Cartels and fair trade practices
 THE reforms in the financial sector and the capital market paid rich dividends. Will the efforts of the Competition Commission of Pakistan to reform the market to minimise its imperfections be...
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Making retail businesses competitive
 Grocery shopping is entering a new age with the advent of global retailers like Makro and Metro. The French retailer Carrefour is also expected to open up a hypermarket in Lahore, making its own mark on the retail landscape....
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Banks see surge in rural credit
 The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is working on a strategy to increase the flow of bank credit to rural areas-- farms and non-farm sectors—anticipating a surge in demand as growers...
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Unaddressed issues in food security
 FOR some time past, the question of food security is being discussed both at the international and national levels. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program of...
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Why the crises will go on?
The world leaders are at it. The world leaders who probably have never had a salary less than eight digits or even nine digits and have never been hungry are championing the cause of the world’s poor....
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UN’s grim warning
 The United Nations has put Pakistan on the list of food-deficit country and it should serve as a grim warning to the policy makers....
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Unemployment in rural Sindh
 Unemployment in rural areas is the most daunting challenge being faced by the new Sindh government. The rural areas are fast losing their agriculture-based employment potential due to persistent shortage of water and land degradation....
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Failed attempt at privatization
 The pace of privatisation has remained very slow since the Supreme Court of Pakistan aborted the moves to privatise Pakistan Steel, and transactions for divestment of a number of state enterprises,...
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Trade-related intellectual property rights
 The protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) contribute significantly to GDP, employment, revenues, exports and investment opportunities....
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World economies
Iran...
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Cartelisation in tyre industry
 INDIAN tyre makers, like steel producers, are facing charges of cartelisation and jacking up prices sharply, stoking inflation. With rubber prices continuing to rule at record highs, tyre makers are facing...
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Linking business decisions with tax provisions
 Successful enterprises are those which measure the quality of their business decisions with tax consequences. Any taxpayer ignorant about tax provisions may face grave risk....
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Brazil’s new oil drilling ships
 Most off-shore oil is produced by companies from platforms that stand on the ocean floor. In water too deep for these platforms, the companies use floating vessels with pipelines capable of reaching the sea-floor....
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Fears of stagflation
 The 10p tax flap, the slow down of the economy in the first quarter of the current financial year, fears of inflation and oil refinery workers’ strike have all joined up...
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Delays in bourses’ demutualization
 Another delay is expected in the demutualisation process of the Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad stock exchanges as the draft ordinance earlier forwarded to the President for signature has now been referred...
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Sovereign funds, Indian ambition
 THE rise of sovereign wealth funds on the global financial horizon and their recent acquisitions of major stakes in the West’s prestigious enterprises has apparently created a strong feeling of being left behind among India’s policy-makers and business elite....
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Squeeze in spending to contain fiscal deficit
 A MAJOR cut in the development spending and $3 billion capital inflows including quick loan disbursements by international financial institutions is expected to help contain the surging fiscal deficit....
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Rs140 billion capital eroded over political concerns
 AFTER having jealously guarded the index level above the barrier of 15,000 points for the last several months, the KSE 100-share index broke through it last week as investors were not...
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Currency in circulation on the decline
 On April 30, the State Bank of Pakistan sold Rs8.5 billion of Treasury Bills under a three-day repo contract at 8.8 per cent....
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Rupee slides on panic dollar buying
 Uncertain business conditions prevail in the currency market due to panic. However, State Bank’s strict monitoring did not allow the rupee/dollar parity to cross Rs66 barrier this week....
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Sharp increase in commodity prices
 AN unprecedented price flare-up was witnessed in all varieties of rice last week on the Karachi wholesale commodity markets as leading stockists and brokerage houses intensified their squeeze on the supply line, some dealers said....
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