08 March 2005	Tuesday	26 Muharram 1426

KARACHI, March 7: The All Pakistan Newspapers Society has expressed concern over continuous increases in the price of newsprint in the international market and urged the government to help the newspaper industry in overcoming the adverse effects of the price rise.

Mohammad Aslam Kazi, the secretary-general of the society, said in a statement on Monday that the price of newsprint had suddenly risen from $450 to $625 per metric ton, which newspapers could not afford.

To meet this inflationary increase, the publications would have no alternative but to raise the cover price if the trend continued, the statement said. It requested Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to take immediate notice of the situation faced by the newspaper industry and exempt newsprint from the GST as a special measure.