26 July 2004 Monday 08 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425 Five-year plan with national ownership Crafted by technocrats, a five- year development plan 2005-10 is expected to be ready by March next. The draft will be placed before the National Economic Council (NEC) and later before the parliament for its approval. ... Games people played to seek PPL stocks The dis-investment of 205,751 shares in Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) by the Privatization Commission (PC) last week, took the city by storm. From its fully-owned equity in PPL, government had offered 15 per cent stock ... Best of times for bankers but... Banks in Pakistan have the best of times for sometime now. They never had it so good in terms of profit, and they include many of the new banks as well. ... Is there really a wheat crisis? Government has finally decided to import 1 million tonnes of wheat and the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) has accordingly issued first instillment of the tender for 500,000 tonnes. ... Ranks of the ultra-rich swelling fast The world is witnessing a simultaneous extraordinary swell in the ranks of the mega-rich and the absolute poor. At a time when those living in extreme poverty have multiplied to more than a billion ... What pushed up our per capita income Pakistan's per capita income has been reported as $410 only (as of year 2002) in the World Development Report, 2004. Even in the Economic Survey, 2002-03, the country's per capita income was reported as $419 for 2001-02 ... Investment of foreign exchange reserves The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) contemplates to invest $3.2 billion in the lucrative investment outlets out of the country's foreign exchange reserves which have crossed $12 billion limit ... Curing our ailing tax system The primary function of any tax levy is to raise resources in an efficient and equitable manner. It is well recognised in modern times that taxation policies of a country do not aim merely at enhancing revenue collection ... Why this disquiet among investors? Government or government-sponsored agencies are better placed to generate information about the behaviour of key macro economic variables. ... Chinese model worth emulation for speedy growth To arrest the growing poverty and to achieve more level playing field in the highly competitive world trade after the end of the current year, Pakistan needs to accelerate its economic growth rate to a level matching other developing nations in the region. ... JBIC study to revitalize Karachi The Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) has, since April 2004, initiated a study aiming at proposing a vision for revitalization and future development of Karachi as an attractive economic centre. ... NIT declares the highest dividend As a result of its consistent strategy to divert fund from low yielding and poor performing stocks to high yielding and better performing stocks, coupled with professional management ... Watercourses lining, a popular activity The project for the lining of 86,000 watercourses in the country over a period of four years at a cost of 66 billion rupees is a major initiative that should strengthen the agriculture sector in a significant way. ... Wheat growing on saline soils Pakistan's 70 per cent population living in rural areas is directly related to agriculture. Their prosperity is dependent on cotton, wheat, rice, sugar cane and maize production. ... Biotechnology defended The Bt cotton, first transgenic non-food crop, is designed to protect crops from pests and cut the spray costs. It contains a strand of genetic material from the naturally occurring soil micro-organism Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) ... Economics of farm price policy As it is irreproachable to say that agriculture is the backbone of the country's economy, so it seems quite rational to have more government attention towards this sector. ... Managing soil resources for food security With world population at around 6 billion, another three billion will be added over next 50 years. This increase will occur in developing countries. ... Stock market preparing to resume upward thrust Stocks turned into a highly volatile performance during the preceding week as investors played on both sides of the fence amid alternate bouts of buying and selling. The on-balance trend remained inclined uppishly. ... Pressure on rupee persists Pressure on the rupee persisted this week. The demand for dollars in interbank market on July 19, was strong. However, the rupee shed one paisa versus the greenback changing hands at Rs58.24 and Rs58.26. ... SBP raises yield on securities On July 21, the State Bank of Pakistan raised weighted average yield on the six-month Treasury bills by 45 basis points to 2.52 per cent from 2.07 per cent. ...

© The DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2004