22 March 2004 Monday 30 Muharram 1425 The wheat flour catastrophe Two months ago, the author wrote an article on the causes of impending wheat crisis in Pakistan. It was pointed out that Pakistan is the only country in the world which has imposed 15 percent GST on fertilizers and pesticides. ... Outsourcing as strategy for development In the past half century, international trade has often been called as an engine of growth and has played a leading role in the transformation of late industrializing economies. ... Empowering the provinces Some significant moves are being been made by the federal government to devolve financial authority and responsibility to the provinces to speed up the nation-building activities. ... Investment outlook According to the federal finance minister, the new budget would be growth and investment-oriented offering broad tax incentives and refund measures. There are several questions that arise in this context. ... Plum projects for foreigners The sale of state units and shares of major public outfits like the National Bank of Pakistan and the Oil and Gas Development Corporation, has yielded the government Rs42 billion in the last three years. ... Human resource development in utilities In my last article titled "Re-floating the sinking utilities", it was argued that the salvation lies in human resource development (HRD) and nothing else. It was also conveyed that anymore experimentation would result in more losses. ... Districts denied financial autonomy The financial independence to district governments from the provinces was an integral part of the devolution of power plan introduced on August 14, 2001. ... EU-US row on export subsidies The European Union has started imposing trade sanctions amounting to more than $4 billion on the USA. The sanctions are in retaliation against subsidies granted by the American government to its exporting enterprises. ... WTO: relationship between trade and investment Following the collapse of the 5th WTO ministerial conference (Cancun, Mexico, 10-14 September 2003), the scene of talks was shifted back to Geneva (headquarters of WTO) with a deadline of 15 December, 2003. ... Transit trade potential of Gwadar Port Pakistan with its large population, an efficient labour, huge natural resources base and a strategic location can promote huge transit trade between a large number of countries and regions including the Central Asia ... State engineering units and industrialization The world over, industrialisation plays a vitally important role in the economic development of a country. And, it is a recognized that industrialisation can only be promoted and sustained provided by a strong engineering base. ... A community perspective on deep-sea fishing The Pakistani coast is spread over 1050 km including approximately 350km in Sindh and 700 km in Balochistan province. It is rich in marine resources and provides means of livelihood for more than two million people mainly through fishing business. ... A recurrent controversy over sugar Sour-sweet for growers for years, the taste of sugar has now turned bitter for them, indeed poisonously so. But the sugar mill owners, who have widely defaulted on payments to growers ... Conservation of rain water Pakistan will face water shortage by the end of 2020 if measures are not adopted to develop and conserve its water resources. The country is almost arid with less than 15 inches rain per annum in 80 per cent of its area. ... Down stream Kotri: constitutional position With every passing day,the controversy over the construction of the new reservoirs on Indus is gaining momentum and despite the claims of President of Pakistan to have settled the dispute of the Greater Thal Canal (GTC) and the Kalabagh Dam (KBD) ... Institutional support gives leverage to KSE index, capital The KSE 100-share index, last week, breached the psychological barrier of 5,000 points. Analysts predict its next target could be the crucial figure of 6,000 within this year ... Rupee stays under the shadow of the dollar The rupee, for last three weeks, is under pressure in the local currency market as corporate demand for dollars to meet heavy payments and the central bank's dollar-buying to maintain higher foreign exchange reserves have completely dried up the market. ... Cut off yield on TBs raised up to six basis points On March 17, the State Bank of Pakistan sold Rs41.6 billion worth Treasury Bills. It sold Rs21 billion three-month bills at a weighted average yield of Rs1.52 per cent and Rs20.6 billion one-year bills at around 2.0 per cent. ...

© The DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2004