PRO 01-07-2012_Layout 1 7/1/2012 1:30 AM Page 1
Sunday, 1 July, 2012
UK orders bank review, calls Diamond to panel Page 02
The boulevard of broken promises NHA has suffered loss of Rs 328.208m ISLAMABAD: Auditor General of Pakistan has revealed that National Highway Authority (NHA) has suffered a loss of Rs 328.208 million due to deposit of revenue at lesser rate on toll plazas being illegally operated by NLC. According to audit report of 2010-11 it has been said that in June 2009 senate approved a policy that 25% toll plazas being operated by National Logistic Corporation (NLC) and Frontier Works Organization (FWO) on national highways network be auctioned to private operators and ministry of communication and National Highway Council also approved the policy. National Assembly standing committee on communication endorsed this policy of ‘award of 01 toll plazas to 01 operator, resultantly bids of 26 toll plazas were called to be opened in accordance of this policy. Audit report revealed that NHA issued letters of acceptance to highest bidders of eight toll plazas however NLC did not hand over the toll plazas to the new operators till the time of the audit and continued to deposit revenue as per the previous formula of %age of revenue basis rather than the net guranteed revenue formula (fixed monthly amount initial period of one year extendable for further one year from Aug 03 2009 to Aug 2011. Report further revealed that during Aug 2009 t0 June 2011 National Highway authority NHA suffered a loss of Rs 328.208 on toll plazas which were operated illegally by NLC. Audit maintains that less recovery was due to deficient revenue recognition policies to the rules/regulations and material weakness in internal control. The authority failed to realize due revenue in a climate of financial constraints and declining resource availability. This mismanagement was pointed out by auditor general but authority did not respond to the audit observation. The DAC in its meeting held on December 29-30-2011 directed to get toll plazas vacated from NLC with further delay. ONLINE
Pakistan pays back $107.6 million to IMF KARACHI: Pakistan has repaid an installment of $107.6 million to International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of the principal amount against loan of $7.9 billion. The payment was made in accordance of Special Drawing Right (SDR) stood at 71.066 million. This was the third repayment of loans after installments of $394 million and $399 million were paid in February and May 2012 by the central bank. Therefore, more than $ 900 million has been paid to IMF so far in the current financial year 201-12, which is equal to 588 SDR. The foreign exchange reserves of the country have fallen sharply in the second half of the current financial year mainly on the payment of loans, high imports bill and negligible inflows of foreign earnings through exports and foreign direct investment. It declined to by $82 million to $14.964 billion during the week ended on June 21 against $15.046 billion a week earlier. The liquid foreign exchange reserves have declined by a massive $3.26 billion in the current fiscal year 2011-12 as the reserves reached a record level of $18.31 billion by end the of previous financial year. The depleting reserves have impacted negatively on the rupee value, which constantly fell against dollar in interbank and open market, crossing the level of 94 and 96 respectively in the recent weeks. INP
MERKEL’S U-TURN
Nein! Non! No…Maybe...
Okay, yes!
Angela Merkel was portrayed across Europe as the big loser of a euro zone showdown in Brussels after the German chancellor was forced to accept the crisis-fighting measures championed by countries struggling with their debts BERLIN/PARIS
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eWSPAPeRS in Spain, Italy and France on Saturday toasted the triumph of their leaders - Mario Monti, Mariano Rajoy and Francois Hollande - in pushing Merkel into a U-turn that would long have been unthinkable. even German newspapers said Merkel had been made to accept demands for the euro zone rescue fund to be able to inject aid directly into stricken banks from next year and intervene on bond markets to support troubled member states. “There’s no doubt about it - the chancellor was blindsided at the euro summit,” wrote influential columnist Nikolaus Blome of Bild, a daily with 12 million readers. The summit ended on Friday with agreement on new steps to try to prevent a catastrophic breakup of the single currency. Popular at home for insisting on austerity measures and tough conditions for those indebted euro zone states getting help, Merkel was quick to put a positive spin on the summit, telling reporters: “We had an interest in finding solutions.” There was no sign that the summit had damaged her reputation on Friday as both houses of parliament voted to back the euro zone’s permanent bailout scheme. And Merkel does not face any particular political challenge at the moment. But the concessions of “Frau Nein” were far bigger than earlier compromises in the name of saving the euro. “Merkel
caves in - money for ailing banks,” read the headline on Germany’s left-leaning Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Bild wrote: “Italy and Spain got what they wanted: It’ll be easier to borrow excessively again... It was the first time in more than two crisis years that euro states didn’t follow Germany’s orders.” Footballing comparisons have been widespread after Italy knocked Germany out of the euro 2012 tournament in a shock 2-1 victory on Thursday. “This time it was worse, the defeat was about the euro,” said respected Deutschlandfunk radio. ‘1-0 TO HOLLANDE’: In France, left-leaning daily Liberation had a front page splash showing Hollande and Merkel dressed in their national football shirts with “1-0 to Hollande” over the top. It devoted its first four pages to his summit triumph. Liberation said it was the pressure from Hollande, Monti and Rajoy that made Merkel buckle and accept a growth plan and banking union mechanism. It applauded his negotiating prowess. “The night the South made Merkel cave in,” was the headline over a Liberation report on the Brussels summit. France’s right-leaning daily Le Figaro called Spain and Italy the real winners. “Just like in football, it is thanks to Italy and Spain that the dynamics of the match have changed and that Angela Merkel has been forced back against the wall.” Italy’s leading daily, Corriere della Sera, captured the e u -
phoric mood in Italy. A front-page cartoon “A super Mario in Brussels too” showed Monti in the triumphant clenched-fists pose of Italy striker Mario Balotelli after his second goal against Germany. The diminutive figures of an annoyed-looking Merkel and a meek-looking Hollande watch him. “Italy is not just a great team, it’s a great country and it may be good to remember it,” the paper wrote, giving credit to Monti for making Italy a leading player in europe again. Left-leaning daily La Repubblica noted that after four years during which Germany had “dictated both the music and the lyrics” at euro zone summits, three of the four main countries had refused to dance to Merkel’s beat.
Thirty love, Apple
Flabbergasted!
A US judge granted Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) request for a pre-trial injunction against the sale of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s (005930.KS) Galaxy Nexus phone, handing the iPhone maker its second legal victory against Samsung in a week
Bangladesh stunned as Wold Bank cancels bridge loan
NEW YORK AGENCIES
Apple and Samsung, the world’s largest consumer electronics corporations, are waging legal war in several countries, accusing each other of patent violations as they vie for supremacy in a fast-growing market for mobile devices. Friday’s decision, by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, comes days after she also slapped a pre-trial ban on sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, a tablet computer that runs on Google Inc’s (GOOG.O) Android and goes toe-to-toe with the iPad. The back-to-back triumphs - significant because pretrial injunctions are rarely granted - meant Apple had a better week in court than last week, when Chicago federal court judge Richard Posner ruled the iPhone maker could not pursue an injunction against Google’s Motorola Mobility, effectively ending that case. “Apple has made a clear showing that, in the absence of a preliminary injunction, it is likely to lose substantial market share in the smartphone market and to lose substantial downstream sales of future smartphone purchases and tag-along products,” Judge Koh said in Friday’s ruling. Koh scheduled a hearing on Monday to consider whether to put the Galaxy Nexus injunction on hold pending appeal. And she said in court that she might rule on Sunday whether or to similarly put on hold the earlier injunction on the Galaxy Tab. Apple has waged an interna-
tional patent war since 2010 as it seeks to limit the growth of Google’s Android system, the world’s most-used mobile operating platform. Opponents of Apple say it is using patents too aggressively in a bid to stamp out competition. Spokeswoman Kristin Huguet reiterated her previous statement, accusing Samsung of copying the look and feel of its products. Samsung said in a statement that it is “disappointed” in the decision. “We will take all available measures, including legal action, to ensure the Galaxy Nexus remains available to consumers,” the statement added As a condition of the injunction, Apple was ordered to post a bond of more than $95 million, to secure payment of damages sustained by Samsung should the injunction be deemed a wrongful decision later. The order shall become effective upon posting of the bond.
DHAKA AFP
Bangladesh on Saturday called a World Bank decision to cancel a $1.2-billion loan to build the nation’s biggest bridge — aimed at transforming the poverty-hit south — “a bolt from the blue”. The development lender on Friday cancelled the loan for the country’s Padma bridge project, saying the government had not cooperated in investigating “high-level” corruption in the project. “The World Bank cannot, should not, and will not turn a blind eye to evidence of corruption,” the World Bank said. Bangladesh’s Communications Minister Obaidul Quader told reporters the Washingtonbased bank had scrapped the credit deal based on allegations “which do not necessarily mean that corruption charges have been confirmed”. “It is unfortunate, regrettable — and mysterious,” the minister said, adding that the lender’s decision came at a time when the country’s antigraft agency was investigating the allegations. “It’s like a bolt from the blue,” he said. The proposed 6.2-kilometer (3.8-mile) bridge over the Padma river — the local name for the Ganges — would connect the capital Dhaka to coastal districts. The $3-billion bridge is planned to go into service in 2014. It is designed to carry a highway and rail line and is aimed at transforming the country’s impoverished southern region through better road and rail connections. Right now, all traffic across the Padma must rely on ferries,
which are often unsafe due to overloading and poor maintenance. The loan was approved in February 2011, but allegations of corruption in the tender process led the bank to freeze the loan late last year. The World Bank said it had provided evidence of corruption from two probes into the bridge case to Bangladesh’s prime minister, finance minister and the Anti-Corruption Commission’s chairman in September 2011 and April 2012. The Bangladesh chapter of the Berlinbased global graft watchdog Transparency International called the World Bank decision “embarrassing and disappointing”. “It comes as an acid-test for the government, which must demonstrate to the nation that it has the courage and capacity to bring to justice those against whom allegations of corruption have been raised,” it said. It also asked the bank to review the decision as it said the bridge is much needed to reduce crushing poverty in Bangladesh’s south. “Neither the World Bank, not the government can punish the people of the country for an alleged crime of a handful of people,” Transparency InternationalBangladesh head Iftekharuzzaman, who uses one name, said in a statement. The corruption allegations also involve Canadian contractor SNC-Lavalin. Late last year, Ottawa issued charges against two former company executives after a year-long investigation using evidence provided by the World Bank.
PRO 01-07-2012_Layout 1 7/1/2012 1:30 AM Page 2
Sunday, 1 July, 2012
Business 02
Uk orders bank review, calls Diamond to panel
The British government ordered an independent review into the workings of key lending rates between banks, after Barclays (BARC.L) was found guilty of rigging them, and summoned the bank’s boss to answer questions about the scandal g
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S and British authorities fined Barclays $450 million for manipulating the London Interbank Offer Rate (Libor), the interest rate on loans that banks make to each other. Barclays was the first to settle in an investigation that is expected to name others and reaches across europe, Japan and North America. The scandal has fuelled public outrage at the culture and practices of the banking industry and prompted calls from lawmakers across the political spectrum for an inquiry. The British government plans a short, urgent review that would allow it to amend the Financial Services Bill currently going through parliament, a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said. The review will examine Libor and the possibility of criminal sanctions. “The person leading the review will want to talk to those involved, the Bank of england, the FSA (Financial Services Authority) and people who use Libor,” Mark Hoban, financial secretary to the Treasury, told BBC television. Prime Minister David Cameron, asked about a full public inquiry, told BBC television: “Let’s take our time, think this through carefully...Let’s get this right.” A public inquiry would be a risky step for a government already under fire over a string of embarrassing revelations in a year of public hearings following 2011’s phone-hacking scandal. The chief executive of Barclays, Bob Diamond, has been summoned to appear before British lawmakers on Wednesday July 4 to answer questions about the scandal. On his last appearance before a parliamentary committee last year Diamond said it was time for bankers to stop apologizing. He is now under intense pressure to quit Barclays, where he ran the investment banking arm Barclays Capital when the interest rate rigging occurred in 2005-2009. “Parliament and the public need to
Oil posts fourth biggest daily gain on record NEW YORK AGENCIES
Oil surged on Friday in heavy trading to the fourth biggest daily gain on record, as a deal by european leaders to shore up euro zone banks triggered frantic short-covering by funds that had been riding crude’s price collapse over the last quarter. Despite the sharp gains, both international benchmark Brent and U.S. oil futures posted their biggest quarterly declines since the fourth quarter of 2008 due to weak demand, ample supply and economic worries. Oil’s gains for the day came as part of a wider market rally, with the euro and world stocks rising after euro zone leaders agreed on measures to cut soaring borrowing costs in Italy and Spain and recapitalize regional banks. Brent crude oil futures rose more than $6 a barrel to near $98 while U.S. crude jumped by more than $7 to settle just below $85 a barrel — the fourth largest daily gains in dollar terms since the contracts were launched. Crude drew further support from a strike in Norway that cut production of oil and natural gas liquids by 230,000 to 250,000 barrels per day, or up to 13 percent of the capacity of the world’s No. 8 crude exporter. “The NYMeX just went wild. It never looked back. Just up, up and away.” said John Troland, an independent energy advisor in Houston, referring to the New York Mercantile exchange where benchmark U.S. crude oil futures trade.
Gas supply to Faisalabad industry suspended know what went wrong and whether the perpetrators have been rooted out,” said Andrew Tyrie, head of Parliament’s Treasury Select Committee, which will be questioning Diamond. “We also need to be given confidence that this has been put right.” Other banks being investigated in the global probe include Citigroup (C.N), HSBC (HSBA.L) and UBS (UBSN.VX). No criminal charges have been filed but Britain has called in the fraud squad to investigate possible crimes. Bank of england Governor Mervyn King launched an angry attack on British banking culture on Friday, saying something had gone very wrong with an in-
dustry which he derided for resorting to “deceitful” methods to make money. The country’s most powerful monetary official, he said a fundamental overhaul was needed for a sector that is reeling from a string of financial scandals. Britain’s banking industry, one of the largest cogs in Britain’s economy and important for tax revenue, has been knocked by a series of damaging headlines. In the same week as the Libor scandal erupted, Britain’s Financial Services Authority said it had settled with four banks - Barclays, RBS, HSBC (HSBA.L) and Lloyds (LLOY.L) - after finding evidence they mis-
EU agreement lifts optimism Both Nikkei, Topix rally 1.5 pct But Nikkei still down 10.7 pct for the qtr, worst since Q3 2011 g
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TOKYO AGENCIES
Japan’s Nikkei average jumped 1.5 percent on Friday to close above the key 9,000 level for the first time in seven weeks after european leaders agreed to take emergency action to bring down borrowing costs for Italy and Spain. The Nikkei was down 10.7 percent this quarter, however, in its worst quarterly performance since last year’s July-September period, though it is still up 6.5 percent so far this year. “Obviously, you’ve got a quick snap reaction as shorts look to cover. Whether this deal (in europe) actually changes anything is a big question. The problem is that longerterm measures are needed,” a trader at a european brokerage said, referring to the euro zone agreement. “One of the positives that you can take away is that the eU is actually doing something rather than sitting around and talking ... The problem is that the bailout fund hasn’t got any bigger. It doesn’t do anything to fix the underlying problem.” euro zone leaders agreed that the region’s rescue funds could be used to stabilise bond markets without forcing countries that comply with eU budget rules to adopt extra austerity measure or economic reforms. They also agreed that the bloc’s future permanent bailout fund, the european Stability Mechanism, would be able to lend directly to recapitalise banks without increasing a country’s budget deficit. The Nikkei ended up 132.67 points at
9,006.78 after trading as high as 9,044.04, r eversing a small decline at the end of the morning session. Friday’s gain took the index above its 200-day moving average at 8,942.99, but it remained below its 13-week moving average at 9,015.99. U.S. stock index futures also bounced after the news, with S&P futures up 1.3 percent and Dow Jones futures up 1.1 percent. Nomura Holdings, Japan’s top investment bank, surged 3.9 percent on Friday. It was also boosted by report that Nomura will cut top managers’ pay and is considering a temporary halt to some operations as it looks to resolve a costly insider trading scandal. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group were up 1.6 and 0.9 percent respectively. economy-sensitive exporters also enjoyed the bounce, with Toyota Motor Corp up 2.6 percent and Honda Motor Co adding 3.2 percent. The broader Topix index climbed 1.5 percent to 770.08. Trading volume on the index hit a three-week high, withnearly 2 billion shares changing hands. Shun Maruyama, chief Japan equity strategist at BNP Paribas in Tokyo, said short covering by investors would likely continue until mid-July. “The near-term target is 9,300 to 9,400. After the short covering, we will have to look at fundamentals. These are not necessarily good,” he said. “The market will also enter earnings season. Profit guidance will not be so good.” Maruyama said the short selling ratio on Japanese stocks currently stood at 27 percent, down from more than 30 percent in May. Short covering tends to emerge when the ratio reaches 28 to 30 percent.
sold products to protect small businesses against a rise in interest rates. Justice Secretary Ken Clarke said that if any of the ongoing investigations revealed suspected criminal offences “they should be brought to trial”. “We are very bad at prosecuting financial crime in this country,” he told BBC radio on Saturday. “That is why when we’re setting up the National Crime Agency we should look at the record of the Serious Fraud Office. I suspect financial crime is easier to get away with in this country than practically any other sort of crime.”
FAISALABAD ONLINE
Gas supply to industries in Faisalabad has been suspended for two days disrupting industrial output and rendering daily wagers unemployed. As per the new gas load mangment plan, the gas supply to industrial units would be closed for two days. Regular supply will be resumed from 2nd July to 6th July under the new schedule. Industrialist has rejected the increase of 1 day in gas load shedding by government and has demanded uninterrupted gas supply to industries.
One big union HOWARD DAVIES In the last few weeks, the idea of establishing a European banking union has become the latest remedy advanced as a solution to the long-running euro crisis. But, whatever the merits of a banking union – and there are many – proposals to establish one raise more questions than can currently be answered. The motivations of those who advocate a banking union differ markedly. For some, particularly in southern Europe, it is seen as a means of shifting the burden of supporting their indigent banks to those with deeper pockets. For others, especially in the European Union’s Brussels Eurocracy, it is seen as another leap forward in the construction of a European super-state. Taking their cue from the sacred Rome Treaty’s reference to “ever closer union,” the European Commission’s theologians view every crisis as an opportunity to advance their federalist agenda. The European Central Bank has been more thoughtful, though no less enthusiastic, arguing that a banking union should have three objectives. First, stronger eurozone-wide supervision should reinforce financial integration, “mitigate macroeconomic imbalances,” and improve the conduct of monetary policy. How a single EU supervisor would address the problem of imbalances is not explained, but it is surely a worthy aim. The second objective should be to “break the link between banks and sovereigns,” which has been a particularly dangerous feature of the last year, while the third is to “minimize the risks for taxpayers through adequate contributions by the financial industry.” The third aim could be achieved country by country, but it is certainly arguable that an acrossthe-board banking levy, or a Europe-wide financialtransaction tax, would eliminate competitive distortions. How might these laudable objectives be
achieved? The European Commission has argued that a fully-fledged banking union would need to rest on four pillars: a single deposit protection scheme covering all EU (or eurozone) banks; a common resolution authority and common resolution fund, at least for systemically important and cross-border banks; a single European supervisor for the same banks; and a uniform rule book for prudential supervision of all banks in Europe. Anyone who has been involved in banking supervision can see at once that these four pillars will require careful construction. Many individual countries have taken a generation to develop their own domestic schemes. And, in this case, three big political issues have yet to be resolved. First, the identity of the single European banking supervisor remains undecided, and the ECB has seen an opportunity for a power grab. Central bankers in Europe have always resented the narrow monetary-policy mandate given to the ECB under the Maastricht Treaty. Banking supervision was not included among the ECB’s objectives, though one article of the treaty gives the system of European central banks as a whole the task of contributing to effective supervision. They now argue that the simplest solution would be to expand that remit and make the ECB the de facto pan-European supervisor. That is not the outcome favored by the European Commission, which has only just set up the European Banking Authority. The EBA is closely linked to the Commission itself, and is seen as the natural candidate for a broader role. The Commission has a case, but it also has a problem. During the political horse-trading that preceded the creation of the EBA (together with two equivalent bodies for securities and insurance), it was agreed that the new authority would be based in London. That seemed logical at the time, but not if the EBA’s role is to be broadened. How could a eu-
rozone supervisor be based outside the eurozone? The second unresolved question is how to achieve a banking union in legal terms. Constitutional change on this scale would normally require a new European treaty. But that would take time, and Europe’s leaders have run out of it. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that voters in countries that require a referendum on treaty changes would support a further transfer of sovereignty. So the likely outcome is that, in the EU’s timehonored fashion, the banking union will be constructed using existing powers, finessing the sovereignty question, and avoiding any reference to public opinion. That points towards reliance on the ECB. The final question is what such a eurozone banking union would mean for the single financial market, and especially for EU countries that are outside the single currency. Many of them would sign up willingly, as they intend to join as soon as possible, in spite of the euro’s difficulties. But that is not the case for the United Kingdom, and London remains the continent’s biggest financial center, by far. I fear that the French and Germans have now lost patience with the troublesome British, and are reluctant to cut a deal. And Euroskeptic British politicians see this as an opportunity to recast the UK’s relationship with the EU; indeed, for some, it means a chance to negotiate an exit. Opinion in the City of London tends to favor a middle way, which would allow the UK to cling to the benefits of the single market, without conceding unified regulation. That will be hard to pull off. I suspect that a banking union of some kind will be implemented, and soon. Otherwise, the eurozone banking system will collapse. But the consequences of such a step for Europe’s great freetrade experiment could be serious, and, if not managed carefully, could lead to Britain’s withdrawal. The political stakes are high, and the outcome is likely to reflect that. COurtESy PrOJECt SyNdICAtE