07 March 2005	Monday	25 Muharram 1426

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Economic growth marathon While President Musharraf's Government remains obsessed with the cosmetic exercise of improving the country's image abroad by organising marathon races and car rallies in a futile attempt to put a "modern face" on its feudal and military character ...		Will the 50:50 formula deliver autonomy? One of the seven-point agenda of the present government is to reduce concentration of political, administrative and financial powers at the federal level. ...
Have mutual funds achieved any real success? Numbers, they say, tell the real story of financial success. If that's true, the mutual fund business in Pakistan is roaring out a tale of triumph. ...		Indian budget blends political compulsions with reforms Indian finance ministers have to satisfy numerous competing ideological and regional demands for making the budget palatable not only to the left-leaning parties opposed to privatization of public-sector industries ...
Oil pricing sans Ogra Petroleum prices have been raised by an average of 4.3 per cent for the current fortnight, after skipping the last fortnight, but more than making up for that now. ...		Messing with the car market Families of the effete middle class, which could scarcely afford to maintain a second car, let alone buying a brand new one, are being entrapped by the lustre of the leasing lure. ...
$312bn transferred from South to North THE reverse net resource transfers from developing to the industrialized world continue to increase for the seventh consecutive year, reaching an estimated total of $312 billion last year. ...		Ethics retreat and embedded corruption Before factoring in 'ethics retreats,' all emphasis was on the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to nab and eradicate corruption. ...
Widening trade deficit The government has been concentrating on increasing exports and improving the balance of payments for the last few years; results seem to be exactly the opposite of the declared target ...		Quick returns from mini hydro-power projects An official action plan formulated for meeting the country's energy needs highlights the development of the indigenous resources - both fossil fuels and renewables. ...
Textile city and economic zoning Textile City, Karachi, planned to be developed in the industrial area of Port Qasim as a joint public-private sector partnership project, is a timely measure to log on Pakistan's economy to the emerging global economic order. ...		Engineering industry under WTO threat Indeed, the implementation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regime, in the national perspective, offers opportunities as well as threats and challenges to various economic and industrial sectors ...
Revamping the irrigation system The painfully slow pace of the Rs13 billion President's package for revamping/rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage system indicates that the scheme has failed to take off in a meaningful way. ...		Variable costs in fish farming Fish farming has become a fast growing activity, worldwide. In Asia, fish industries have expanded sevenfold during the past decade and have contributed substantially to food security, employment generation and foreign exchange earnings. ...
Tea: small output, big consumption The per capita consumption of tea in Pakistan is around one kilogram and is on the increase due to rising demand. The annual per capita consumption in the world is 0.75kg. ...		Trading milk the traditional way Pakistan is the seventh largest producer of milk in the world. Its major sources are buffaloes and cows as these contribute 66 and 31 per cent, respectively in total production. ...
Future of poultry industry There are two poultry farming systems in Pakistan - the small scale or rural, and the large scale or commercial poultry farming. The latter did not exist till 1963. ...		Stock market index poised to touch new levels Massive foreign and local buying in the PTCL, triggered by the reports of sell-off before June, pushed the share index to its new career-best level. ...
Dollar value fluctuates Dollar supply this week remained comfortable. Buyers were least interested in the dollar trade due to light fluctuations in its value. ...		Time deposits increase by Rs7,207m in a week On March 3, the State Bank of Pakistan conducted an open market operation to mop up Rs51.3 billion from the inter-bank market for two weeks through repo sale of the treasury bills at 3.69 per cent. ...