May 15, 2006	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 16, 1427

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Equity fund for public-private partnership PUNJAB is working with a consortium of commercial banks to set up a joint venture- equity financing company- for undertaking mega infrastructure projects in urban centres under its public-private partnership initiative....		Channeling credit for small farmers NORMALLY, entrepreneurs produce goods and services by employing factors of production, add to GDP, provide employment thus setting in motion a virtuous cycle and earn profit....
Energy security and American policy THE United States is set to achieve its major policy objective of encouraging exports of electricity and gas from the Central Asia to South Asia through Afghanistan....		Wheat procurement drive in Sindh FARMERS in Sindh, growing wheat in current Kharif season, like umpteen earlier months, are once again confronting hassles especially at the time of disposing of their produce at procurement centres (PCs),...
Potato yield, storage and exports POTATO (Solanum Tuberesum) is a source of vitamin C, even though the vitamin content per unit weight is comparatively low. The amount is highest in new potatoes and falls gradually during the post harvest storage....		Value addition in small dairy products DAIRY farmers today are facing difficult times. Low raw-milk prices, rising farm costs and environmental concerns combine to create obstacles which are difficult to overcome....
Optimum cropping pattern under WTO AGRICULTURE directly or indirectly sustains 67.5 per cent of the population and engages 42 per cent of the labour force. If value addition is taken into account, its share in total...		MNCs relocating R&D activities GIVE a Japanese or a German car to a mechanic in Bilal Ganj (Lahore), he will tear it apart into thousands of pieces and join it back into a perfect condition...
Tackling tax evasion DESPITE numerous issues still confronting the national economy, the present team of economic managers deserves credit for a number of improvements over last six years. One such accomplishment is increase un...		Business cycles and policy mix BUSINESS cycles is about upward swing when the economy is expanding followed by downward movement when the economy is sliding down into recession. To correct the situation, policymakers can make a...
Indian group eyeing $3bn investment in Bangladesh THE fate of the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) proposal into Bangladesh, and also the largest overseas investment by an Indian business group, is to be decided by the Bangladeshi government over the next few weeks....		‘Banc’ assurance to improve services ‘BANC’ assurance is a French term which means distribution of insurance products through banking channels. It is pronounced as ‘Allfinanz’ and describes a package of financial services that can fulfil, banking and insurance needs, both at the same time....
Privatised KESC put to a critical test THIS is the first post privatization summer season, which one thought would be sans outages, considering that the utility was now in professionally competent hands. Both the KESC and the philosophy of privatisation have come under serious scrutiny....		Bridging the savings and investment gap THE official statistics depict a marked improvement in various sectors of the economy in the fiscal 2004-05 (FY-05). But the current year 2005-06 (FY-06) seems to be leaning towards visible deceleration....
Fiscal autonomy for local governments PRIME minister Shaukat Aziz wants the local governments to collect their own tax revenue and be fiscally self-sufficient instead of depending on the provinces....		Barriers to domestic private investment THE official planners and economists have recommended that the much-needed private sector investment may be stepped up by reducing the high prices of utilities, especially of electricity and gas and by...
Rallies falter on negative news THE weakness in oil, bank and cement shares due to persistent selling at inflated levels weighed heavily against the underlying sentiment as mid-week attempted rallies faltered half way in the wilderness of negative background news....		Rupee/dollar parity remains range bound THE rupee this week remained range bound versus the American currency in the local currency market. However, the euro was highly volatile....
Banks fail to offer targeted amount for T-bills sale THE Treasury bills auction on May 10, failed to attract banks and the offered amount by banks remained far below the target set by the State Bank....		Falling demand pulls prices of some essential items down PRICES of some essential items on the Karachi wholesale commodity markets posted fresh modest fall on selling by local stockists and falling retailers’ demand....