Pakistan Economy - News & Updates

[Omar1984]

Excise Minister reviews tax collection targets​

KARACHI, April 2 (APP): The Provincial Excise and Taxation department surpassed the tax collection target of Rs 10,558.200 million and recovered 10,597.147 million during the period from July 1, 2009 t0 February 28, 2010.

This was stated by Sindh Minister for Excise and Taxation, Mukesh Kumar Chawla whie chairing a review meeting at his office.

He noted that the target achieved was higher by Rs 38.947 million and the ratio of tax recoveries during the period remained 100 percent.

In a briefing on the occasion, the Minister was informed that the department recovered Rs 1780.709 million as against the given target of Rs 1564.887 million on account of Motor Vehicle Tax, Rs 1505.883 million as against Rs 1533.333 million as entertainment tax, Rs 6914.635 million as against the target of Rs 7000 million (-) on account of infrastructure tax, Rs 155.239 as against Rs 120 million as cotton fee, Rs 158.856 million against Rs 173.333 (-) million as professional tax and Rs 81.825 million as against Rs 166.667 million (-) as Hotel tax.

The Minister expressed concern over low recoveries in entertainment, infrastructure, professional and hotel taxes as against the given targets and directed the concerned officers to improve their performance.

He said that no dereliction in lower recoveries of taxes will be tolerated.

Mukesh Kumar pointed out that for the fiscal 2009-10, the target of tax collection has been set at Rs 15837.300 million and still 3 months remain to the close of current fiscal.

He directed that not only the taxes, where lower collections have been shown, be recovered but the collection should be 30 percent higher.

 

[Omar1984]

Telecom company invests $80 million in Pakistan​

ISLAMABAD, Apr 1 (APP): A telecom company has further invested USD 80 million into its offshoot company working in Pakistan. The investment is one of the largest contribution made by any telecommunications company in Pakistan in the current fiscal year.

The investment from the Group is going to be utilized for various ongoing and upcoming projects like network expansion, improved customer services, and more aggressive roll-out of financial services.

Chief Strategy Officer and Vice President Corporate Affairs, Telenor Aamir Pakistan, Ibrahim while talking to this news agency said this continuous stream of investment from Telenor reinforces the company’s long-term commitment to Pakistan and shows confidence in future growth in the telecom sector.

“The investment will contribute to the development of our infrastructure and expansion of our services,” he added.

Telenor Pakistan is the second largest mobile operator in Pakistan with a subscriber base of 22.6 million and market share of 23.7% in the telecom sector.

The company has an extensive distribution network with over 250 Franchises and 175,000 retailers. In Nov 2008, Telenor Pakistan acquired Tameer Microfinance Bank and launched easypaisa - mobile banking services in October 2009.

Since its inception in Pakistan in 2004, Telenor Pakistan has created 2,500 direct and over 25,000- indirect jobs and was recently rated Pakistan’s “Most preferred Employer”. Telenor Pakistan has contributed approximately PKR 20 billion in various forms of direct and indirect taxes in 2009.

 

[Hyde]

Gadani’s ship-breaking industry revives, but sustainability doubtful ​

Sunday, April 04, 2010

KARACHI: After a gap of almost 10 years, Pakistan’s ship-breaking industry seems to be back on track. More than 30 ships, including oil tankers, were lined up at the once picturesque Gadani beach where they are being dismantled bolt by bolt, rivet by rivet, every piece of metal, destined for the furnace.

It was in 2009 when the revival of ship-breaking industry began after a gap of almost a decade. The once empty ship-breaking yards again started to bustle with activity as more than 70 vessels were brought to Gadani from far-flung corners of the world that year.

“The revival of work here provided employment to thousands of labourers,” said Abdul Sattar, vice-chairman of the Pakistan Ship-breaking Association.

However, the momentum of work had dropped by almost 50 per cent with the start of 2010 as cost of ships rose sharply in the international market against the backdrop of a weak rupee, dealers said.

Sattar said that currently 35 ships were being dismantled. Around 6,000 workers were engaged here right now which was almost 50 per cent lower from the highs of up to 12,000 only a few months back, he said.

Around 700,000 to 800,000 ton steel requirement of local re-rolling and re-melting mills was being fulfilled by the ship-breaking industry, Sattar told The News.

More than 95 per cent of the scrap is recycled and reused. Even there are buyers for washbasins, toilets, furniture and other fixtures of an old ship. Antique collectors also rummage through these ships, trying to get hold of those items, which can be sold in the up-scale market, from furniture to cutlery and wall clocks to lanterns.

“Even before a ship touches the shore, all its items are sold in advance,” said Sattar. “You see these sofas, chairs, they have already been sold,” he said pointing his hand towards the furniture placed on the deck of an oil tanker Premvati, which once carried the Indian flag.

The labourers, involved in ship-breaking, enter the ship only after it is cleared out of all its fixtures and furniture.

Clad mostly in soiled and blackened shalwar kamiz, the workers perform even the dangerous jobs, from cutting iron to lifting weights, without any safety gear.

None of them had a helmet or a pair of gloves. Some using high-powered welding cutters were performing their task without goggles.

Most of these workers are being paid daily wages ranging from five to fifteen hundred rupees a day, enough to keep most of them happy.

Mohammad Ilyas, president of the Gadani Ship-Breaking Labour Union, said that in these tough times, these were fair wages.

“These workers are not insured, but in case of an accident, owners give them a decent compensation,” he said. “In case of death, family of a worker is paid three hundred thousand rupees by the owner and another three hundred thousand by the government.”

In case of an injury, all the treatment charges are covered, he said. “A victim continues to draw his wages under the entire duration of treatment.”

Not long ago, Pakistan was on top in the ship-breaking industry, but now it has been overtaken by Bangladesh and India. The strong currencies of India and Bangladesh give them a huge edge against Pakistan where the rupee has declined by more than 35 per cent against the dollar during the last two years.

With the cost of new and old ships rising, there are fears among the people associated with the local ship-breaking industry that Gadani could again lose its present hustle-bustle.

One re-rolling mill owner, who asked not to be named, said that there was already a shortage of ship plates and billets in the market.

In 2009, about 700,000 ton steel requirement of the local re-rolling industry was fulfilled by the ship-breaking industry, he said. “If this source dries up, it will be a huge blow to the re-rolling and re-melting industry.”

However, the presence of ship-breaking industry is seen as a big environmental threat by the locals, who say that the spill of oil and other chemicals remain a huge threat for the coastal marine life and spoiling its once clean sandy beach.

 

[Omar1984]

Foreign investment, oil prices push KSE index​

KARACHI: Foreign portfolio investment and local buying helped the Karachi Stock Exchange continue its bullish rally.

The KSE-100 index breached the level of 10,500 points on Tuesday.

Buying activity could be seen across the board at the local equity market as foreign participation continued in the banking, energy and power, and fertilizer sectors.

Rising international oil prices have also been instrumental in pushing the benchmark index forward.

However, analysts expect increased profit-making in the next few sessions. —DawnNews

 

[Hang em High]

In the middle of this century, work done by M.F.M Osborne showed that the logarithms of common-stock prices, and the value of money, can be regarded as an ensemble of decisions in statistical equilibrium, and that this ensemble of logarithms of prices, each varying with time, has a close analogy with the ensemble of coordinates of a large number of molecules.[ which means that Osborne showed that fluctuations in stock market and the movement of molecules are similar....i.e. both are random and unpredictable]. Using a probability distribution function and the prices of the same random stock choice at random times, he was able to derive a steady state distribution function, which is precisely the probability distribution for a particle in Brownian motion.[In a really advanced and crazy type of statistics he proved that the stock exchange move randomly]. A similar distribution holds for the value of money, measured approximately by stock market indices. Sufficient, but not necessary conditions to derive this distribution quantitatively are given by the conditions of trading. [Similar effect was seen in the raltionship of stock market index and value of money].

Well in short you cannot predict stock market with accuracy, its a random walk, it follows Brownian motion pattern, its unpredictable. Just look at yesterdays news there was an attack on US consulate and the stock market went up.... that denies all economic logic.

Source: http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~nd/surprise_95/journal/vol1/skh1/article1.html

 

[ameer219]

Lint export hits 0.9m bales in July-March 2010

* Quality lint fetches highest price in international market

By Razi Syed

KARACHI: The export of raw cotton increased 1349 percent during July-March 2010 and also fetched the highest-ever price in the international market due to quality, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) spokesman said Tuesday.

The country exported around 899,290 cotton bales till March 31, 2010 to India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam and Central Asia, he added.

“The country exported around 62,030 bales during the same period last year, which shows a robust increase of Pakistan’s lint besides great demand in the international market,” Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) exporter Shakeel Ahmad said.

Pakistan’s lint fetched more than $1,595 per tonnes in the international market due to its fine quality, strength, uniformity, maturity and fineness, Ahmad said.

Pakistan export price closes at 87.32 cents per pound, leading China at 99.32 cents per pound followed by New York Cotton at 82.25 cents per pound and India with closing at 85 cents per pound in international market.

Cotton would continue to play a dynamic role in the economy of Pakistan in the years to come, he added.

“Pakistan has a potential to increase cotton production to over 20.0 million bales and to increase exports of cotton and cotton-based products to fetch over $15.0 billion annually,” he said. The target set by Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) of 13.6 million bales for Kharif 2010, for which FCA is meeting on April 12 in this regard, solely depends on meeting the basic fundamentals, he maintained.

“Irrigation water supply has already been delayed more than one-and-half-month besides Punjab and Sindh are still at loggerheads over the water issue,” the KCA member added.

The early sowing has always been successful in achieving quality lint besides higher yields and reducing the chances of damaged crop by monsoon and pest diseases.

“Water has not been released in the canal system by now and we are still 50-day late for sowing cottonseed, however, farmers in some parts of cotton growing areas in Punjab have started sowing BT type cotton.”

In Sindh there is no sign of sowing cotton during Kharif 2010 season because of less water availability, he said. The continuous decline in the yearly production of cotton from 2003-04 crop season can be attributed to the poor policy and non-professional approach of the financial mangers and agriculture planners at the federal ministries, he asserted. “They are responsible for poor supply of seed, insecticides, fertilizer and other inputs to cotton sector besides no one could streamline the timely supply of credit to growers.”

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[ameer219]

Rupee regains strength versus dollar

KARACHI: The dollar shed strength versus the rupee in the interbank market, dealers said on Tuesday.

The dollar commenced the day’s trading at Rs 84.22 for buying, depreciated by 29 paisas and closed at Rs 83.93 for buying and Rs 83.98 for selling.

The euro also remained down versus the rupee, as it initiated the day’s trading at Rs 113.48 for buying and after losing 93 paisas closed at Rs 112.55 for buying and Rs 112.75 for selling.

The pound also recorded losses against the rupee, as it started the day’s trading at Rs 128.29 for buying, lost Rs 1.16 and closed at Rs 127.13 for buying and Rs 127.33 for selling.

Open market: The dollar depreciated versus the rupee, dealers said. The dollar started the day’s trading at Rs 84.40 for buying, lost 20 paisas and closed at Rs 84.20 for buying and Rs 84.40 for selling.

The euro depreciated versus the rupee, as it started the day’s trading at Rs 113.00 for buying, shed 85 paisas and closed at Rs 112.15 for buying and Rs 112.65 for selling.

The pound also remained low against the rupee, as it started the day’s trading at Rs 127.75 for buying and after losing Re 1 closed at Rs 126.75 for buying and Rs 127.25 for selling. staff report

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Omar1984]

Wheat procurement​

Punjab food dept, banks consortium sign Rs18.9bn deal

Wednesday, April 07, 2010
By our correspondent

LAHORE: The Punjab Food Department and a consortium of 16 banks on Tuesday signed a financing arrangement deal worth Rs18.9 billion for the current yearís wheat procurement campaign.

These arrangements are part of Rs54 billion credit facility. The Bank of Punjab will be the lead manager, while other banks include Bank Alfalah Limited, Askari Bank Limited, First Women Bank Limited, Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited, KASB Bank Limited, Faysal Bank Limited, Meezan Bank Limited, Bank Albarka Limited, Dubai Islamic Bank Limited, Bank Islami, Emirates Global Islamic Bank, Dawood Islamic Bank Limited, Soneri Bank Limited and the Bank of Khyber.

Food secretary Irfan Elahi signed the document on behalf of the Punjab Food Department and BoP President Naeemuddin Khan on behalf of the banks consortium.

Elahi said that Rs95 billion will be required to buy four million tons wheat. He expressed the hope that the federal government will extend full support.

He said the department is ready to start wheat procurement from April 20. "We will have gunny bags available with us by April 15," he said.

To a question, he said, the federal government has agreed to reserve 2.5 million tons of wheat for the province. He expressed the hope that wheat will be exported in the near future, keeping in view the size of the present crop.

BoP President Naeemuddin Khan termed the commodity-related debt a serious issue. "The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has expressed reservations on the issue," he said, adding that it is likely to be resolved soon.

The Bank of Punjab will also act as the disbursing agent during the wheat procurement season due to its wide distribution channel of 273 branches across the province.

 

[Omar1984]

Moody’s sees huge global potential for Islamic banking industry​

KARACHI: Islamic banking industry has an immense global potential to grow to $5 trillion from the current $950 billion as both individual depositors and companies have shown willingness to adopt Shariah compliance, an international rating agency said in its report on Tuesday.

“A combined use of securitisation and derivatives offers considerable scope for reducing the risk exposures of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) and thus improving their overall creditworthiness,” said Moody’s Investors Service in its report.

However, the Islamic finance industry needs to develop its own innovation phase and not imitate conventional derivative instruments to maintain their special status and Shariah-compliant approach, the report said.

Despite the recent gloomy global economic environment, the Islamic finance industry’s total assets rose to new heights in 2009, rising to $950 billion, it said.

Moody’s estimates the potential of Islamic banking industry at around $5 trillion, as it continues to expand globally.

“In this context, IFIs are continuing to deliver Shariah-compliant returns whilst, at the same time, focusing on efficiently mitigating the associated risks through a new risk management approach, including the use of derivatives,” says Anouar Hassoune, Moody’s vice president, who authored this report.

“If employed with care, derivatives can enhance efficiency in IFIs through risk mitigation, thereby making them more competitive as well as appealing to customers. However, their application in Islamic finance is highly controversial for reasons of speculation and uncertainty, two practices forbidden under Shariah,” explains Hassoune.

The varying scholarly opinions in the world of Islamic jurisprudence on the legitimacy of derivatives has so far translated into a total ban on these instruments in some countries and actual implementation — albeit on a limited scale — in others, he said.

“IFIs aim to utilise derivative instruments to hedge against the risk and to improve risk monitoring practices.

However, they are keen to do so in a Shari’ah-compliant manner, rather than imitating conventional derivative instruments in order to avoid losing their special status as Shariah-compliant banks, which makes them very attractive to a large population of Muslims,” Hassoune added. “For this reason, a new innovation phase in the industry is critical.”

 

[Omar1984]

Exporters condemn freight forwarders’ malpractices​

KARACHI: Representative bodies of various export oriented industries have alleged that freight forwarders do not issue them the requisite legal documents, which hinders payments.

“Foreign banks have withheld over $500 million worth of export proceeds for want of authentic bill of ladings,” the leaders of value-added textiles, furniture, leather, and rice exporters at a press conference held at the Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA).

“The freight brokers are violating rules of the State Bank of Pakistan and it is taking no action against them,” was the unanimous complaint of Jawed Bilwani chairman Pakistan Apparel Forum, Mohsin Ayub Mirza, chairman Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA), Bilal Mulla, former chairman PRGMEA, Rafiq Suleman, vice chairman Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) and other leading exporters present at the press conference.

The exporters said that according to circular No.6 of 2006 of the SBP, the Bill of Lading (BL) is to be issued by the shipping company, in which, exporter is shipper while local bank is consignee and actual importer comes in the column of notify party. However, said the exporters, freight agents were showing themselves as shippers, thus payments of the exporters were held.

Freight forwarders were issuing them another BL which was just a confirmation that cargo was received and banks did not accept it, said Bilwani.

More than US$500 million of the exporters were held by the foreign banks, as they did not have genuine record to show their ownership.

Exporters said 51 cases were registered with the FIA, but there was interference from the Interior Ministry, so no action was taken against the culprits. However, nine out of 32 shipping companies have started issuing real BL to the exporters, under which they have received the payments.

Bilwani said they have complained several times with the SBP on that issue, but no action was taken.

They said unless the SBP strictly implements the rules the exporters would continue to suffer colossal losses. Jawed Bilwani said that several small exporting industries were shut off and payments of whole exporting chain were stopped.

 

[Omar1984]

Tea smuggling under Afghan Transit Trade hitting local traders​

Pakistan loses Rs8bn a year in taxes, duties due to smuggled tea

Wednesday, April 07, 2010
By Shahid Shah

KARACHI: More than 84,000 tons of tea is smuggled into Pakistan annually under the controversial Afghan Transit Trade, inflicting huge losses not only to traders, but depriving the government of around Rs8.0 billion in taxes and duties, Pakistan Tea Association (PTA) said on Tuesday.

The Association, which is demanding the government to slash taxes and duties on the legally-imported tea to discourage smuggling, says that the import of 84,000 tons tea annually by a poor-nation like Afghanistan does not make any sense.

“Pakistan with a population of more than 170 million consumes around 170,000 tons tea,” Hamid Saeed Khawaja, chairman PTA, told The News. “How can Afghanistan, with a population of barely 25 million, import 84,000 tons of black tea?”

Black tea, first introduced in colonial India by the British, remains a favourite among Pakistanis, while Afghans mostly enjoy green tea.

Khawaja said that on an average, every Pakistani consume around one kilogram of tea annually, but official imports in the country stands at around 86,000 tons annually, while the rest smuggled through Afghanistan.

Pakistan provides import facilities to land-locked Afghanistan under Afghan Transit Trade, which is grossly misused by smugglers, who have flooded Pakistani markets with smuggled goods.

Under this Treaty, Pakistanís custom duties and other port duties are not applicable on goods for Afghanistan. Kabul charges around 2.0 percent duty on tea import, while Pakistan charges nearly 39 percent tariff and duties.

Only on account of tea smuggling, Pakistan is deprived of Rs. 8.0 billion in taxes and duties, Khawaja said. “Even if they (Afghans) consume black tea that would be in negligible quantity,” he said.

Importers say that due to massive smuggling, imports have declined.

The smuggled tea is available at cheaper rates, compared to the legally imported tea, they say. One kg of black tea is available at $3 per kg or Rs255 per kg in the international market. With applied tariff and all other taxes, it cost to around Rs355 per kg in the local market, while smuggled tea cost only Rs277 per kg when it is smuggled back to Pakistan from Afghanistan, they said.

Mohsin M. Saify, GM tea at Tapal Tea (Pvt.) Ltd, said smuggled tea remains Rs78 cheaper per kg than the officially imported tea. "The difference goes in the pocket of the smuggler and the middleman. We canít match their margins."

PTA, which has launched an advertisement campaign against the Afghan Transit Trade, said in one of its advertisement on Tuesday that the government should take measures to protect the legal businesses in Pakistan.

“Pakistan government is trying to gain market access for Pakistan products abroad. Least it could do is to secure our own market for legitimate businesses operating here,” PTA said in an advertisement.

Khawaja, the PTA chairman, said that if government cuts down the duty on tea to 20 percent, it would discourage smuggling. “There wonít be any loss to government revenue. In fact, it would increase as more tea would be imported legally.”

 

[Omar1984]

Businessmen invited to invest in Sudan​

LAHORE: Pakistani businessmen should come forward and join hands with their Sudanese counterparts to enhance bilateral trade, said Sudanese Ambassador to Pakistan on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Ambassador of Sudan Mohamed Omer Musa said that his country has vast potential in raw cotton and invited the Pakistani businessmen to invest there. Besides agriculture and textile, he said, pharmaceutical, transport, power generation, solar energy and construction also have huge potential for the Pakistani traders. He said that Sudan wants to strengthen trade relations with Pakistan and in this regard the embassy is issuing 150 visas to the Pakistani traders on monthly basis.

LCCI Vice President Faisal Iqbal Sheikh said that lack of contacts between the business communities and the diplomatic missions of the two countries is hampering bilateral trade.

He termed exchange of information through the diplomatic missions, business delegations and one-to-one meetings between the businessmen of the two countries necessary for enhancing the trade.

 

[Omar1984]

Investors opt to book profits on KSE​

KARACHI: Investors at the Karachi bourse on Tuesday opted to book profits in the oil and gas sector after the KSE 100 Index briefly breached the 10,500 points mark to close at 10,419.82 points.

Blue-chips Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) remained the main stocks. OGDCL fell by 0.55 per cent to Rs131.13 with a turnover of 3.37 million shares, while PPL lost 1.28 per cent to Rs200.50 with a turnover of 3.09 million shares.

During the last five consecutive sessions, the KSE Index had witnessed an increase of four per cent.

“Extended profit sell-off by the local financial institutions in the absence of foreignersí pushed down the market,” said Sajjad Mankani, Associate Director at the BMA Capital Management.

The KSE 100 Index slightly slipped by 28.02 points, or 0.27 per cent to close at 10,419.82 points. The KSE 30 Index fell by 45.43 points, or 0.42 per cent, to end at 10,661.88 points.

Mankani links future of the market with the activities of foreign investors.

Hasnain Asghar Ali, analyst at Aziz Fidahusein, said that the banking sector led the morning rally on the back of unconfirmed foreign flows, but shares movement towards higher levels tempted the locals to book profits.

“What added to the uncertainty was the ongoing issue of the ability of the local financial groups to settle their financial obligations, especially in the energy sector,” Asghar said.

Ahsan Mehanti, CEO at Shahzad Chamdia Securities, said that limited foreign interest, investors concern on unavailability of financing (leverage) product in the market and high interest rates played a catalyst role in the negative activity, despite positive sentiments in the banking sector on the back of high banking spreads ahead of the announcement of results for March quarter.

Farhan Seth, analyst at the Topline Securities, said that the KSE-100 Index hit a new intra-day high by surpassing 10,500 levels. Later, local institutions preferred to book profits.

Moreover, Lotte Pakistan remained the volume leader on the optimism over the next results announcement season.

The day's turnover further surged to 244.70 million shares from 222.52 million shares traded on Monday.

The futures market turnover also jumped to 12 million shares from 7.41 million shares a day earlier.

The overall market capitalisation decreased by Rs8 billion to stand at Rs2,948 billion.

Negative signs continue to dominate the broader market. Out of the total 421 active stocks, 215 registered decline, 184 posted increase, while 22 stocks remained unchanged.

Lotte Pakistan closed with a turnover of 62.93 million shares as it ended at Rs12.77 with a gain of 65 paisas, followed by Azgard Nine at 18.02 million shares, as it closed at Rs12.44 with a loss of 44 paisas.

The National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) gained Rs1.22 to Rs72.16 with the turnover of 17.35 million shares, Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim gained 52 paisas to Rs32.60 with 16.32 million shares, and Pakistan Telecommunication Company lost 23 paisas to Rs21.12 with the turnover of 13.43 million shares.

 

[Omar1984]

UAE firm offers to make 14.8m acres saline land arable​

ISLAMABAD: A United Arab Emirates (UAE) based company, which provides water treatment solutions for agriculture purposes, on Tuesday offered its services to Pakistan for making its six-million hectors (14.826 million acres) saline land cultivable and overcome the shortage of useable water.

Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture, Nazar M Gondal in a meeting here with the delegates of Magnetic Technologies, Dubai (UAE) said the government was open to introduction of latest agriculture technologies for treatment of brackish underground water in certain areas of the country.

Pakistan’s water resources are often plagued by salinity and industrial and municipal pollution. Spatial changes of ground water quality indicate saline water intrusion towards fresh groundwater pockets. Temporal changes of groundwater quality also show deterioration of water quality over long periods.

Reportedly, less than 50 per cent of Indus basin has useable water for agriculture. Out of 143 outfall drains of the Indus basin, the effluent quality of 53 drains is useable, 46 are marginal and 44 hazardous.

The minister said there was about six million hectors of saline land available in Pakistan. He added that making such a huge amount of land cultivable would definitely bring about a very positive change in the agricultural sector of the country. The minister urged the visiting delegates to provide at least two devices for testing purposes so that the results were observed before entering into any deal with the company.

The company claims that Magnetic Technologies Corner (MTC) of Dubai, UAE is presently operative in more than 25 countries in the world. MTC Magnetic Solutions (MMS) unit is an inline device designed to pass water through a magnetic field of high gauss strength. Magnetic treatment of water elevates the pH that has the effect of reducing corrosion tendencies.

Farid Uddin, Director International operations told the News that the technology of desalinization of soil water would help boost crop yield and reduce the requirement of inputs especially chemical fertilizers.

 

[Omar1984]

Hafeez Sheikh seeks update on PEPCO’s finances​

LAHORE: The newly appointed Finance Advisor to Prime Minister, Abdul Hafeez Sheikh has directed the Pakistan Electric Power Company to update him on the current financial and operational state of the energy sector in general and the PEPCO in particular, officials said.

PEPCO officials are expected to make a presentation to Hafeez Sheikh in the coming days. Managing Director PEPCO, Tahir Bisharat Cheema, Chief Financial Officer, Malik Razi Masood, Federal Secretary Water and Power, Shahid Rafi and other senior officials are expected to attend the meeting, sources said.

The sources said that MD PEPCO has got these directions in the last week on his tour to Islamabad and he was told to be ready for the presentation to the advisor in coming days.

The sources in Ministry of Water and Power (MoW&P) said that the Sheikh is concerned about the ongoing circular debt situation PEPCO is going through.

According to the sources, the MD PEPCO will apprise Sheikh about the non-payment of Karachi Electric Supply Company KESC to PEPCO over the last one-year.