profitepaper pakistantoday 27th November, 2012

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Tuesday, 27 November, 2012

Balochistan tops the list for Dr Shaikh Development of Balochistan is top priority: Hafeez ISLAMABAD

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ONLINE

EDERAl Minister for Finance, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has said that development of Balochistan province was the top priority of the present democratic government.

The economic team of the government is determined to provide all possible resources for development of Balochistan.

Ministry of Finance is making every effort to facilitate masses of Balochistan in general and farmers of Balochistan in particular through its decisions to expedite flow of funds and other benefits to Balochistan.

Restoration of subsidy on tube wells in Balochistan is one such step while other development projects in a large number have already been approved for Balochistan.

The Federal Minister Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said this when two Federal Ministers from Balochistan Mir Changez Khan Jamali, Federal Minister for Science and Technology and Sardar Alhaj Mohammad Gargaig called on him here on Monday.

Mir Changez Khan Jamali, Federal Minister for Science and Technology thanked and appreciated the Finance Minister for his special passion and efforts for development of Balochistan. Mir Changez Khan Jamali particularly appreciated the Finance Minister for Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) decision regarding restoration of subsidy on electricity bills for agricultural tube wells in Balochistan. Mir Changez Khan Jamali said at the occasion that this step by Federal Government will go a long way for prosperity and uplift of farmers in Balochistan.

Federal Minister for Postal Services, Sardar Mohammad Gorgaig said at the occasion that people and leadership of Balochistan acknowledge the efforts of the Finance Minister, Dr.Abdul Hafeez Shaikh for development of Balochistan and expect the same to continue.

ECO day tOmOrrOw ISLAMABAD APP

Seven Asian and three Eurasian nations will observe Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) day on Wednesday.

Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is a regional intergovernmental organization for the purpose of economic cooperation between its member states on the basis of their common needs in the light of the changes taking place on global economic scenario. The member states of the ECO are Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The ECO was formally established by Iran, Turkey and Pakistan in 1985 as the successor Organization of Regional Cooperation for Development which remained in existence from 1964 to 1979. And, it became an Organization of ten member countries encompassing an area of 7 million sq kilometers -inhabited by now about 400 million people- when other member states joined in the Organization on 28 November, 1992 which is observed as the ECO Day. The ECO provides a platform to discuss ways to improve development and promote trade, and investment opportunities. The ECO is an ad hoc organization under the United Nations Charter. The common objective is to establish a single market for goods and services, much like

the European Union. ECO’s secretariat and cultural department are located in Tehran, its economic bureau is in Turkey and its scientific bureau is situated in Pakistan.

The status and power of the ECO is growing. However, the organization faces many challenges. Most importantly, the member states are lacking appropriate infrastructure and institutions which the Organization is primarily seeking to develop, to make full use of the available resources in the region and provide sustainable development for the member nations. The Economic Cooperation Organisation Trade Agreement (ECOTA) was signed on July 17 2003 in Islamabad ECO Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) is a new organization for trade promotion among member states located in Iran (2009). Under the agreement reached between ECO members, the common trade market should be established by 2015.

Activities of ECO are conducted through Directorates under the supervision of Secretary General and his Deputies which considered and evolve projects and programmes of mutual benefit in the fields of Trade and Investment,Transport and Telecommunications,Energy, Minerals and Environment, Agriculture, Industry and Tourism, Human Resources & Sustainable Development and Project & Economic Research and Statistics.

Zin gas stressed IWCCI for utilising Zin gas reserves ISLAMABAD APP

The Islamabad Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IWCCI) on Monday stressed the need for utilizing Zin gas reserves to cater to the energy requirements of the country. “Zin gas can cater for all the energy requirements of Pakistan for next one hundred years,” claimed President IWCCI, Farida Rashid adding that Extraction from Zin Block can end energy crisis and cease the need to import lPG, lNG or natural gas from any country. Speaking to women entrepreneurs, she said that quantity of gas in Zin, located in Dera Bugti district, is almost double than that in Sui, the biggest natural gas field in Pakistan serving since 1955. The reserve, if commercially exploited will help Pakistan save huge foreign exchange, bring an end to gas scarcity for CNG, fertilizer and power sectors and revive economy, she said. Farida Rashid said that Zin block is surrounded by major natural gas producing fields of Pirkoh, loti, Sui and Uch and its gas can start flowing in the system within next six months settling severe energy crisis forever. She said that Zin Block, located in Dera Bugti district, could not be explored for sixteen years. Farida Rashid urged the government to adopt an aggressive strategy on exploration and production front in the unexplored areas of Balochistan to boost supply by two billion cubic feet per day.

WOULD YOU LIKE A HAIRCUT? Europe mulls Greece ‘haircut’ in 2015: report BERLIN AGENCIES

Eurozone finance ministers are considering a possible “haircut” for Greece in 2015, a German newspaper reported on Sunday, in a bid to reduce the recessionwracked country’s debt mountain.

Other eurozone countries and institutions like the European Central Bank could be ready to discuss writing down a part of their Greek debt holdings to put Greece’s debt on a more sustainable footing, said the Welt am Sonntag.

The issue was discussed at a secret meeting of ministers and officials in Paris on Monday, the paper said, without citing sources. Such a haircut might be used as an added incentive for Greece to carry out the reforms required in its second aid package, which runs out in 2014, according to the Welt am Sonntag.

Germany has been firmly opposed to taking a loss on its holdings of Greek debt, unwilling to ask German taxpayers to foot the bill for keeping Athens in the eurozone.

The ECB has also ruled out such a move, saying it is tantamount to financing Greece directly, strictly forbidden by its founding treaties.

But the Spiegel newsweekly reported that the ECB, as well as the International Monetary Fund, now considered a haircut unavoidable.

Nevertheless, Joerg Asmussen, a member of the ECB’s executive board, dismissed the plan.

“To close the financing gap, we need a package of measures that would include, among other things, a clear reduction of the interest rate on aid and a debt buy-back programme for Greece,” Asmussen told the Bild mass circulation daily.

“A haircut does not belong to this (package),” the German central banker said in comments to appear in Monday’s edition of the newspaper.

By writing off half of their Greek debt holdings, eurozone governments and institutions could drive down Greece’s debt to 70 percent of output in 2020, compared to 144 percent, wrote Spiegel.

Eurozone ministers meet on Monday for their third effort to agree on unlocking a 31.2-billion-euro ($40.5-billion) slice of aid for Greece as it teeters on the verge of bankruptcy.

Both Welt am Sonntag and Spiegel wrote that the haircut issue would not be decided at Monday’s talks.

According to Spiegel, Berlin is still desperately trying to avoid taking a haircut on its holdings and instead is pushing for a reduction on the interest Greece

pays on aid from its existing bailout programmes.

Asmussen said: “I very much hope that the eurogroup can on Monday come

to a political decision that frees up the next tranche from the aid package.”

For a compromise to be found, “everyone needs to move,” he said.

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Business 02 US looks best of 2013 economic runners LONDON AGENCIES

Here’s a fairly safe bet for uncertain times: the U.S. economy will once again show the euro zone and Japan a clean pair of heels next year. Forecasts for 2013 that are now landing thick and fast show Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is not alone in believing it could be a very good year for America if politicians can avoid tumbling off the so-called fiscal cliff. Updated gross domestic product figures due on Thursday are likely to show the U.S. economy was already doing quite a bit better than first thought last quarter. According to 60 economists polled by Reuters, the initial estimate of 2.0 percent growth at an annualised rate is likely to be revised up to 2.8 percent.

That pace will flag. Even assuming a political compromise to dodge the fiscal cliff’s full $600 billion in government spending cuts and expiring tax breaks, the budget stance is likely to tighten markedly in early 2013, crimping growth.

SBP issues reminder on 5-rupee banknote as Dec 31 nears

KARACHI STAFF REPORT

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Monday reminded the general public to exchange the demonetized Rs 5 banknote from the field offices of SBP Banking Services Corporation (SBP BSC) and over 10,000 branches of banks throughout the country up to December 31st. The central bank warned that after the above deadline neither the SBP/SBP BSC nor the banks would exchange or pay any value of such banknote to any person or institution. It may be recalled that Rs 5 banknote had already been demonetized by the federal government and, hence, it cannot be used as a legal tender.

However, Rs 5 banknote can only be exchanged from the field offices of SBP BSC and branches of banks till the close of banking hours on 31st December (2012), the bank said.

Asian markets mixed ahead of Greece meeting

Major Gainers CompAny Bata (Pak) XD Colgate Palmolive Island Textile Sanofi-Aventis Pak Bhanero Tex.XD

opEn 1420.00 1250.00 750.00 324.99 261.61

HiGH 1491.00 1300.00 787.50 341.23 274.69

Low 1400.00 1300.00 715.05 320.00 274.69

CLoSE CHAnGE 1491.00 71.00 1300.00 50.00 787.50 37.50 341.23 16.24 274.69 13.08

TurnovEr 850 1,100 400 2,800 3,500

275.00 108.30 330.00 223.00 118.70

260.65 108.30 325.00 220.15 114.01

261.31 108.30 325.09 221.00 115.11

-10.11 -5.70 -4.91 -3.47 -3.28

32,100 500 1,200 8,200 67,500

3.18 7.11 16.47 4.39 54.35

2.98 6.97 15.35 3.77 53.31

3.02 7.03 16.44 3.98 53.44

0.02 0.06 0.97 0.25 -0.07

29,371,000 17,251,000 17,183,000 12,022,000 10,093,500

Major Losers Indus Motor Co Gillette Pak Exide (PAK) AL-Ghazi Tractors IGI Insurance

271.42 114.00 330.00 224.47 118.39

Volume Leaders Summit Bank Fauji Cement Maple Leaf Cement Pervez Ahmed D.G.K.Cement

HONG KONG

A

AGENCIES

SIAN markets were mixed on Monday as investors await the outcome of a meeting later in the day aimed at finalising a bailout deal for Greece, and a simmering budgetary impasse in Washington.

Tokyo shares rose by 0.62 percent, Hong Kong was flat, slipping 0.06 percent percent, while Sydney gained 0.23 percent in morning trade. Shanghai was down 0.38 percent while Seoul slipped 0.15 percent.

French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici on Sunday offered some hope in the long-running saga to reach a deal for Athens, saying that eurozone finance ministers were “very close to a solution”. The ministers were to meet later Monday for their third effort to agree on unlocking a 31.2-billion-euro ($40.5-billion) slice of aid for Greece as it teeters on the verge of bankruptcy as nervous investors hope for positive news. “I think that in effect we are very close to a solution,” Moscovici said Sunday.

“I don’t know if there will be an agreement tomorrow, I know it is possible and I want one.”

The mixed Asian trade comes after US stocks rallied Friday on signs that holiday retail sales were off to a good start, with Walmart calling it the “best ever” Black Friday, the traditional discount sales day that kicks off the holiday shopping season.

That helped boost the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 1.35 percent to 13,009.68.

Investors are also looking out for news of a

compromise in Washington that will avert the so-called fiscal cliff of spending cuts and tax hikes, which will likely send the economy into recession if it comes into effect.

Finding a new spending deal to replace the package, scheduled to come into effect on January 1, has been elusive in the bitterly-divided US Congress. “Certainly from our perspective, we are sceptical about whether there has really been any progress in discussions regarding the US fiscal cliff,” Angus Gluskie, managing director of White Funds Management in Sydney, told Dow Jones Newswires.

On currency markets, the euro was weaker at $1.2953 and 106.67 yen from $1.2973 and 106.90 yen in New York on Friday.

The euro had climbed to a seven-month high above 107 yen in earlier Tokyo trade but the unit quickly fell off its perch.

The dollar was also weaker at 82.32 yen against 82.40 yen in US trade.

However, the yen has been under pressure recently on expectations the country’s central bank will unveil a new round of monetary easing next month.

On oil markets, New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery, was down 31 cents to $87.97 a barrel in the morning, and Brent North Sea crude also for January eased 23 cents to $111.15.

“Having just enjoyed an unexpectedly strong week, global markets remain on a knife edge with uncertainty over Greece and the US taking centre stage again,” said Jason Hughes, head of premium client management at IG Markets Singapore.

Spain to get EU bank aid Dec 15 MADRID: European authorities will transfer 35 billion euros to Spain’s state bank rescue fund on Dec. 15 in exchange for massive layoffs at Spain’s four nationalised banks, including state-rescued Bankia, El Pais newspaper reported on Sunday. The cash injection from European bailout funds will be disbursed to troubled Spanish banks two weeks after it is paid into Spain’s bank restructuring fund, or FROB, the paper said. Bankia, which sought a 23.5 billion euro bailout from the state in May, is expected to be forced to lay off up to 6,000 people from its current 20,000 staff, while NovaGalicia Bank is seen laying off 2,000 of its 5,800 workforce, said El Pais, citing European and banking sources. Bankia and NovaGalicia Bank declined to comment on the report, which also said the banks would have to close 1,000 branches between the two of them. Catalunya Caixa (CX) and Banco de Valencia, the other two nationalised lenders, are currently being sold off, and conditions would be imposed on the buyers, the paper said. AGENCIES

Oil down in Asian trade SINGAPORE AGENCIES

Oil prices were down in Asian trade Monday as markets awaited the outcome of a eurozone finance ministers’ meeting aimed at unlocking the next tranche of aid to debt-strapped Greece.

Investors were also concerned about looming tax increases and huge spending cuts in the United States, with analysts fearing they could lead to another slowdown in the world’s biggest economy.

New York’s main contract, West Texas Inter-

mediate (WTI) for January delivery, was down 31 cents to $87.97 a barrel in the morning, and Brent North Sea crude also for January eased 23 cents to $111.15.

“Having just enjoyed an unexpectedly strong week, global markets remain on a knife edge with uncertainty over Greece and the US taking centre stage again,” said Jason Hughes, head of premium client management at IG Markets Singapore.

Eurozone finance ministers were due to meet in Brussels on Monday for the third time in two weeks as part of efforts to decide on the next slice of aid to Greece, which is in danger of running out of money.

Greece, at the centre of a eurozone debt crisis, has been waiting since June for a loan installment of 31.2 billion euros ($40 billion), part of a 130-billion-euro financial assistance package initially granted early this year.

By the end of next month, Athens is also due to receive two more aid payments, worth 5.0 and 8.3 billion euros, on condition it implements a series of unpopular austerity measures.

Talks about the “fiscal cliff” in the United States — a combination of tax hikes and spending cuts set to take effect on January 1 barring a compromise among US lawmakers — were also keeping investors on the edge.

“Traders are likely to be bogged down by fiscal cliff talks again this week. Very little has happened in the past 10 days, partly due to the Thanksgiving break, but time is slipping away,” Hughes said. Another slowdown in the US economy will affect crude demand as the United States is the world’s biggest oil consuming nation.

3.00 6.97 15.47 3.73 53.51

Interbank Rates US Dollar UK Pound Japanese Yen Euro

96.0508 153.0474 1.1694 123.7423

Dollar East US Dollar Euro Great Britain Pound Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar Hong Kong Dollar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal Australian Dollar

Buy

SELL

96.60 124.11 153.39 1.1619 95.98 12.23 26.13 25.61 99.64

97.10 125.54 155.12 1.1750 97.57 12.44 26.40 25.85 102.22

CORPORATE CORNER Zong’s Karoron Ka 10 offer

LAHORE: ZONG, the fastest growing network of Pakistan, has turned around life of an individual by awarding him the prize money of Rs. 10 million under its Karoron ka 10 Offer.

The campaign launched recently was open for all prepaid subscribers of ZONG and anyone spending Rs. 10 plus tax daily on their ZONG connections for minimum 5 days continuously, automatically became eligible for the lucky draw. This prize money is just one of the several rewards that ZONG is giving away to the lucky winners of this campaign.

Karoron ka 10 Offer campaign was carried out for more than a month and several prizes worth millions of rupees have been given away to winners selected through lucky draw.

Emirates flies into network-wide fare promotion LAHORE: Emirates, one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines, is revving up for a network sales push, inspiring a new wave of travel around the world. In the slipstream of recently announced half year profits of AED 2.1 billion (US$ 575 million), Emirates is driving forward by offering attractive prices on Economy fares over a 10-day period. The special network-wide promotion launches Friday 23rd November and runs to 2nd December for travel between 21st January and 10th June 2013.Customers are being encouraged to plan ahead and book early to enjoy the greatest reductions.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira talks to the media at PMS on the occasion of Hafta-e-Safai at PIMS.

Sarmad Ali President APNS meets with Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan President Pak Gulf (The Centaurus).

Tuesday, 27 November, 2012