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| December 08, 2008 | Monday | Zilhaj 9, 1429 |
Forging public-private partnership
 IN the coming months, low GDP growth and consequent low rise in tax revenue as well as higher debt servicing will limit the much-needed costly revamp and expansion of state-owned entities....
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Disappearance of urea
 While the wheat crop is entering its germination stage in most parts of the country and needs its first dose of water and fertiliser, urea seems to have virtually disappeared from the market....
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The Eid-ul-Azha economy
 The situation in Karachi, a few days before Eid-ul-Azha, disrupted the transport chain that had potential to disturb the economic matrix when stakes were high. The Eid economy of a whooping...
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Getting back to the roots
 MOST of our high profile finance ministers were urbanites. Ghulam Mohammad, Chaudhry Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Shoaib, Dr Mubashir Hasan, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Mehbubul Haq, Sartaz Aziz, Ishaq Dar, Shaukat Aziz and...
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Mushroom: a nutritious edible fungus
AN edible mushroom is a delicacy, which is relished as a popular and costly food. In the developed countries, mushrooms have become an important horticultural crop....
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Sukkur Barrage’s designed life
 The sudden discovery of the damages a few years ago to the upstream apron of the Sukkur Barrage had put the entire government machinery in great spin to prevent the possible collapse of the Sukkur Barrage structure....
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Diffusing cultivation of sugarcane varieties
 THE number of varieties cultivated is a crude indicator of genetic diversity on farmers’ fields as well as a means of avoiding risk of complete crop failure which may happen if only one variety is planted....
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Facilitating two-way transit trade
 PAKISTAN and Afghanistan have agreed to facilitate two-way transit trade after having reached a consensus at the 7th session of the Pakistan-Afghan Joint Economic Commission last week....
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Attracting investment in hydro power generation
Pakistan’s hydro potential is estimated at more than 40,000 MW out of which only 6,827 megawatts are tapped. Thanks to 33 per cent portion of inexpensive hydro power in Wapda’s total...
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Good governance and social development
 Over the last few years, the terms ‘good governance’ and ‘civil society’ have been frequently used and misused in the context of public administration for socio-economic development despite a strong relationship between good governance, civil society and social development....
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World commodities
Oil:...In the New York market oil fell to below $44 a barrel on December 4, its lowest level in nearly four years as more bad US economic news impacted the outlook for global growth....
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Falling automobile sales
 INDIA’s automobile industry, which was zooming ahead on the fast lane for the past five years, has abruptly slowed down, rattled by the global financial crisis....
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Subprime fiasco and deregulation
 SUB-PRIME borrowers are defined as borrowers with a “bad credit history”. These borrowers have lesser credibility as compared to the normal conventional “prime borrowers”. Sub-prime borrowers also face high default risk,...
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Growth of Islamic equity funds
ISLAMIC finance signifies financial services, mechanisms, practices, transactions, and instruments that comply with provisions given in the fundamental Islamic texts....
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Rise in ‘national savings’ rate and the capital market
 IN the wake of a macroeconomic stabilisation plan — restricting or replacing government borrowings from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) with non-bank debt — the profit rates of National Saving Schemes (NSS) have been raised from December 1, 2008....
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Leather industry outlook
 WHILE prices of sacrificial animals are being quoted 20 to 25 per cent higher than that of last Eid-ul-Azha, tanners are offering 20 to 25 per cent less prices on hides...
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Water dispute takes serious turn
PAKISTAN’s dispute with India over sharing of waters from Chenab river is turning into a source of serious friction between the two countries....
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‘No support for manufactured goods export’
 The government does not intend to provide support to the exports of manufactured goods, including the value-added textiles, at least not in the immediate future. “There is no provision for...
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Internationalising the energy sector
 Will Pakistan give strategic attention to solving its energy problem? The fact that the country runs into serious power and energy shortages is precisely because of the absence of strategic thinking...
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Frozen market eyes return to normalcy
 The IMF’s refusal to participate in the proposed Rs20 billion market support fund has sent shock waves among the investors and the brokers amid fears of a possible crash after the ‘floor’ from under the KSE 100-share index is lifted....
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Rupee bounces back vs dollar
 In the local currency market, the rupee displayed strong sentiments versus the American and European currencies this week. Trading in currencies improved slightly after IMF approved $7.6...
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SBP mops up Rs81bn in T-bills auction
 On December 3, the State Bank of Pakistan mopped up Rs81.47 billion in the Treasury Bills auction. It lifted Rs80 billion by selling 3 month T-bills at 13.8549...
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Prices of pulses rise, rice, wheat fall
 Prices of some of the essentials fell from the recent higher levels on the Karachi wholesale markets last week partly on selling by the leading commercial houses owing to upcoming Eid holidays and partly to falling demand from the general consumers....
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