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Thursday, 1 November, 2012
LPG price rises to Rs 3/kg ISLAMABAD
T
ONLINE
HE price of LPG has been increased by Rs 3 per kg which was implemented from Wednesday four days earlier from the schedule time illegally. After the rise of LPG price the cost of domestic cylinder was enhanced to Rs 35 whereas Rs 140 has increased on commercial cylinder. Overall price of LPG was increased to Rs 2755 per ton .In the international market the price of LPG was swelled to 1014 $ from the previous price of 989 USD per matric ton. In the areas of Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot and Jhelum LPG would be available for Rs 120 per kg , whereas the new price of domestic cylinder would be Rs 1366. Similarly the new rates of LPG for Karachi and Hyderabad would be Rs 130/kg whereas the domestic cylinder would be traded there for Rs 1484. In Rawalpindi and Islamabad the Liquid Petroleum Gas would be bought for Rs 150 and the cost domestic cylinder in twin cities would be Rs1720. Likewise the price of LPG in Murree and Muzaffarabad would be Rs 160 and the price of domestic cylinder would be Rs 1838. In Peshawar and Gilgit the LPG would be available fro Rs 170 whereas the cost of domestic cylinder would be Rs1956. As per OGRA’s policy the new price
LPG’s Aramco price surges to $ 1,003 per tonne KARACHI The international price (Saudi Aramco Contract Price) of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has surged by $ 25 to $ 1003 per ton for November 2012, raising local prices by Rs 3,000 to Rs 128,000 per ton. This was stated by the chairman, All Pakistan LPG Distributors Association (APLDA) Abdul Hadi Khan here Wednesday. He said prices of Propane and Butain have been increased by $ 25 and $ 15 respectively. He clarified
that local producers and marketing companies have not so far enhanced prices of either locally produced or imported LPG in the country in accordance with Saudi Aramco price. “This was wrong impression that LPG prices were increased on October 31, 2012 (Wednesday) in local market. Consumers should avoid to purchase LPG at artificially inflated prices”, he said and added that local producers are likely to raise their prices on November 3, 2012. Hadi said local LPG prices were 20 percent lower in Pakistan
compared to international price and therefore its import has been slowed down. But since winter has started, LPG demand is likely to surge by 50 to 60 percent in the country to reach between 1900 to 2100 tons per day, he noted. He lamented that local producers have neither increased their production nor enhanced their production capacity, therefore, it will be difficult to meet domesic demand through locally produced LPG. He pointed out that local production was ranging between 1200 to 1300 tons per day. Hadi anticipated that domestic price of LPG can be increased by Rs 3 per kilo in accordance with the rise in Saudi Aramco CP. Similarly, price of 11.8 kilo cylinder can be increased by Rs 35.50 and 45.4 kg cylinder by Rs 137. He, however, suggested the local producers to avoid any increase in locally produced LPG in the interest of 50 million consumers and in the wake of rising prices, unemployment and ongoing energy crisis so that this fuel should remain in the reach of poor men in remote hilly and less developed areas.
were to be implemented from 3 November but marketing companies has applied from 31 October , which is un-
just to the consumers. The President of LPG Distributors Association Irfan Qureshi has de-
manded the government to withdraw the increase forthwith as LPG is the indigenous production.
APP
Islamabad failing to cement exports g
Pakistan cement exports to India decline by 15.7 percent KARACHI ONLINE
The Pakistan cement exports to India have registered a decline of 15.67 percent in the first quarter of current fiscal year, standing at 137,742 tonnes compared to 163,340 tonnes exports volume of the yesteryear’s same period, said Aizaz Mansoor Sheikh Chairman Association of Pakistan Cement Manufacturers (APCMA). Exports to India in fact have been on constant decline ever since the
two countries opened their borders for liberal bilateral trade. The Pakistan traders blame the stringent Non Tariff Barriers erected by India for the constant decline in exports to India. Pakistan’s cement sector was expecting a quantum jump of at least 0.5 million tonnes in last fiscal on easing of NTBs by India but it did not happen. Exporters’ issues include a lengthy process to obtain a certificate from Indian authorities and the va-
lidity of the quality certificate for cement exporters for one year period merely. The exporters are not allowed to continue their exports after expiry of certificate limit that are needed to get renewal in a brief period. The certification cost is also high and the Pakistan exporters have to bear heavy expenses for the visit and stay over of Indian inspectors. Pakistani and Indian railways could exchange the same number of wagons for transportation of goods
exports however the Pakistani wagon could not carry big cement orders due to restriction by Indian government as a rule of reciprocal. The railways wagons from the Indian side are limited for cement exporters, which increase their cost of cement transportation heavily, cement exporters were quoted as saying by media reports APCMA has demanded the Pakistan government to raise the issues of NTBs before Indian government for immediate solution.
Dr Sheikh to head Energy Committee ISLAMABAD APP
Minister for Finance, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh will head the existing Energy Committee and hold its meeting at least once every fortnight to ensure optimal power generation during the coming winters. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf at the Prime Minister’s House on Wednesday to review the current power situation in the country. The Secretaries’ Committee will comprise Secretary Water and Power, Secretary Petroleum and Natural Resources and Secretary Finance. The meeting discussed at length various aspects related to the power situation including recoveries, line losses, electricity and oil theft. The Secretary Water and Power briefed the Prime Minister about various steps taken by the Ministry to improve efficiency, management and governance in the power sector. The Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Water and Power to chalk out a comprehensive plan for coming winters clearly identifying targets including power generation along with fuel requirements in the country. Appreciating the steps taken by the Ministry of Water and Power, the Prime Minister emphasized the need to make foolproof arrangements to ensure that the targets set out in the plan by the ministry are achieved. In this connection, he directed the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to coordinate with Ministries of Finance and Water and Power and work out a fuel supply plan for the next five months. The meeting was also informed that hydel and solar energy plants having generation capacity of 500 to 600 Mega Watt would be added to the national grid by March 2013 which would further improve the current power situation. The Prime Minister appreciated the progress made by the Ministries of Water and Power, Petroleum and Natural Resources and Finance in improving power situation in the country and expressed the confidence that all out efforts will be made to sustain this momentum.
WEF shoWcasEs PakIstan’s stabIlIty Pakistan continues to show stability on Financial Development Index of World Economic Forum: report ISLAMABAD APP
Pakistan continues to show stability on the Financial Development Index of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the indicators; cost of closing a business, where the rank of 5 was maintained, also showing stability in frequency of banking crises and output loss during banking crises, Financial Development Report 2012, of the Forum unveiled on Wednesday. According to WEF report 2012, Pakistan again secured the top rank of 1 among 62 economies; similarly on the public ownership of banks, which is a percentage of assets held by the 10 largest banks that is located in banks that are more than 25 percent government owned, Pakistan again secured the top rank of 1. The report, however observed that Pakistan faces tough challenges on developing its financial markets. It added that Pakistan ranks at 58 out of 62 economies in the Financial Development Index of 2012, losing 3 points from its position of 55 in 2011.
The Financial Development Report 2012 depicts commercial and retail access to finance shrinking in Pakistan. Financial systems across the world are stagnating, leading to challenges for a global economic recovery, according to the fifth edition of the World Economic Forum’s Financial Development Report 2012 released on Wednesday. “The Financial Development Report shows that financial systems in advanced and emerging economies are stalling”, said Giancarlo Bruno, Senior Director at the World Economic Forum. “Macroeconomic uncertainty, as well as concerns related to regulation, contributes to inhibiting the financial industry from funding much-needed growth.” Amir Jahangir, Chief Executive Officer - Mishal Pakistan, a country partner institute of the Center for Global Competitiveness and Performance, World Economic Forum said that “the Financial Development Report 2012 ranks 62 of the world’s leading financial systems and capital markets, analysing
the drivers of financial system development in advanced and emerging economies to serve as a tool for countries to benchmark themselves and establish priorities for reform”. The rankings are based on more than
120 variables spanning institutional and business environments, financial stability, and size and depth of capital markets, among other factors, he added. The Report also shows an improvement in the total number of active bor-
rowers from micro-finance institutions per 1,000 adults, where Pakistan has improved its position of 12 in 2011 to 9th in 2012. Pakistan has shown slight improvements on the strength of auditing and reporting standards, where it is ranked 48 in 2012 as compared to 52 in 2011. On the pillar of legal and regulatory issues Pakistan has shown significant gains, by improving the burden of government regulations, securing 21 rank as compared to 32 last year. The regulation of securities exchanges has also improved 5 points with a rank of 37 out of 62 economies globally. The current account balance to GDP, a variable, which is the three-year average of current account balance to GDP, indicates the difficulty Pakistan had in mobilizing the foreign exchange necessary for debt service (from 2009 to 2011) has also improved from 53 last year to 40 in the current year. The economy has also shown improvements in the “aggregate profitabil-
ity indicator”, which is based on a threeyear average of three measures of profitability: net interest margin, bank return on assets, and bank return on equity, this was measured on an average from 2008 to 2010. Pakistan improved 8 points on this scale, securing 41 rank on the Financial Development Index 2012. Other area where Pakistan showed improvement of 14 ranks was the real growth of direct insurance premiums, where Pakistan stands at 30th rank. However Pakistan showed low performance on various key indicators, where it lost it development advantage on multiple factors, whereas; intellectual property protection (53) and effectiveness of law-making bodies (47) as compared to 48 and 43 from last year. The effect of taxes and subsidies on competition, which is to what extent does government subsidies and tax breaks distort competition, Pakistan lost its rank from 46 in 2011 to 53 in 2012, the report claimed. It further claimed that in terms of Internet users, Pakistan has seen a decline in its internet penetration, where it lost its position of 54 to 61 as compared to 2011 and 2012 respectively.