March 21, 2006	Tuesday	Safar 20, 1427

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Banks’ profit grew 99pc in 2005: No share for depositors KARACHI, March 20: Profits kept coming into banking sector in 2005 as all the listed banks’ profits grew by 99 per cent in 2005. But for the first time their profits...		Etisalat keen to buy remaining shares of PTCL ISLAMABAD, March 20: The UAE-based Etisalat, which purchased 26 per cent shares of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), is further interested in buying the remaining shares of the company....
Engro Foods launches Rs1bn milk project KARACHI, March 20: Engro Foods (Pvt) Limited -— the wholly owned subsidiary of the Engro Chemical Pakistan Limited, the urea producing company — launched packaged milk by the brand name of “Olper’s” on Monday....		Current account deficit target up by 90pc ISLAMABAD, March 20: The government has almost doubled its revised target for current account deficit to 4.2 per cent of GDP, owing to higher than expected trade deficit and lower invisible account surplus....
KSE index recomposed KARACHI, March 20: The Board of Directors of the Karachi Stock Exchange has recomposed the KSE-100 index to be effective from April 3, in accordance with the decision of the board taken in a meeting held on March 29, 2004....		Stock market crosses 11,000-point level KARACHI, March 20: Active buying in National Bank and insurance shares aided by higher payouts featured trading on the stock market on Monday where other leading shares also closed with an extended gain amid brisk activity....
Prices decline on cotton market KARACHI, March 20: Cotton prices on the local market on Monday showed a modest decline as some of the ginners lowered their selling prices for the average stuff amid slow trading....		Swiss bank invited to invest in Pakistan ISLAMABAD, March 20: Prime minister Shaukat Aziz said on Monday that the structural reforms introduced by the government in financial and capital market sectors were paying off and both sectors were benefiting from them....
Oil prices skid lower LONDON, March 20: World oil prices slipped on Monday as high US crude stocks weighed on the market, but falls were tempered by news of another oil pipeline attack in Nigeria, dealers said....		Re-imposition of sales tax ruled out: Five export sectors KARACHI, March 20: Central Board of Revenue chairman M. Abdullah Yusuf has categorically denied the reports that the government is going to re-impose sales tax on five zero-rated export sectors in the next annual budget....
WTO deadline to end specific duties: Industrial goods ISLAMABAD, March 20: The World Trade Organization (WTO) has set March 31 as a deadline for conversion of specific duties into ad valorem duties on industrial goods as part of on-going negotiation on non-agriculture market access (NAMA)....		Karachi Port operations KARACHI, March 20: Six ships carrying steel pipe, coal and to load naphtha are expected to arrive at the outer anchorage on Tuesday, according to KPT sources....
Port Qasim KARACHI, March 20: Shipping activity remained brisk at the port where four ships scheduled to load and offload containers, diesel oil and chemicals were arranged berthing at QICT, FOTCO Oil Terminal...		NBP posts record profit KARACHI, March 20: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) has posted a record pre-tax profit of Rs19 billion in 2005, showing a rise of 58 per cent over the last year....
P&G dividend KARACHI, March 20: The board of directors of Procter & Gamble Company has announced an increase in quarterly dividend on its Common Stock and series A and B ESOP Convertible Class A Preferred Stock from $0.28...		Asia tax moot KARACHI, March 20: President Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) Syed Shabbar Zaidi has said that the taxation system of any country is a catalyst for ascertaining the stage and speed of economic growth....
Wal-Mart stores NEW YORK, March 20: US retail giant Wal-Mart Stores said on Monday it plans to open 20 outlets in China this year as it takes the fight to foreign rivals in the booming country....		Cotton institute KARACHI, March 20: Federal Minister for Textile Industry Mushtaq Ali Cheema has said that a cotton research institute is being established at Multan to help improve the research work in order to produce quality cotton as per international requirements....