11 April 2005	Monday	01 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

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Consumers at receiving end AS profits of firms in Pakistan rise following the economic revival and growing demand for goods and services, company chiefs are declaring far larger profits and handing out large bonus shares...		Mortgage business to rise if hurdles crumble AFTER a strong year in 2004 characterized by growing balance sheets and rising profits, banks are likely to strengthen further in 2005, largely through aggressive efforts to deploy excess liquidity in...
Privatization of Clifton Beach CONCERNS have been raised by several responsible citizens of Karachi on the reported privatization of Clifton beach areas by the civic agencies during March 2005. According to news...		KSE share values see-saw, investors stay jittery THE stock market showed highly erratic price movements last week as investors played on both sides of the fence — taking profit at the rise and buying at the dips. ...
Rupee falls slack on thin demand THE Pakistani rupee was slightly lower in the inter-bank market last week. On the first day of the week, the rupee shed five paisa on buying and selling counters at Rs59.75...		State Bank mops up Rs5bn through OMO, rates inch up THE State Bank of Pakistan on April 7, mopped up Rs5 billion from the money market. The central bank conducted the Open Market Operation (OMO) to suck up the over liquid...
Commodities market lacks usual trading interest THE Karachi wholesale commodity markets lacked normal trading interest last week as commercial houses kept to sidelines and refrained from making fresh commitments on any counter. Arrivals of new crop wheat,...		Risks to Karachi’s milk supply ALL major urban centres face the problem of supply of milk for residents at an affordable price and only a few, such as cities contiguously located with large villages have been...
Wheat crop under army worm attack IN December 2004, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued a warning that Pakistan would be attacked by the locust in March 2005. There were apprehensions that the late sown...		Mango orchards hit by rain COMPLETE destruction of mango orchards in Shujabad and Kabirwala and partial in other parts of Punjab brought about by the torrential rains and followed by hailstorms may substantially lower the crop...
Lining the watercourses QUITE a bit of the blame for the economic backwardness in rural Sindh can be apportioned to the poor governance in the province. One such example is the execution of a...		Fish farming: a profitable venture AROUND 66 per cent of Pakistani population is deficient in protein. Per capita requirement of protein is 102.7 grams daily with the availability somewhere at 69.61 grams. The main sources of...
Lives and rights at risk: Water sector development DAMS are built to control floods and to store water for hydropower, agriculture, industrial and drinking purposes. But in the second half of the last century, many questions were raised on...		Development agenda at WIPO AT the 2004 General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization, 14 developing countries presented a proposal for the ‘establishment of a development agenda’ for WIPO. The proposal incorporated various...
Improving the efficacy of microfinancing MICROFINANCE sector has witnessed significant growth in the past five years or so. Financial institutions and NGOs are playing an active role in the fight against poverty via microfinance. With the...		World economies RECORD oil prices have fuelled an economic recovery, since the 1998 crisis, with six years of gross domestic production growth averaging 6.7 per cent. However, there has been a decline in...
Banks’ delisting of insurers SOME banks have adopted policies towards the insurance industry that go against the best business practices. In the month of October, 2004, Allied Bank of Pakistan (ABL) removed 10 companies...		Should bourses have inactive members? TO become a broker in Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad stock exchanges, one has to first become a member of that exchange. The maximum number of memberships at each of the three...
VAT: traders on the warpath: Letter from Mumbai TRADERS, wholesalers and retailers in India’s financial and commercial capital are on the warpath, following the introduction of the value added tax (VAT) regime in the state of Maharashtra. Hundreds of...		Time to address imbalances THE finance experts of the federal government have this year favourable environment for the framing of a traditional budget due to a combination of factors. There seems to be no scarcity...