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| September 24, 2007 | Monday | Ramazan 11, 1428 |
Elusive chase for price stability
 ABOUT 160 million consumers suffered silently from soaring wheat prices over the last six months—March to September 2007—with flour peaking at Rs22 a kilogramme in Karachi and in many parts of the country last week....
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Mysterious wheat surplus
 One day the dream economic team had to face the consequences of its own actions. The current wheat crisis is a case of “as you sow, so shall you reap.”...
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Rising debt defaults
 Non-performing loans of both commercial and specialised banks rose to Rs184 billion at end-March 2007 from Rs173 billion at end-December 2006- a rise of Rs11 billion in just three months....
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Constraints on livestock production
 ANIMAL agriculture systems have been categorised on the basis of agro-ecological opportunities and demand for livestock commodities. In general, these systems are shaped by prevailing socio-cultural environments....
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‘Neem’ — a safe natural pesticide
 THE neem plant is a member of the family Meliaceae. The evergreen broad-leaved tree can attain a height of 30 metres with a trunk girth of 2.5...
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Zero tillage technology for rice and wheat crops
RICE-wheat is a major cropping pattern of the rice growing areas of the country, occupying about 1.8 million hectares. However, wheat yield in rice-growing areas are lower than that of the neighbouring irrigated areas....
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Should the government enter into wholesale business?
 AT a time when the public anger at the unprecedented rise in prices - that too in the holy month of Ramazan - has been sweeping the country, the government was expected to provide some relief to the people....
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Wheat flour costlier in NWFP
 THE flour prices are rising countrywide since the outset of Ramazan, however, its major impact falls on the NWFP which is heavily dependent on supplies from Punjab....
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Need for an export-driven wheat production strategy
 THE State Corporation of India recently invited a tender for import of 511,000 tons of wheat for Oct-Dec 2007 at a price as high as $380 per ton....
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World commodities
Oil prices have risen to $84 a barrel as companies shut Gulf of Mexico output on forecasts of a tropical depression churning through the region which could become a storm....
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India’s appetite for coal
 ENERGY hungry India has a voracious appetite for coal. But the country’s coal companies – mostly state-owned – are unable to efficiently mine the stuff and transport them to the power...
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When the number of automobiles doubles!
 FROM once the largest ship-breaker in the world, Pakistan is now wanting to be a significant ship builder, and we are seeking to do that not through one shipyard but two large ones....
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Is the economy slowing down?
 Pakistan’s import bill of petroleum products slipped 17 per cent in July-August FY07. This happened not due to a fall in prices but in import volumes....
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Moves towards trade corridor
 The federal government has approved setting up of a trade, energy and transport corridor between Pakistan and China. For this purpose, a 16-member Policy and Supervisory Board has been constituted under the chairmanship of the President of Pakistan....
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Run on a bank
 Britons witnessed last week the first ever run on a UK bank in almost 150 years. The bank—Northern Rock which borrowed wholsale and loaned retail one fine morning found that it...
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Transparency deficit
 Secrecy is a norm. It is a bane of the country. From polity to governance to corporate boardrooms, it provides a veil for misuse and waste of valuable resources and facilitates abuse of public trust....
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Vision 2030 and the reality
 The vision part of Vision 2030 is all about what everybody envisions for Pakistan. It is good to see it articulated in words that are music for all ears....
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The plight of the ordinary consumers
 Much is being made about the sale of basic commodities like pulses, tea, sugar, rice and cooking oil through utility stores at subsidised prices. The number of these stores is to...
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Increase in oil price boosts KSE index
 DESPITE a number of interruptions, share market last week managed to finish with an extended gain aided by strong covering purchases in the oil sector in response to a record rise in world oil prices above $82 per barrel....
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Rupee stronger on rising remittances
 The local currency market witnessed mixed sentiments this week with the rupee/dollar parity moving both ways in narrow ranges. Improved inflow of remittances has helped the rupee to regain grounds versus the dollars....
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Banks’ borrowings increase by Rs8.958 billion
 Last week banks borrowed from the State Bank discount window because of a shortage of funds in the interbank money market. Overnight call rates rose....
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Wheat prices ease as supply improves
 WHEAT prices on the Karachi wholesale markets eased from last weeks high as the supply position improved. However, it caused price spiral on counters of some other essential items in sympathy, according to local brokers....
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