PRO 14-08-2012_Layout 1 8/13/2012 11:45 PM Page 1
Tuesday, 14 august, 2012
‘Gas and oil price hike to bring more disappointment for industry’
FPCCI for restoring facility to adjust accumulated carry forward amount ISLAMABAD aPP
LAHORE
T
ONLINE
he Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Monday took a strong exception to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) for making around 15 per cent increase in gas tariff without any prior notice to the industry. In a statement issued here, the LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that it would cast devastating repercussions on local industry and oust the export-oriented industries from the international export market. The LCCI President said that the raise incorporated in the industrial gas bills for the month of July has created multiple problems for the industrialists as the authorities kept them in the darkness about the hike and resultantly they could not include it into their cost. The LCCI President said that when the government functionaries or Ministers visit LCCI, they always vow to take the private sector on board on all future decisions but it is very unfortunate this time they did not bother to consult the LCCI or any other sector-specific association while jacking up the gas tariff. Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that the impact of this
Overseas Pakistanis remit $ 1.2 billion KARACHI
increase would be much bigger than the expectation of the government who should avoid any such decision keeping in view the economic scenario in the country. Sheikh said that Rs 100 MMBTU increase in the gas tariff will put extra burden on cash starved industry therefore the OGRA authorities should immediately withdraw this raise. The LCCI President said that if the OGRA authorities fail to take this back, there are a number of associations who would be moving court against this unilateral decision. “By making such decisions, the OGRA is not doing any service to the industry but actually the people are opening up gate for litigation,” he said. he said that at a time when all the governments in the world were facilitating their respective private sectors, the situation in Pakistan is the other way round and various government departments were tightening noose around the private sector. While quoting the example of textile sector, the LCCI President said that it is one of the most value-added and export-oriented sectors in Pakistan, which accounts for more than 60 percent of total exports of the country. 95 per cent of its inputs are locally produced and by making energy out of their reach, government is in fact curbing the use of local inputs.” he said that even the slightest raise in the cost of production, at this critical juncture, would, therefore, spell doom and oust Pakistani merchandise from the international export market which would deprive the exchequer of muchneeded valuable foreign exchange to the tune of billions of dollars.
TIP floats proposals to FBR for bringing telecom, internet companies under GST net
aPP
Overseas Pakistanis remitted an amount of $1,204.71 million in July 2012 showing an impressive growth of 9.89 percent or $ 108.40 million when compared with $ 1,096.31 million received during the same month of the last fiscal year (FY12). According to SBP here Monday, the inflow of remittances during July 2012 from Saudi Arabia, UAe, USA, UK, GCC countries (including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman) and eU countries amounted to $349.66 million, $240.54 million, $215.30 million, $148.49 million, $140.36 million and $30.83 million respectively compared with the inflow of $291.83 million, $257.65 million, $194.87 million, $118.55 million,$116.45 million and $32.59 million respectively in July 2011. Remittances received from Norway, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries during the last month amounted to $79.53 million as against $84.37 million received in the same month of the last fiscal year (FY12). The continued impressive growth in workers’ remittances was the result of the efforts made by Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI) in collaboration with other stakeholders to facilitate both Overseas Pakistanis and their families back home. Since its inception, PRI has taken a number of steps to enhance the flow of remittances through formal channels which include: (a) preparation of national strategies on remittances (b) taking all necessary steps to implement the overall strategy (c) playing the advisory role for financial sector in terms of preparing a business case, relationship building with overseas correspondents, creating separate efficient remittance payment highways and (d) becoming a national focal point for overseas Pakistanis through round the clock call centre (021-111-222-774) with toll free lines, separate web site etc.
ISLAMABAD Tayyab HussaIN
Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) Monday recommended the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman, the top revenue collecting agency of the country, to make a foolproof system for the transfer of general-sales-tax (GST) collected on sale of pre-paid cards by five Cellular Companies, PTCL, wireless phone and Internet Companies. The recommendation has been made after a tax evasion scam surfaced after the national accountability bureau (NAB) launched investigation into tax-evasion amounting to Rs 47 billion against five major telecom operators. This allegation however has time and again been denied by telecom operators as well as the FBR. The NAB also moved an application with the apex court to put FBR officials’ names on the exit control list (eCL). In a letter sent by TIP advisor Syed Adil Gilani to FBR Chairman Ali Arshad hakeem, TIP
said the prepaid cards were being sold by five Cellular Companies, PTCL, wireless phone and Internet Companies to outlets/shopkeepers in cash by all these companies, and then the outlets sell them to public. “The FBR may make a policy, and direct all Cellular Companies, PTCL, wireless phone and internet providers to get the pre-paid cards stamped as GST collected, and numbered by the FBR prior to sale. These companies shall deposit the 19.5% GST when they take the delivery of pre-paid cards duly stamped and numbered by FBR,” suggested the TIP. Gilani said through introduction of this new system, the leakage of GST on prepaid cards will be stopped and the FBR was expected not only to collect 100% GST on prepaid cards (in the TIP suggested system estimated to be 8-10 billon monthly). “This will also enable savings on loss of bank interest on the delayed deposit of GST of 30 days as per current procedure, which will add billions of rupees revenue to the exchequer”.
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has urged the Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) that the tax payers be allowed to adjust their accumulated carry forward amount of input tax In a statement issued here on Monday, FPCCI President haji Fazal Kadir Khan Sherani of said that after harmonization of sales tax rate in Finance Act 2012, the higher rate regime was eliminated which was generally welcomed. however, it has been observed that persons having accumulated carry forward amount in their sales tax returns pertaining to previous higher sales tax rates regime, were not provided any relief for its adjustment. he added that previously such taxpayers were excluded from the applicability of section 8B of Sales Tax Act vide S.R.O 647(I) 2007 dated June 27, 2007 but after doing away with the higher Sales Tax rates regime in the current budget, carry forward cannot be adjusted since condition of 8B is now applicable on them. Consequently such tax payers would be unnecessarily burdened to pay 10% sales tax despite of their accumulated carry forward amounts, pertaining to higher tax rates (upto 22%) regime, available to them, he informed.
Google plans 4,000 layoffs at Motorola KARACHI aFP
Internet giant Google on Monday said it plans to lay off about 4,000 employees at Motorola, a cellphone maker it purchased in May, in order to return the company to profitability. “While we expect this strategy to create new opportunities and help return Motorola’s mobile devices unit to profitability, we understand how hard these changes will be for the employees concerned,” a company spokesperson told AFP. According to The New York Times, the reorganization plan calls for laying off about 20 percent of Motorola’s workforce and closing a third of its 94 offices worldwide. About two-thirds of the affected 4,000 jobs will be lost outside of the United States, according to the report. The company plans to leave unprofitable markets, stop making low-end devices and reduce the number of cell phone models it is producing, the paper said. The Google spokesperson said help will be provided to those whose jobs were being cut. “Motorola is committed to helping them through this difficult transition and will be providing generous severance packages, as well as outplacement services to help people find new jobs,” the spokesperson said.
Asian markets mostly down, dealers await stimulus LAHORE aFP
Asian markets mostly fell on Monday as dealers awaited fresh stimulus drives by the central banks of the United States, europe and China, while Japanese data showed growth slowing. Tokyo ended flat, edging down 0.07 percent, or 6.29 points, to 8,885.15, Seoul fell 0.72 percent, or 13.96 points, to 1,932.44 but Sydney gained 0.14 percent, or 6.0 points, to close at 4,283.3. In the afternoon hong Kong fell 0.36 percent while Shanghai was down 0.58 percent. The losses come after global shares enjoyed broad gains last week on expectations the european Central Bank will restart its bond-buying scheme to support under-pressure economies such as Spain and Italy. There are also hopes the US Federal Reserve will unveil its own drive to pump cash into the economy, while another batch of poor trade figures from China on Friday increased the likelihood Beijing will also intervene to kickstart growth. On Monday morning Japan released data showing
its economy grew just 0.3 percent in April-June from the previous quarter, the fourth consecutive rise but a slower pace than before. The figures were significantly weaker than market expectations for a 0.7 percent increase, as exports slowed due to falling global demand, especially from the debt-wracked eurozone. It also marked a sharp contrast from a brisk 1.3 percent increase in the January-March period. In afternoon forex trade the euro stood at $1.2277 and 96.10 yen, down from $1.2291 and 96.16 yen on Friday in New York. The dollar bought 78.28 yen, from 78.25. “There are increased hopes of further easing in response to the China data on Friday,” said Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG Markets in Melbourne. “This ramped up toward the close of the US (on Friday) and has filtered through to Asian trade,” he told Dow Jones Newswires. On Wall Street the Dow ended 0.32 percent higher, the S&P 500 added 0.22 percent and the Nasdaq edged up 0.07 percent. Oil was up in afternoon trade, with New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September gaining 48 cents to $93.35 a barrel and Brent
North Sea crude for September delivery advancing 78 cents to $113.73. Gold was at $1,622.40 at 0640 GMT, from $1,609.15 on Friday. In other markets: Wellington rose 0.48 percent, or 17.17 points, to 3,594.96. Fletcher Building was up 2.2 percent at NZ$6.54 and Telecom Corp climbed 0.6 percent to NZ$2.71. Taipei was flat, edging down 4.82 points to 7,436.3. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.85 percent higher at Tw$82.7 while leading smartphone maker hTC lost 3.23 percent at Tw$240.0.
PRO 14-08-2012_Layout 1 8/13/2012 11:45 PM Page 2
Business 02 RICe yIeld uP 28%
Major Gainers
to reach 6.16 million tons in 2011-12 ISLAMABAD aPP
T
he overall production of rice has been estimated to reach at 6.16 million tons during the year 2011-12, showing an increase of 28 percent over the production of the same period of previous year, official sources told APP. “Following the remarkable increase in the production of the crop, the rice exports from the country are expected to grow considerably during the current fiscal (2012-13),” Official sources in the Ministry of National Food Security and Research. They were of the view that it was due to prudent and pro-farmer policies of the government that rice exports from Pakistan remained over US $ 2 billion each for the last four years consecutively. Giving break up, the sources added that during 2007-08 Pakistan earned $ 1.836 billion, in 2008-09, $ 1.983 billion, in 2009-10, $2.160 billion, in 2010-11 $.2.160 billion and in 2011-12 the country exported rice worth $ 2.061 billion. The sources said that in the year 2009-10 rice was cultivated at an area of 2.88 million hectares that resulted in the production of 6.88 million tons, in 200-11 rice was cultivated at an area of 2.37 million hectare that
produced 4.82 million tons and similarly in 2011-12 rice was cultivated at an area of 2.57 hectares with 6.16 million tons production. They said that Rice is the major cash and important food crop of the country after wheat crop and rice production comprises 40% of basmati (fine) and 60 percent of coarse types. The government, they added during 200809 and 2009-10 intervened in order to support farmers as the rice price hit the rock bottom due to bumper crop and plummeting international rice price. highlighting the major issues, the sources said that in view of good returns of the rice crop, the sources said that there is spread of basmati varieties in non-basmati zone. “It may affect basmati rice exports in the long run as the Basmati produced in non-basmati zone lacks aroma”, they observed. The sources added that due to higher yield of hybrid rice, farmers are also shifting the Irri6 to hybrid rice and the hybrid rice quality is low compared to Irri types. They further said that rice crop is low in productivity and production is affected by water shortage and there are enormous post harvest losses and issue of Afflatoxin which affect crop value and quality especially in case of rice export. They stressed the need for more investments in general research and development in
Eurozone crisis suffocate Japan’s growth KARACHI aFP
Growth in Japan’s export-driven economy slowed in the three months to June, official data showed Monday, with the debt crisis in europe crimping demand in the key market. Gross domestic product grew a worse-thanexpected 0.3 percent in the second quarter from the previous three months, the Cabinet Office said, a fourth straight rise but much slower than the brisk 1.3 percent seen in January-March. The data came in significantly lower than market expectations for a 0.7 percent increase, as exports slowed and despite a ramp-up in government spending since the March 11 quaketsunami disaster last year. Adding to the headwinds being faced by the world’s number three economy is the strong yen, which has made the country’s exports less competitive in overseas markets. however, Japanese economic and fiscal policy minister Motohisa Furukawa highlighted the growth of private demand to stress his view for
continued moderate growth. “The economy of our country is trending upward, driven by domestic demand,” he said in a statement. “With the employment and earnings environment expected to improve further the economy is expected to maintain moderate growth for the July-September period and later,” he said. “however, we need to pay careful attention to downward risks for the global economy amid the european fiscal debt crisis.” While officials stressed the bright side of the data, private economists sounded concerns as the Chinese economy, which is a key driver of regional growth, suffers a deceleration while stimulus programmes at home begin to expire. “In general, we can’t see any strength in the Japanese economy, which was mainly sustained by government fiscal measures,” said hideki Matsumura, senior economist at Japan Research Institute. The government has taken a series of steps to spur growth, including offering incentives for fuel-efficient vehicle purchases and measures to rebuild the northern region hit by the deadly earthquake and tsunami.
ISLAMABAD aPP
The Islamabad Stock exchange witnessed a bullish trend on Monday as the ISe-10 index was up by 78.50 points to close at 3009.72 points. A total of 181,500 shares were traded, which were up by 167,800 shares as compared to previous day’s trading of 13,700 shares. Out of 132 companies, share prices of 84 companies recorded increase and those of 48 registered decrease. No company remained stable. The share price of Pakistan Oilfields increased by Rs. 19.51, while that of Indus Motors Company decreased by Rs. 6.26. Maple Leaf Cement, Fauji Cement Co. Ltd and D.G.Khan Cement remained the top trading companies with 110,000, 70,000 and 1,500 shares respectively.
Banks asked to issue fresh currency notes
HIGH 1359.00 751.80 420.43 367.50 215.34
lOW 1275.00 750.00 406.50 367.50 213.25
ClOSe CHAnGe 1359.00 45.57 750.00 34.00 419.92 19.51 367.50 17.50 215.34 10.25
TuRnOVeR 300 450 932,800 100 1,895,400
2750.00 268.50 257.00 184.75 267.00
2700.00 260.00 240.00 179.10 256.00
2750.00 260.75 240.89 180.65 264.08
-75.00 -6.26 -5.19 -4.66 -3.82
40 23,000 9,400 1,118,400 16,100
5.27 49.48 17.32 6.40 8.15
4.36 48.50 16.60 6.17 7.72
5.27 49.17 16.99 6.20 7.79
1.00 2.04 -0.61 0.21 0.25
19,577,500 17,637,500 14,662,500 13,346,000 10,357,000
Major Losers Unilever Food 2825.00 Indus Motor Company 267.01 Exide (PAK) XD 246.08 MCB Bank Ltd. 185.31 Atlas Battery Ltd. 267.90
Volume Leaders K.E.S.C. D.G.K.Cement Bank Al-Falah Fauji Cement Maple Leaf Cement
4.27 47.13 17.60 5.99 7.54
Interbank Rates US Dollar UK Pound Japanese Yen euro
94.5371 148.0924 1.2085 116.4413
Dollar East US Dollar Euro Great Britain Pound Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar Hong Kong Dollar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal Australian Dollar
Buy
Sell
93.90 115.09 146.38 1.1855 93.58 11.91 25.43 24.93 97.84
94.70 116.92 148.66 1.2038 95.55 12.16 25.80 25.25 100.82
CORPORATE CORNER 20th Palmolive Sindh Women’s Swimming Championship 2012 KARACHI: Sindh Women’s Swimming Association will be celeberating 20 years with Palmolive Swimming Championship on 25th & 26th August at Karachi Gymkhana Club. Organized by KWSA (Karachi Women’s Swimming Association) and sponsored by Colgate Palmolive (Pak) Ltd.
PTCl brings free 3G eVO uSB with every new 3G eVO TAB! ISLAMABAD: In an exciting new offer, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) brings absolutely free 3G EVO USB on purchase of every new 3G EVO TAB, Pakistan’s first 3G enabled smart phone Android Tablet.
The designers multi-brand store celebrates Ramadan in dubai
aPP
ISLAMABAD: The Group of 20 top economies will meet shortly to try and coordinate a response to soaring food prices, driven by drought and rising demand, the Financial Times reported Monday. Over the weekend, US President Barack Obama called on Congress to help farmers struggling with the worst US drought in half a century after the US Department of Agriculture warned of sharply rising crop prices. The USDA said corn prices could hit $8.90 a bushel, up sharply on its July estimate, with soybean at up to $15-17 a bushel, $2.00 more. Record temperatures in July left both crops badly damaged, pushing yields per acre for corn to the lowest level since 1995 and, for soybeans, the lowest since 2003, it said. The Financial Times said concerns over the US harvest had prompted senior G20 and United Nations officials to consider an emergency meeting on food supply, with a conference call on the issue scheduled for August 27. The newspaper cited officials as saying the talks were not a sign of panic but rather reflected the need to establish a consensus so as to avoid a repeat of the riots and tensions sparked in 2007-08 by a spike in food prices. The Financial Times reported Friday that the head of the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization had urged the United States to suspend its biofuel production programmes so as to ease the pressure on food resources. aPP
a festive look of WaPDa House Lahore with a large National Flag across the building.
ISE-10 index witnesses bullish trend
OPen 1313.43 716.00 400.41 350.00 205.09
KARACHI
G20 to tackle rising food prices
a pledge signing ceremony was held at PsO house. speaking at the occasion PsO CEO and MD Naeem Mir called upon the PsO family to fulfill its duty towards their country and urged them to work even harder to take the company forward so that it stands in the league of oil giants of the world.
rice for further increasing its production. The sources said that Pakistani basmati rice was one of the top rice commodities all over the world, but the exports of this rich rice commodity witnessed sharp decline of 14.87 percent during the last fiscal year 2011-12 as compared to the previous year. The country could mange to export only $819.588 million basmati rice during 2011-12 as compared to the exports of $962.703 million during the previous year. According to Basmati Growers Association (BAG), Pakistan has an export potential of four billion dollars in basmati r i c e w h i c h needed to be exploited for earning foreign currency and help develop economy.
COMPAny Colgate Palmolive Bata (Pak) Limited Pak Oilfields Mithchells Fruit Pak Petroleum
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has warned the banks that it will impose fines at the rate of Rs One lakh (Rs 1,00,000/-) per wrapped bundle (10 packets) and Rs 50,000/- (Fifty thousand) per five packets (in serial) of fresh currency notes found on sale in the market. SBP has advised the banks not to issue bundles of small denominations (Rs 10 to Rs 100) of fresh currency notes, which were issued to them by the field offices of SBP Banking Services Corporation (SBP BSC), as the same can be sold in the market on premium. SBP said that teams from field offices of SBP BSC have also been constituted to monitor the supply of fresh currency notes to the general public by banks.
sME bank, Chairman, Ltd Majyd aziz visited head office of sME Leasing Ltd to congratulate Nadim anwar Khan as CEO and Mehnaz Kaludi and ateeq ur Rehman as Directors representing private sector. also in the picture is Company secretary Tanveer ul bari.
KARACHI: A huge number of designers including renowned names such as Ayesha Hashwani, Sonya Battla, Mina Hassan, Zainab Sajid, Rizwan Beyg, Body Focus and upcoming stars such as Saira Rizwan and Uzma Hai showcased their latest Eid collections at the Fashion Fiesta held at The Designers multi-brand store.
a cobranding agreement was signed between unilever Pakistan Limited and Haier Pakistan Limited at a ceremony in Karachi which was attended by key officials from both sides.
Tuesday, 14 August, 2012