29 March 2004 Monday 07 Safar 1425 Foreign sector growth losing momentum The buoyant foreign sector that has stimulated the domestic demand, helped improve industrial output and raised the private domestic investment seems to be losing it's growth momentum. ... The high cost of banking Upon my request two weeks ago, a bank incorporated in Pakistan issued a demand draft (DD) for Rs8,800 in favour of the British High Commission, Islamabad being the fee prescribed for a five years' UK visit visa. ... The PSDP debate By Dr Sajjad Akhtar The current ideological debate between the "pump primers" and "stabilizers" reminds me of another economic debate during 1997-2000 between the "devaluers" and the 'peggers". ... WTO and the challenge to exports The WTO regulation presents challenges as well as opportunities to all stakeholders after the year 2004. Its trade regime is complex but is based on four simple rules. ... No threat from Safta The major issue facing Pakistani manufacturers and anxious exporters is not the coming South Asian Free Trade Area (Safta) which opens up the country for trade with India in a big way at no or low tariff but the varied challenges of globalization. ... Bed-linen: the anti-dumping game The imposition of 13.1 per cent anti-dumping duties on imports of Pakistani bedlinen by the European Union, which was notified on March 5 and became effective on March 17 ... Which comes first - domestic or global inequity? Developing countries have to battle on two fronts simultaneously - domestic and global. The common man is suffering and hence there is a need to remove the domestic inequity. ... Tasman Spirit: lessons for the shipping industry While the legal counsels are battling on the claims with an aggregate value of $II billion approximately, there is hardly any rational discussion on how such claims are pursued before the courts of law and the basis of such claims. ... Row over net hydel profits The long pending dispute between the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) over net hydel profit issue has resurfaced, hitting the newspapers' headlines once again. ... The value of rupee Since its independence, Pakistan rupee has lost so much of its value, it seems difficult to believe that in 1947 the dollar changed hands at Rs3.20! (Incidentally, at that time there used to be 64 paisa to a rupee as against 100 at present.) ... SBP guidelines and fair practices The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has invited comments and suggestions by 31st March 2004 on the draft 'Guidelines on Internal Controls' (ICs) to encourage the banks/DFIs to institute adequate internal control system commensurate with the nature ... Safta: cost of doing business Car assemblers have set their eyes on the sensitive list of commodities, which is to be negotiated, under the South Asian Free Trade Area (Safta) agreement. ... Debt burden and the national savings schemes From 1972 onward, national savings centres are engaged in the operations of various schemes through the network. And presently there are about 4.3 million NSS investors. ... Rural women at work Rural women in Pakistan play a significant role in agriculture, with participation rate of about 43 per cent. They are involved in a number of on farm activities- weeding, hoeing, grass cutting, picking ... Minfal identifies investment areas The federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) has been mentioned in dispatches that are amusing to pathetic: more than half a century after the creation of Pakistan, it has identified some areas for investment in the farm sector. ... Milk becomes costlier Milk producers, particularly in the largest milk-consuming urban centres in Karachi increase their prices off and on without any justification. ... Precision farming Our levels of agricultural production and market demands for quality products seem to have reached a stage where conventional farming system alone may not help in improving the economic conditions of farmers. ... Equity market soars to new peaks Stocks established new records, both in terms of the index and the market capital. Investors were not inclined to take even a technical breather in a highly overbought market where the carryover volume soared to new peaks. ... Greenback obscures local unit The rupee was seen under pressure versus the dollar this week in both currency markets. A persistent demand for dollars due to heavy month-end payments did not allow rupee to recover its lost grounds in the interbank market on March 22. ... Central bank garners Rs11.5bn from Treasury bill sales On March 25, the State Bank of Pakistan sucked-in Rs11.5 billion from the banking system through one-week and two-week repo sale of the Treasury Bills. ...

© The DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2004