Government faces tough options on fuel prices
By Zafar Bhutta
ISLAMABAD: Energy managers of the country have proposed two major options to the government either to pass on Rs 0.2 to Rs 16.33 per litre on different petroleum products or to provide subsidy of Rs 7 billion for the next fortnight effective from February 1, official sources... 
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Goods and Services: Trade deficit jumps $11bn mark in July-Dec 2008
By Tanveer Ahmed
KARACHI: Country’s combined trade deficit of goods and services has crossed $11 billion mark in the first half of current financial year, which would be adding more woes to already sluggish growth in the overall economy, official sources told Daily Times on Wednesday.
During...
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AMZ Securities signs fund accord with TSML
KARACHI: Tuwairqi Steel Mills Limited (TSML) has mandated AMZ Securities Private Limited (AMZ) to act as their financial advisor and arrange for additional funding requirements for state of the art iron and steel producing out-fit at Bin-Qasim.
The project is under process with the designed capacity...
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OMCs interested in setting up more LPG auto stations
ISLAMABAD: Gas and Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) are targeting to set up 300 to 400 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) auto stations during the next three years, sources in the industry told Daily Times on Wednesday.
Sources said after setting up the targeted LPG stations in the country, the domestic...
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Pakistan exports sugar for the first time in 5 years
SINGAPORE: Pakistan, which has been importing sugar in recent years, has struck its first export sale in five years and could ship as much as 300,000 tonnes in the next nine months, a senior industry official said on Wednesday.
The deal to sell 1,000 tonnes of white sugar to Sri Lanka was sealed...
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Pakistan, Australia ink $1m accord
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Australia here Wednesday signed a grant agreement of $1 million to ensure equitable distribution of canal and groundwater in Punjab province. The agreement titled “Optimal Usage and Management of Canal and Groundwater in Punjab” was signed by M. Akram Malik, Secretary of the...
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Govt provides Rs 68.85 billion subsidy in July-December 2008
By Sajid Chaudhry
ISLAMABAD: Federal government has provided a subsidy to the tune of Rs 68.8543 billion to finance the deficit of the public sector entities during the July-December period of current fiscal year 2007-08.
According to the Finance ministry figures submitted before...
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Shortage of cold storage system hampers fruit exports
By Tanveer Sher
KARACHI: Owing to non-availability of cold storage facilities more than 30 percent of fruits, destined for exporting perish before reaching their destination.
“Several efforts have been made by fruit exporters to draw attention of the government towards this growing...
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SBP creates Consumer Protection Dept
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has created a new department namely ‘Consumer Protection Department’ to control the grievances of the consumers.
The SBP has witnessed an unprecedented growth in consumer banking, which has led to manifold increase in the complaints of consumers against...
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TUSDEC, PASDEC to introduce new marble tech
karachi: Technology Upgrad-ation & Skill Development Company (TUSDEC) and Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC) will work together, to introduce new technologies in the marble sector, especially in quarry development, mining, cutting and polishing.
This was agreed at a meeting between the...
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FFC for proper mechanism to check wheat smuggling
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Federal Food Committee (FFC) in its meeting on Wednesday agreed that a mechanism for inter-provincial transportation of wheat be devised to check smuggling. NWFP and Sindh were asked to adopt the practice of daily issue of wheat to flour mills to keep the monitoring...
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Clarification
ISLAMABAD: Spokesman of Crescent Petroleum has denied that the company had any involvement whatsoever in any of the following projects: Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) Pipeline, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan Pipeline (TAP) Pipeline.
The Company is not “lobbying the Pakistan Government”, and also...
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Privatisation of PTDC hotels, motels moving ahead
ISLAMABAD: The process to privatise hotels and motels of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) is going ahead, officials said.
They said no objections from people associated with the tourism industry had come to notice and the privatisation process would go as per schedule.
“We...
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Swiss banking giant UBS plunges into $3.5bn loss
ZURICH: Swiss banking giant UBS said on Wednesday it would post a full-year loss of 4.4 billion Swiss francs ($3.5 billion, 2.75 billion euros) for 2007 due to its exposure to the US subprime crisis.
In the fourth quarter alone, UBS posted a net loss of 12.5 billion Swiss francs and said futher...
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Dollar drops, eyes on Fed
LONDON: The dollar dipped Wednesday against major currencies before another likely interest rate cut from the US Federal Reserve, analysts said.
In European trading, the euro climbed to $1.4780 from $1.4774 in New York late on Tuesday. The dollar fell to 106.83 yen from 107.07 yen late on Tuesday.
The...
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— strengthens against rupee
KARACHI: The dollar gained strength against the rupee in the inter-bank and closed up on Wednesday. The dollar started the day’s trading at Rs 62.53 for buying and closed at Rs 62.61 for buying and Rs 62.67 for selling gaining eight paisas. The pound gained ground against the rupee at the end of the...
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Warid cuts international calling rates
ISLAMABAD: Warid Telecom has introduced a new international dialing tariff plan for its ZEM prepaid and ZAHI postpaid subscribers.
Now all Warid subscribers will be able to avail the lowest call rates for the USA, UK (landline) and Canada. Since launch, Warid Telecom has been providing customers...
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PIAF demands political parties economic agenda
LAHORE: Pakistan Industrial and Traders Association Front (PIAF) has demanded the political parties, taking part in general elections, to unfold their economic agenda and the methodology to solve the issues being faced by the business community.
The demand was raised by the PIAF Executive Committee...
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Fed looks set to cut rates more to avoid recession
WASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve is expected to lower US interest rates on Wednesday as part of an ongoing aggressive effort to spare the economy from the worst effects of a deep housing slump and credit crunch.
The Fed’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee resumed its meeting, a central...
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Oil prices breach $92 per barrel
LONDON: World oil prices topped $92 per barrel on Wednesday as traders bet that another rate cut from the US Federal Reserve would encourage crude demand in the world’s leading energy consumer.
Prices also derived support from growing expectations that the OPEC oil cartel would refuse to raise...
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CSD, Tejari sign agreement for online trading
ISLAMABAD: Canteen Store Department (CSD) on Wednesday signed an agreement with Tejari Pakistan to move its procurement processes online via “Tejari Transact,” which is the world-class Business to Business (B2B) marketplace, connecting companies to buy and sell goods and services online.
Tejari...
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Gold prices off record highs
LONDON: Gold and platinum slipped on Wednesday as investors took profits ahead of a rate decision by the US Federal Reserve, which may set market direction.
Spot gold fell to $920.95/921.65 from $928.60/ 929.30 an ounce in New York on Tuesday, when it rallied to a record high of $933.10 on expectations...
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Cotton market witnesses sluggish trend
KARACHI: The Karachi cotton market witnessed a sluggish trading activity on Wednesday as the leading players remained on a cautious note on the back of final fortnight cotton arrival report, traders said.
The spot rates at the Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) remained firm at Rs 3,200 per maund....
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Russian billionaires join next big gold rush
* Six of the 10 richest Russians ranked by Forbes magazine own gold assets in a country with reserves second only to South Africa’s
MOSCOW: Russia’s metals billionaires are moving into gold, attracted by record prices and the prospect of carving a share of production that is forecast to...
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Bulls fail to stay in KSE on worries over monitory policy
KARACHI: Karachi stock market on Wednesday failed to sustain its overnight bullish sentiments as its KSE-100 index closed in negative zone mainly due to uncertainty arising in anticipation of State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP’s) discount rate move in its monetary policy announcement on Thursday.
The...
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LSE-25 loses 8.46 points
LAHORE: The Lahore stock exchange (LSE) remained range-bound and closed in negative side on Wednesday. Profit taking was also seen in energy sector, the analysts said. The LSE 25 shares index declined by 8.46 points to close at 4451.69 points against its opening of 4460.15 points. The market volume...
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ISE sheds 8.04 pts
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad stock market on Wednesday went in negative zone as its ISE-10 index lost 8.04 points to close at 2900.32 points from its previous level of 2908.36 points. Of the total 138 participant companies, 43 climbed upwards and 95 were in negative side. Total turnover decreased to 2.814...
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Asian shares close mostly down
HONG KONG: Asian shares closed mostly down Wednesday with investors seemingly worried that an expected US interest rate cut might fail to boost stock prices in the face of a global economic slowdown.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed down 2.6 percent, dealers said. The Hang Seng index...
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Futures slip on Fed decision
NEW YORK: US stock index futures dipped on Wednesday as investors braced for the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision later in the session and after Yahoo Inc forecast 2008 revenue below expectations.
In another blow to the financial sector due to subprime mortgage problems, Swiss bank UBS...
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European bourses decline
LONDON: Europe’s main stock exchanges retreated on Wednesday, as investors digested more negative subprime news ahead of a vital interest rate decision from the US Federal Reserve, dealers said.
The US central bank was tipped to trim rates again after last week’s steep emergency cut that was...
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Indian chips fall 1.84 percent
MUMBAI: Indian share prices fell 1.84 percent in cautious trade ahead of the US Federal Reserve statement on monetary policy later Wednesday, dealers said. They said investors refrained from new positions until the Fed comments on the risks facing the US economy. The benchmark 30-share Sensex index...
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Vietnam to ease cap on loans for stocks
HANOI: Vietnam will ease restrictions on the amount of money banks can lend to local stock market investors, the central bank and state media said on Wednesday, sending the index up almost 4 percent.
The central bank plans to limit bank loans to stock investors at up to 20 percent of the bank’s...
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FTSE falls awaiting Fed rate cut decision
LONDON: Britain’s leading shares dipped 0.4 percent early on Wednesday, pulled lower by banks, ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s verdict on interest rates later in the day.
The FTSE 100 was down 26.1 points at 5,859.1, after advancing 1.7 percent in the previous session. European shares also...
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US House passes economic stimulus legislation
WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a plan to give the US economy a $146 billion election-year boost through tax rebates and other measures to stave off a possible recession by boosting business and consumer spending.
The plan, which passed by a vote...
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Lawmaker questions US export controls for China
WASHINGTON: A US government program that makes it easier to sell items with potential military uses to selected Chinese companies should be scrapped if it helps China’s army, an American lawmaker said on Tuesday.
The Validated End-User program, created by the US Commerce Department last year,...
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Software giant SAP posts 2007 profit of 1.94bn euros
FRANKFURT: The world’s leading provider of business software, SAP, said Wednesday it expected sustained growth this year following a 3.0-percent rise in net profit in 2007.
Despite the euro’s persistent strength against the dollar, SAP said its net profit had risen to 1.94 billion euros ($2.86...
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Japan’s industrial output up 1.4%
TOKYO: Japan's industrial output rose by less than expected in December, the government said Wednesday, issuing a gloomy outlook amid concerns about the impact of the US economic slowdown.
Japanese companies rely heavily on demand from American consumers and there are concerns that the subprime...
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IMF chief urges countries to consider fiscal boost
LONDON: Governments seeking to offset the global economic slowdown should look at targeted budgetary measures to boost demand and not rely solely on interest rate cuts, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday.
Writing in the Financial Times a day after the IMF cut...
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Global growth to be weakest in five years
LONDON: The IMF cut its 2008 forecast for world growth on Tuesday, warning the global economy will deliver the weakest performance in five years as US-originated financial strains intensify. The IMF said no country will entirely escape the fallout from a crisis in the US subprime mortgage market, where...
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Malaysian Airline sees $464m profit
KUALA LUMPUR: State-controlled Malaysian Airline System Bhd can make an annual net profit of 1.5 billion ringgits ($463.7 million) by 2012 if it stretched its limits, the airline said on Wednesday.
It said the figure could be achieved even after factoring in the challenges in the industry such...
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UK mortgage approvals fall to record low
LONDON: British mortgage approvals fell for the seventh month running in December to the lowest since current records began in 1999, official data showed on Wednesday, the strongest sign yet that the housing market is slowing sharply.
The Bank of England said mortgage approvals for house purchases...
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French economy to be the make or break issue for Sarkozy
By Charles Wyplosz
Eight months into his presidency, is Nicolas Sarkozy delivering the “rupture” from 30 years of French immobility that he promised? Dubbed the “hyper-president” by bewildered media, he has launched a vast number of reforms, many of which were once considered political...
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