February 20, 2006	Monday	Muharram 21, 1427

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What’s really behind the sugar crisis? THE raging sugar crisis which has led to unprecedented prices in the retail market, has been blamed on a variety of factors. Everything from a shortage of sugar cane to high international prices has come under fire....		Domestic savings for self-reliance THE crucial importance of saving and investment for sustainable economic growth is universally recognized. A developing country in its very early stage has low income and domestic saving constraint....
Plight of gur producers THE imposition of 15 per cent sales tax on gur seems to be another effort by the government to prevent sugarcane growers in the NWFP from gur production....		Balochistan’s neglected agriculture sector THE country’s largest province with extremely low-density population and high incidence of poverty, Balochistan is undeniably the country’s worst neglected region....
Cultivating gram crop Chickpea (gram) Cicer arietinum is an important crop mostly cultivated in Punjab followed by Sindh and the NWFP. Barani Punjab contributes 80 per cent towards the total production and in Sindh...		Crop productivity from biological nitrogen Nitrogen is the most abundant element in our atmosphere and is a major constituent of all living organisms. It is an important element supplied from the soil for production....
Sea intrusion and rising poverty THE Interim Report of the Asian Development Bank’s “Sindh Coastal and Inland Community Development Project” to alleviate poverty and improve environment in Karachi and in eight talukas of Thatta and Badin...		Promoting tourism Tourism is indeed the fastest growing industry in the world, despite many setbacks experienced in recent past. During the year 2004, global tourism had generated an income of $6 billion as...
Sharp fall in onion prices: Mumbai letter WITHIN weeks of an acute shortage of onions in Maharashtra – the leading producer in India – when prices soared to record levels, and India had to resort to imports from Pakistan, the situation has changed dramatically....		Waiting for a new industrial strategy THE share of industry in Pakistan’s GDP is barely 17-18 per cent, while that of agriculture is 23 per cent. That makes it a predominantly agricultural country in which 60 per cent of the people depend on agriculture....
US reducing dependence on imported oil OIL price per barrel in future delivery (seven years out) was reportedly quoted at $23 on January 25, 2003. It rose to $40 on January 25, 2005 and further increased to $62 on January 25, 2006....		Japan’s economic recovery THE sun set on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on December 28, 1989, when the Nikkei225 Index embarked on a long and depressing downward journey, dropping 80 per cent from a peak of 38,957 to only 7,600....
Work culture in America THE US economy is much stronger than the doomsayers have been telling us, says a recent news report. The reason is simple: the old statistical system used by the Bureau of...		Gap in lending and deposit rates THE SBP Governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar while presiding over a mid-term review meeting of the national credit consultative council (NCCC) in January last, expressed concern over the rising banking spread and...
Risks of high employee turnover HIGH employee turnover is supposed to be a cause for concern wherever it may occur. The segments experiencing high human resource (HR) turnover could range from consumer banking to domestic help....		World economies THE Canadian economy ended 2005 on a mixed note, with some of November’s strength appeared to moderate and December saw job losses and a decline in the trade surplus...
Index gains ground, aims for 12,000 level Despite a mid-week interruption, the stocks maintained their upward drive during last week and managed to finish with fresh gains boosted by massive foreign and local buying in oil shares....		Rupee/dollar parity fluctuates in tight range THE rupee-dollar parity rates fluctuated in a tight-range due to a persistent demand for the US currency in the local currency market last week. In the open market, it reached Rs60...
Rs23bn drained through open market operation ON February 16, the State Bank of Pakistan picked up Rs23.5 billion through the open market operation. The amount was picked up for two days at 7.6 per cent return....		Wholesale sugar prices decline slightly Sugar on the wholesale market last week eased modestly from the all-time peak levels but was still on the upper side at retail outlets despite some corrective steps taken by the government to improve the supply position....