08 October 2004 Friday 22 Shaban 1425 Temporary waiver of levies sought: LPG import KARACHI, Oct 7: Market players involved in the business of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) have now approached the government for temporary waiver of general sales tax and customs duty on the import of LPG ... PM seeks report on fuel oil requirement: Power sector ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has sought a report on furnace oil requirement of the power sector during the October-December period of the current year that has increased manifold owing to water shortage ... India again raises rice varieties issue ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: Pakistan has opposed the Indian rice exporters move aimed at renegotiating the issue of traditional varieties to get the code of practice (CoP) on basmati rice changed. ... EOBI lists 3,829 mine workers KARACHI, Oct 7: The Employees' Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) has registered 3,829 mine workers after bringing into the books of the institution around 70 mining concerns in Balochistan. ... Slic may launch 25-year investment bonds KARACHI, Oct 7: Maintaining a huge Life Fund of Rs100 billion, the State Life Insurance Corporation is, in collaboration with the government, exploring to launch a fresh investment bond of 25 years maturity. ... Current account surplus falls sharply KARACHI, Oct 7: Pakistan saw an overall balance of payments deficit of $788 million in July-August this year, according to data released by the State Bank. In a year-ago period, the country had seen a BOP surplus of $375 million. ... KESC bidding on Dec 6 ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: Federal Minister for Privatization and Investment Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, chairing the pre-bid conference on privatization of Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) ... Cement earnings may fall by 10pc in 2005 KARACHI, Oct 7: The cement sector, which accounts for Rs68 billion or five per cent of the market capitalization of Rs1495 billion at the Karachi Stock Exchange, has been at the limelight at the stock exchange ... State Bank drains out Rs10.15bn KARACHI, Oct 7: The State Bank on Thursday siphoned off Rs10.15 billion from the inter-bank market through one week repo of treasury bills at 2 per cent at an open market operation held for this purpose. ... NFC told to market NP fertilizer directly ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: Industries and Production Minister Jehangir Khan Tareen has directed National Fertilizer Corporation (NFC) to carry out a plan for direct marketing of nitro phosphate (NP) fertilizer ... Prices stay firm on cotton market KARACHI, Oct 7: Cotton market on Thursday turned in an improved performance as ginners held on to their positions followed by reports of an active buying by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to ensure competitive price to the growers. ... Multan blast halts upward drive on stock market KARACHI, Oct 7: Stocks on Thursday suffered a mild reaction owing to Multan incident but larger fall was averted thanks to active covering purchases at the dips on cement and bank sectors. ...

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