious reasons), then all this IMF, World Bank, and grants from "Friends of Pakistan" would be required only if really necessary, and that too in lesser amounts, with no harm to Pride, Honor and Dignity. Not like its happening now, when most of the world is desisting from helping Pakistan.

All this can happen only if Pakistan's primary focus is Economy, like China and India, and not some imaginary strategic depths or threats.

Plenty can be said about whats wrong with Pakistan. But What is required is that Pakistan's rulers get their act together and save this country from going bust. But there is great doubt about that happening and the downward curve may soon crossover to the other side of the X-axis.

I hope sanity prevails in our neighbor-hood, in peaceful manner, without the "revolution" being demanded by many Internet Spartaas.


P.S: Enchanting Musings from esteemed Economy-Expert members like RiazHaq are needed on this related topic. I hope he is doing well.

 

[fawwaxs]

Two million tons wheat export plan shelved

ISLAMABAD: The government has shelved plans to export two million tons of wheat because of an estimated loss of about one million tons in the floods.

An official told Dawn on Wednesday that Punjab had asked the federal government not to consider its earlier wheat export proposal.

He said Punjab’s three major wheat producing districts — Rajanpur, Rahimyar Khan and Muzaffargarh — had been badly affected and stocks in government warehouses had been inundated. Private stocks of producers have also been damaged.

The provincial food department has reported a loss of about 550,000 tons of wheat, although final estimates are still being worked out.

Another 80,000 tons have been washed away in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The official said the estimates of stocks lost in Sindh had not yet been prepared because several areas in the province were still inundated, but the overall losses were likely to be around one million tons.

Officials said there was no cause of concern in the local market because the government had sufficient stocks to meet domestic requirements.

The nation consumes about 23 million tons of wheat a year and it has about two million tons of surplus even after the estimated loss of one million tons.

For the past couple of years, the government has been maintaining about one million tons of buffer stocks to meet any shortage.

“Even after keeping the buffer stock, the government still has around a million tons in surplus, but it cannot take the risk offloading it, just in case there is a bad crop next season,” an official said.

He, however, expressed the hope that Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would reap bumper crops next season because of fresh fertile layer brought in by the floods. “The floods may be a blessing in disguise for the wheat crop in Punjab, the country’s food basket, which will more than compensate for a lower output in Sindh.”

The government had decided in July to export two million tons of wheat, but rescinded the decision because of lower international prices. The exports required about Rs15 billion subsidy and the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet vetoed the export proposal, saying the amount should be passed on to consumers.

The next wheat sowing begins in October.