Pakistan Economy - News & Updates - Archive

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Engineering design of Diamer-Basha dam completed ​

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

LAHORE: A detailed engineering design as well as tender documents of the multi-purpose Diamer-Basha dam have been completed and all studies and details have also been reviewed by an international panel of experts.

Water and Power Development Authority Chairman Shakil Durrani stated this during a presentation on Diamer-Basha dam at the WAPDA House here on Monday. Project consultants, senior officers of the water and power ministry and Planning Commission, former members (water) and members of WAPDA attended the presentation. The WAPDA chairman said Diamer-Basha dam “is a project of immense importance, which is the largest executed in any sector in the country.”

He informed that Rs200 million had been allocated for the project in the federal budget for 2008-09, while the pre-qualification process of contractors had already been initiated. Construction work on the project, he said, would commence next year following international competitive biddings and every effort would be made to ensure that highest professional standards of quality and safety were maintained. “The project will go a long way in coping with the increasing demand of water and electric power in the country. It will help increase the ratio of low-cost hydel power in the national grid,” the WAPDA chairman added.

Later, the consultants briefed the participants of the presentation that the 272-metre-high Diamer-Basha dam would be the highest Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) dam in the world with more than 100-km-long reservoir.

It was observed that the dam’s live storage capacity would be 6.4 million acre feet, while 4,500 megawatts of electricity would be generated by the project. Diamer-Basha dam would contribute more than 18,000 giga watt hours of electricity annually to the national grid.

Engineering design of Diamer-Basha dam completed

 

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Bhasha dam’s design and tender papers ready, says Wapda chief​

LAHORE, June 30: The engineering design and tender documents of the multi-purpose Diamer-Bhasha Dam Project have been completed and related studies and details have been reviewed by an international panel of experts.

This was stated by Wapda chairman Shakil Durrani during a presentation on the project held at Wapda House on Monday. Project consultants and senior officers of Water and Power Ministry and Planning Commission attended the presentation.

Mr Durrani said that Diamer-Bhasha dam was a project of immense importance and it would be the largest project ever executed in any sector in the country.

He said that Rs200 million had been allocated for the project in the federal budget for 2008-09 and the pre-qualification process of contractors had already been initiated.

Mr Durrani said that construction work on the project would begin next year after international biddings and efforts would be made to ensure the highest standard of quality and safety.

He said the project would meet the increasing demand for water and electricity in the country.

The consultants said that the 272-meter-high Diamer-Bhasha dam would be the highest Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) dam in the world with more than 100-kilometre-long reservoir. The live storage capacity of the dam will be 6.4maf and the project will generate 4,500MW of electricity.

Bhasha dam’s design and tender papers ready, says Wapda chief -DAWN - Top Stories; July 01, 2008

 

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KSE volume falls to all-time low​

KARACHI, June 30: The single-session turnover figure on Monday on the Karachi stock market fell to an all-time low level so far of 11.485m shares owing to investor worries over the security forces operation in the tribal areas and fears of its negative fallout elsewhere in the country, analysts said.

The previous single-session trading volume was hit at 15.141m shares on Sept 3, 2001 after the implementation of T-3 trading system on the KSE.

The second lowest figure was hit at 16.565m shares on Oct 8, 2001 after the US attacked Afghanistan and the highest so far at 1.122 billion shares on April 16, 2004 owing to heavy buying in OGDC, PTCL at the time of their debut.

But the current terrible sluggishness reflects that the market is heading for a major crisis in the coming weeks if the law and order situation does not improve and investors sought other avenues of investment sans stocks.

Price changes were mostly fractional, barring a couple of leading shares, and were confined to mostly Rs2.25 to Rs4 as both bargain hunters and speculative traders just marked time and did not actively participate in the activity for obvious fears.

Stocks, therefore, ended the last session of the financial year on a subdue note as leading investors remained conspicuous by their absence owing to the presence of more than one psychological depressants with no positive news.

After opening unchanged at the weekend level, 12,353.19, the KSE 100-share index steadily declined to hit the session’s low of 12,256.37 but late covering purchases in some of the leading base shares, including MCB Bank, OGDC, allowed it to finish improved around 12,289.03, off 64.16 points.

“Although investors kept to the sidelines most of the time for obvious reasons but there was no panic selling from any quarter,” analyst Ahsan Mehanti said, adding: “Everyone is awaiting some good news, which is not around in backdrop of more negative news.”

It was in this background that the KASB Securities made a firm provisional debut at Rs77.17 (face value Rs10 at a premium of Rs57.50 per share), but ended lower at the session’s low of Rs73.32 on 0.277m shares on late selling owing to prevailing uncertain conditions. “In the backdrop of ongoing operation in the tribal areas, tight money supply position, and a weak rupee investors think twice to go for fresh stocks,” analyst Hasnain Asghar Ali said.

He said the lowering of low cap to one per cent seems to protect the market from a total collapse in the unfolding geo-political scenario and the absence of financial support.

“If all goes well on the political and national security fronts, the market could rebound from the current low on the strength of higher corporate announcements for the financial year ended June 30, another leading analyst Ashraf Zakaria predicts. But for the time being the market lacks even normal support as investors are out to get out of it instead of making fresh commitments even at the current lower levels, he added.

Most of covering purchases were confined to low-priced shares where the risk of further fall and gain was low.

Leading gainers, included Nestle Pakistan and Colgate Pakistan, up by Rs120 and Rs27.57, followed by American Insurance, United Brands, Dawood Bank, Chaudhry Textiles, Crescent Textiles, Dawood Hercules, Shell Pakistan and Diamond Industries, which rose by Rs4.05 to Rs7.64.

JS & Co and Attock Petroleum led the list of losers, off by Rs5.35 and 4.36. MCB Bank, Pakistan Oilfields, EFU General, PSO, Ferozsons Lab were others among the losers, off by Rs3.12 to 3.64. Trading volume fell to a new low as losers maintained a strong lead over the gainers at 157 to 53, with 23 shares holding on to the last levels.

Among the actives, Bank of Khyber was leading, steady 21 paisa at Rs14.20 on 1m shares, KESC, firm by 23 paisa at Rs5.47 also on 1m shares, MCB, off by Rs3.29 at Rs326.38 on 0.989m shares, OGDC, lower by Rs1.25 at Rs124.36 on 0.747m shares, Hub-Power, easy by 28 paisa at Rs28.60 on 0.524m shares, and JS & Co, off Rs5.35 at Rs530.15 on 0.415m shares.

Other actives were led by Azgard Nine, unchanged at Rs61.56 on 0.801m shares, D. S. Industries, lower by 51 paisa at Rs50.71 on 0.352m shares, JS Value Fund, easy by 19 paisa at Rs19.33 on 0.324m shares and Suraj Cotton, steady by four paisa at Rs53.50 on 0.276m shares.

FORWARD COUNTER: Engro Polymer led the list of actives on this counter, easy by Rs1.47 at Rs28.08 on 1m shares followed by Habib Bank, lower by Rs2.15 at Rs213.39 on 0.977m shares, NIB Bank, lower by 11 paisa at Rs11.57 on 0.52m shares and Pakistan Petroleum, off 2.52 at Rs249.87 also on 0.52m shares.

DEFAULTER COS: Owing to the prevailing sluggishness on the ready counter, trading in this sector was terribly slow as investors were not inclined to make fresh commitments. Both the price changes and turnover figure was low and there was no big deal in any of the current actives.

DIVIDEND: Mari GAS, second interim cash at the rate of 10 per cent, first interim of 22.38 per cent already paid.

KSE volume falls to all-time low -DAWN - Business; July 01, 2008

 

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IT exports reach $175m​

ISLAMABAD, June 30: Pakistan’s IT exports reached $175 million during 2007-08, about $13 million more than the $162 million target set for the year.

“We are satisfied with the pace of progress of the local IT sector. It has registered a remarkable growth during the last five years,” said Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) Managing Director Talib Baloch here on Monday.

Pakistan’s IT exports of $116 million for the FY06-07 were also in excess to the set target of $108 million, he disclosed. The sector has consecutively registered 50 per cent annual growth in exports for the last five years showing its tremendous potential, he said, adding, if nurtured fully, the industry can yield voluminous economic and commercial benefits.

He said that the IT-related exports could have been over $220 million had there been no power crisis in the country.

“Longer load-shedding hours have adversely affected the productivity of many ICT companies. However, despite these odds, PSEB is hopeful to exceed the targeted volume of exports in the forthcoming years,” he added.

The IT industry has emerged as most promising sector in Pakistan. It was brining in substantial revenues and creating job opportunities, he said.

Information technology, he said, had been instrumental in the growth of various other industrial verticals, facilitating them with the technical capability and automating their processes, thus increasing their operating margins, the PSEB MD said.

The IT industry was progressing rapidly at more than 50 per cent for the last four years, with many local IT companies winning huge contracts from domestic and international markets, he said.

He said that Vopium, a Pakistani IT company, had recently gained venture capital fund worth $6.75 million from Enex Group SA, Luxembourg. The company’s software allowed saving of 40-90 per cent when making international calls or sending SMS from mobile phones.

IT exports reach $175m -DAWN - Business; July 01, 2008

 

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Rs 990 billion revenue target achieved ​

ISLAMABAD (July 01 2008): The provisional revenue collection is likely to exceed Rs 1 trillion in 2007-08 against the revised target of Rs 990 billion, as the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) touched the figure of nearly Rs 990 billion by the end of June, reflecting extraordinary performance during last year.

Sources told Business Recorder on Monday that the board had collected around Rs 971.3 billion till June 28. The provisional revenue collection figure for June 2008 has reached nearly Rs 144 billion against the required amount of Rs 140 billion, meeting the target of Rs 990 billion.

The board has estimated to collect an amount over and above Rs 24 billion on June 30, taking final collection to Rs 990 billion during 2007-08. Incorporating figures of June 29 and 30, tax managers were confident that the FBR might present the figure of nearly Rs 1 trillion before the meeting of Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet.

Break-up of revised target of Rs 990 billion showed that direct taxes target was fixed at Rs 385 billion, whereas indirect taxes target was Rs 605 billion for 2007-08. Tax authorities have expressed hope that the board would meet both direct and indirect tax targets for the fiscal year. It is expected that the FBR would officially announce collection figures on July 3 to celebrate record collection in the year.

The revenue collection from National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) branches in far-flung areas would also be instrumental in improving revenue collection in the next one/two days. On the other hand, sales tax amnesty scheme for payment of principal amount for wavier of penalty and additional tax expired on June 30.

The amount collected from amnesty scheme would also be incorporated in the overall sales tax collection. The sales tax collection from imports and domestic consumption would be updated in the next one-two days.

The withholding tax collection, better monitoring, books adjustments and income tax collection from demands raised would also help in improving revenue collection. The compilation of final figures of collection made in June 29-30 would take the total to Rs 1 trillion.

Sources said that the FBR has broken all previous records of revenue collection, evident from the provisional collection in June. This is for the first time that the board is going to cross psychological barrier of Rs 1 trillion.

It is worth mentioning that the board had collected Rs 851.3 billion (net) during the first eleven months (July-May) of 2007-08 as compared to Rs 722.2 billion in the same period of last year thereby posting an increase of 18 percent. In May 2008, the FBR collected Rs 87.7 billion which is 33.5 percent more than the same period of last year, bolstered by strong growth of 42.1 percent for sales tax (domestic activity 80.6 percent) and 33.4 percent for customs duty.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

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President stresses market access for Pakistani products in US ​

ISLAMABAD (July 01 2008): A US congressional delegation on Monday discussed bilateral relations, Pakistan-US counter-terrorism co-operation and regional situation with President Pervez Musharraf in Rawalpindi. President Musharraf underlined the importance Pakistan attached to its relations with the US.

He reiterated Pakistan's firm resolve to fighting terrorism and extremism. In this regard, the President highlighted government's comprehensive, multi-pronged strategy combining political, military and socio-economic development measures.

The President appreciated congressional support for Pakistan's counter-terrorism initiatives, namely Fata Development Plan, Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) and capacity building of the Frontier Corps (FC). He emphasised the need for market access for Pakistani products in the US.

The congressmen conveyed their support for the strategic relationship between Pakistan and the United States. They appreciated Pakistan's commitment to combating extremism, and reaffirmed their support for Pakistan's counter-terrorism efforts and social development goals, and called for strengthening the strategically important relationship.

The bipartisan delegation led by Senator Benjamin Cardin (Democrat-Maryland) includes congressmen Zach Wamp (Republican-Tennessee), Robert Aderholt (Republican-Alabama), Mike McIntyre (Democrat-North Carolina) and congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (Democrat-California).

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

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Pakistan scales down fuel, food subsidies to reduce deficit: PM​

KARACHI (AFP) - Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Tuesday that his government had scaled down subsidies on food and fuel in a bid to reduce the country's budget deficit.

Amid spiralling global oil prices, the government this week raised natural gas prices by 31 percent and petrol prices by up to 20 percent, further hitting consumers already reeling from record food prices.

"We have scaled down subsidies to remain within the budget deficit of 4.7 percent," Gilani told a ceremony in Karachi to mark the 60th anniversary of the central bank.

Low-income people would however continue to get targeted subsidies, he said.

The government would continue to "provide targeted subsidies to the poor, despite the fact that over 40 percent of our fiscal deficit is on account of the subsidies," he said.

Gilani said that in the federal budget for the fiscal year 2008-2009 the government had taken measures to reduce the deficit from around 7.0 percent to 4.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Pakistan last month announced a national budget of over 30 billion dollars for the year beginning on July 1, with a deficit of 8.47 billion dollars.

Gilani said that the government wanted to sustain growth momentum in the range of six to seven percent in the next five years.

"Economic liberalization, deregulation and privatization in a transparent manner will be the core principles of our economic reform agenda," he said.

Petroleum minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced a hike in gas prices on Monday but said it would not affect 91 percent of domestic consumers who used 50-100 cubic feet of gas monthly.

According to finance ministry documents the government paid 37.5 billion rupees (550 million dollars) a month and 1.25 billion rupees per day in oil subsidies so as not to pass on increases in global prices to consumers.

Besides rising fuel prices, Pakistan is also facing a wheat flour shortage and record food inflation of up to 11 percent between July 2007 to May 2008, according to the federal bureau of statistics.

Pakistan scales down fuel, food subsidies to reduce deficit: PM - Yahoo! News

 

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Govt determined to bring about economic turnaround: Gilani ​

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

KARACHI: Prime Minister, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday reiterated the government’s commitment to ensure financial stability, reduction in inflation and economic growth to rectify macro-economic imbalance.

The Prime Minister was speaking at the inaugural session of the Development Finance Conference “Expanding Frontiers of Financial Access in Pakistan” organised by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to mark its 60th anniversary, at SBP Headquarters. Governor SBP, Dr Shamshad Akhtar, Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, and other government officials were present at the occasion.

The Prime Minister said that the present government, led by Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP-P), was facing four major challenges that include inflation especially in the food sector, widening trade imbalance, current account deficit, diminishing economic growth and macro-economic imbalance. He said that the budget for the year 2008-09 mainly focused on providing maximum relief to the common man and strengthening the development sector, especially the infrastructure, with maximum participation of the private sector, which is the engine for economic growth.

The Prime Minister said it was the government’s strong resolve to maintain the GDP at least at 47 per cent in the country.

Prime Minister Gilani expressed the government’s strong desire for a strong micro-financing sector with major focus on loans for agriculture and SMEs sector. He referred to the micro financing initiative of the government under which Rs200 billion have been allocated for small borrowers. Rs1.5 billion reserved for the development of livestock and one billion rupees for the development of fisheries. Besides, he said, the Government would be focusing on strengthening services and energy sectors too. He also underlined the need for fair distribution of tax burden on all sections of the society.

He went on to appreciate the important role of SBP in regulating the country’s economic system. “It is a matter of great pride for us that the sapling planted by Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah sixty years ago has grown into a sturdy tree,” he said.

He quoted Quaid’s address at the opening of the State Bank: “I need hardly dilate on the important role that the State Bank will have to play in regulating the economic life of our country. The monetary policy of the Bank will have a direct bearing on our trade and commerce, both inside Pakistan as well as the outside world, and it is only to be desired that your policy should encourage maximum production and a free flow of trade.”

Gilani said, “Our government fully respects the autonomy of the Bank. We value its advice on the global and domestic economy.” He said during the financial year 2007-08, many external and internal shocks along with policy inactions during most of the year, severely impacted the national economy. The high growth in macro economic imbalances shows that the country was living beyond its financial affordability.

With the erosion of fiscal management, public expenditures far exceeded the resource availability. The Government excessively over-borrowed from the Central Bank, and the demands of the foreign exchange market took a toll on our reserves, he noted.

SBP Governor Shamshad Akhtar said the central bank plans to modernise the functioning of wholesale and retail markets. The SBP also plans several initiatives to support SMEs, financing of livestock, fisheries, etc. She said SBP’s laws are old, which calls for comprehensive legal reforms for ensuring a strong financial regulation and supervision which would promote a strong market.

The SBP Chief informed that now $300 million would be the minimum requirement for issuing a license to a micro-financing institution. She said commercial banks should re-consider regulatory architecture. She sought the Finance Ministry’s support in bringing more reforms in the financial sector to conform to international best financing practices.

She also requested the legislators to support SBP reforms and its 10-year future strategy for strengthening the financial sector in the country.

Govt determined to bring about economic turnaround: Gilani

 

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Businessmen seek access to US market ​

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

LAHORE: Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Mohammad Ali Mian has said that an economically strong Pakistan will help the US in combating the war against terrorism.

He stated this during talks between a six-member delegation of leading businessmen of the country and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Boucher, here at the residence of US Consulate Principal Officer Bryan D Hunt, who arranged the meeting.

The delegation also discussed issues of mutual interest with the US Deputy Secretary of state. US President’s Special Assistant Mark Webber and Deputy Chief of the US mission in Islamabad Peter W Bodde were also present at the meeting.

The delegation comprised LCCI President Mohammad Ali Mian, SAARC Chamber Vice President Iftikhar Ali Malik, APTMA Chairman Akbar Sheikh, former federal commerce minister Razzak Dawood, and Chief Executive of Raffle’s Pakistan Ibrahim Qureshi, who discussed the challenges being faced by the economy of Pakistan.

Business community leaders urged Richard Boucher to ensure market access to Pakistan’s merchandise by treating it in line with least developed countries.

LCCI President Mohammad Ali Mian urged the US Deputy Secretary of State that the US should ensure market access to Pakistani merchandise as Pakistan had already suffered a lot on the economic front for being a frontline state with the US in its war against terrorism. He said that a little attention by the US could give a new lease of life to Pakistan’s industry.

SAARC Vice President Iftikhar Ali Malik suggested to Boucher that the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones established by the United States in NWFP, were not giving the desired results as a large number of businessmen were reluctant to put their money in that area and due to lack of infrastructure, human resource to the US should establish ROZs all over the Pakistan and for these ROZs, people from NWFP could be hired.

While stressing the need for bilateral investment, the business leaders said that all textile mills in Pakistan are in recession grip, and the United States should restore Pakistan’s textile quota and help Pakistani business community initiate joint ventures with their US counterparts. The business leaders said that Pakistani textile made-ups have no match as far as quality is concerned. If the right access to the US markets is ensured, the economic situation of Pakistan would be quite different.

They suggested that along side aid, to overcome the immediate problems.

Pakistan requires long term assistance for the development of its infrastructure, energy, water reservoirs, transfer of technology and development of agro-based industry.

They said that Pakistan has a strategic position and is ideally located. It is a gateway to the land-locked Central Asian States so the United States should treat it on priority basis to ensure it an economically strong and prosperous nation.

Businessmen seek access to US market

 

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Govt can take unpopular steps to stabilise economy: Gilani​

KARACHI: Defending hefty increases in oil and gas prices to limit subsidies, Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Tuesday that his government would not hesitate to enact unpopular measures needed to stabilise the economy. “High growth in macroeconomic imbalances testifies that the country was living beyond its financial affordability,” he told the inaugural session of the Development Finance Conference organised by the SBP to marks its 60th anniversary.

He said Pakistan had to deal with slowing economic growth, rising inflation, exchange rate instability and widening current account and fiscal deficits. “Our government is committed to restoring macroeconomic stability in a reasonable timeframe,” he said, adding, “Economic liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation in a transparent manner will be the core principles of our economic reform agenda.” He said the country’s fiscal deficit would be brought down to 3-3.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), adding that the government had targeted GDP growth at six to seven percent annually for the next five years.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

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Continued from: http://www.defence.pk/forums/economy-development/1049-pakistan-economy-daily-update.html

 

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To be continued here: http://www.defence.pk/forums/economy-development/12435-pakistan-economy-news-updates.html#post170922

 

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Pakistan has potential to capture more of $45 billion BPO market: managing director TRG ​

KARACHI: Pakistan has the potential to capture more of the $45 billion Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market since it is still a relatively new entrant with an ample supply of high caliber labour, whereas the Indian labour pool has now reached saturation.

This was stated by Nadeem Ilahi, Managing Director and Country Manager-Pakistan The Resource Group (TRG) in his presentation at a event organised by 21st Century Business & Economic Club at a hotel here on Thursday.

He said that a viable BPO industry in Pakistan is the best solution to employ the skilled youth and significantly enhance foreign exchange earnings of the country. The BPO industry in Pakistan faces numerous challenges, which TRG has successfully mitigated in order to become the market leader.

Besides problems in infrastructure, Pakistan is also perceived as a high-risk country in international markets. He said that TRG is a multinational KSE-listed company, providing Business Process Outsourcing services to high profile, Fortune-1000 and FTSE 100 companies in North America and Europe.

He said that TRG's services portfolio consists of Contact Centre Services, Software Development, Finance back-office and Data-Entry. TRG is amongst the largest software development concern in Pakistan.

TRG began operations in 2002 with only 60 employees, and today employs over 1,000 employees in Pakistan and over 5,000 worldwide. In addition to Pakistan, TRG has large-scale operations in the USA, Canada, Brazil, UK, Senegal and the Philippines, he said and added TRG is ranked amongst the world's largest offshore-based BPO companies.

"It is the industry pioneer in Pakistan and has made a concerted effort to introduce Pakistan into the global BPO market as a viable location for such services", he added. TRG serves a variety of customers in several industries such as Telecom, Financial services, Healthcare, Consumer Goods & Media. Commitment to deliver top quality service is what differentiates TRG from other companies in the industry.

Highly skilled manpower, world-class training, state-of-the-art technology and facilities, form the backbone of the organisation. With approximately Rs 9 billion in annual revenues, TRG is well on its way to realise its vision of becoming a global leader in the BPO sector as well as the largest employer in Pakistan. With the growth of the consumer market in Pakistan, TRG is also poised to become a leading provider of services to the local market.

About the BPO industry in Pakistan, he said that the industry provides a variety of outsourced services such as Customer Care, Payroll Processing and other Business Administration functions primarily to large-scale, service-based organisations such as financial institutions and telecom companies.

The worldwide BPO market is approximately $45 billion with India holding a dominant presence with 70 percent market-share. India's IT and BPO exports are over $30 billion per annum and it employs over 500,000 skilled workers. Syed S. Haider, Founder President of 21st Century Business & Economic Club also spoke on this occasion.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

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Move to contain flour prices: 3,000MW to be added to national grid​

By Shamim-ur-Rehman & Parvaiz Ishfaq Rana

KARACHI, July 1: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Tuesday decided to release wheat to deficient areas and approved import by the private sector to bring parity in prices.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, who presided over the ECC meeting at the Governor’s House here, directed the ministry of food to take immediate measures in consultation with the provincial governments to streamline flour prices, especially in the wheat-deficient areas.

The chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue informed the committee that the total tax collection had crossed the Rs1,000 billion mark by June 30.

The meeting was assured by the minister for water and power and the Planning Commission’s deputy chairman that there would be no loadshedding after next year because the government had made arrangements to feed more than 3,000MW to the national grid.

Mr Gilani ordered the formation of a committee comprising the ministers for finance and water and power, the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission and the secretary for water and power to look into problems being faced by people.

The ECC was informed that the gap between imports and exports had narrowed down because of plugging of non-essential expenses and incentives.

It was told that skyrocketing prices of petroleum, edible oil and food items had shrunk fiscal space and led to inflationary trends.

The ECC approved the summary of an incentives package of the industries ministry for investment in petrochemical, naphtha cracker, polyethylene and polypropylene.

It was informed that there were sufficient stocks of sugar and pulses in the country.

According to sources, there were dissenting views among the ministers about a summary on duty drawback for textile exports, presented by Textile Industry Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, which was based on export volume and slabs.

On the intervention of the prime minister, a decision on the issue was deferred for 15 days.

Prime Minister Gilani sought a list of small and medium enterprises in the textile industry, which were believed to be about 98 per cent of the sector.

There was a proposal to extend research and development (R&D) support to textile exports for 90 days or till a decision was reached on the formula of duty drawback.

The value-added textile sector has opposed the slab-based formula for giving duty drawback on export volume, terming it discriminatory and saying that it would destroy small and medium manufacturers-cum-exporters.

The sources said the ECC also allowed R&D claims to be acceptable as per the commerce ministry’s SRO of 2005, which gave the last date as June 30.

The State Bank had changed the date to June 25 through a circular, which had created resentment among textile exporters.

The ECC decided to constitute a new committee to formulate the duty drawback formula for textile exports, the sources said.

It approved, in principle, the import of wheat through Gwadar Port if the port authorities gave an assurance that facilities existed for handling a large quantity of imported wheat.

Move to contain flour prices: 3,000MW to be added to national grid -DAWN - Top Stories; July 02, 2008

 

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Thar coal conference in US next month​

* Minister says people will start noticing improvement in power supply from August​

KARACHI: A round-table international conference on Thar coal project will be held in the United States next month, Federal Water and Power Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said on Tuesday.

The world’s top investors and experts in coal development and power generation have been invited to attend the conference, Ashraf told reporters after attending the cabinet’s Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) meeting at Governor’s House. He said Thar coal could help generate an unlimited amount of electricity.

“Initially, we have planned to generate at least 6,000MW of electricity from the Thar power project in the next one year ... we have completed our planning in this regard and this conference will help attract not only foreign investment but also the latest technology in the coal-based power generation.”

Improved power supply: The minister said there would be no load shedding in the country from 2009. “This will be an historic achievement of this government ... we will eliminate load shedding from the country for good,” he said.

He said people would start noticing improvement in power supply from August this year.

He said the ECC meeting had decided that Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and GENCOs [power generation companies] of WAPDA would get uninterrupted fuel supply round the year.

“This will help them generate uninterrupted electricity round-the-clock.” He said the meeting also decided that the duration of load shedding would not exceed six hours a day.

He said the government had taken a serious note of the unscheduled load shedding in Karachi by the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC).

He said the government had accepted all demands of the KESC management and the PEPCO was supplying 500MW to it “then why they are resorting to more than one-and-a-half-hour load shedding?” app

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan