profit 21st January, 2012 by Profit Epaper

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Saturday, 21 January, 2012

ECC directs ZTBL to immediately resume loan facility to farmers ISLAMABAD

AMER SIAL

He economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (eCC) on Friday directed the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) to resume loaning facility to farmers with immediate effect, approved debt swap of rs160 billion on behalf of Independent Power Producers with the commercial banks and allowed purchase of 100,000 tonnes of sugar directly from millers to ensure timely payment to growers. Chaired by Finance minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh eCC also approved the natural gas efficiency project, and principally approved the Low BTU Gas Pricing Policy 2012, but made subject to concurrence with the Law Division. It also formed a sub committee to look into Gas Sale Purchase Agreement with Turkmenistan and constituted a group to look into proce-

dure for gradual increase of sales tax of 5 per cent to 16 per cent on agricultural tractors, in the next three years. An official source said eCC directed ZTBL to resume loan financing facility to the farmers as it was pointed out that the bank loan releases during the first half of the current fiscal year have declined to 20 per cent as compared to two years back. The committee noted with concern that the bank had enough reserves but its slow releases were increasing worries for the farmers. The committee also approved debt swap of rs160 billion with the commercial banks on behalf of the IPPs. The power producers were unable to retire their debt due to the issue of circular debt. Under the debt swap, the liabilities of IPPs would be shifted to the government and it would be paying directly to the banks. This would allow IPPs to get new credit lines from banks for oil purchases and allow banks to finance

David Miliband becomes advisor to Indus Basin Holding ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

upcoming energy projects, as their balance sheets would be cleared. eCC allowed purchase of 100,000 tonnes of sugar. The committee has already approved procurement of 378,000 tonnes directly from the millers. The government wants to maintain strategic sugar reserves of 700,000 tonnes for the current year. According to an official statement eCC directed Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to make the payment to millers expediently and asked them to make sure to avoid any lapse since the payments will ultimately go to the farmers. Chairman TCP informed that eight millers have been paid, and rest of the millers would be positively paid by the end of this month. eCC principally approved Low BTU Gas Pricing Policy 2012, but made subject to concurrence of the Law Division. The ministry of Petroleum maintains that the policy will be instrumental in providing sufficient

incentives to the investors. It constituted a sub-committee comprising ministers for Water and Power, Petroleum, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Secretary Finance to look into Gas Sale Purchase Agreement with Turkmenistan along with the gas pricing formula. The committee constituted a group comprising Adviser to Pm on Agriculture Kamal majidullah and Chairman FBr to look into procedure for the gradual increase of sales tax of 5 per cent to 16 per cent on agricultural tractors in next three years. earlier a committee comprising Adviser to Pm on Agriculture, Secretary Finance, Secretary Industries, Chairman FBr had unanimously agreed to recommend reduction in sales tax on tractors from 16 per cent to 5 per cent and gradually enhance on yearly basis. eCC also paid rich tributes to the outgoing Chairman FBr Salman Siddique who will retire this month.

ormer British Foreign Secretary David miliband has become the senior advisor to a leading agricultural development company in Pakistan, Indus Basin Holding (IBH), which is investing in cereals and rice processing in the country. In a statement David miliband said he was delighted to be advising IBH, a company that is investing in Pakistan’s future at a time of such fundamental importance. “The company is committed to developing an agricultural sector which has huge potential, but currently lacks investment. I look forward to working with IBH in building support and investment in Pakistan’s agricultural capacity and productivity.” Agriculture has 25 per cent share in GDP and employs 45 per cent of the country’s workforce. The sector remains one of the most under-invested sectors in the country, as a result, farm yields are lower than industry average, and post-harvest infrastructure is significantly underdeveloped. IBH invests in high-growth agricultural projects which help improve and develop land farmed in Indus river basin, one of the largest irrigated regions in the world. It has attracted leading international investors into projects which range from food processing to contract farming. one of these projects, rice Partners, manages the complete rice supply chain from seed to packaged rice, by working closely with small-hold rice farmers. Aamer Sarfraz, founder of IBH said “We are delighted to be able to bring on board the expertise of David miliband who knows the region and its challenges well. He shares our conviction that investment in Pakistan’s agricultural sector can have substantial long-term impact on the country’s poorest farming communities.

Textile exports drop by 4.68 per cent in last 6 months g

Basmati rice exports decrease by 17pc g Cumulative exports for the period July-December, 2011-12 totaled $11.24 billion KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

akistan’s export of textile items which has almost 60 per cent share in overall exports of the country has declined by 4.68 per cent in the first six months of the financial year 2011-12. Besides, according to available data, adding the downward trend of exports, various kinds of rice

export has also shown at least 17 per cent decline in the last six months. a negative growth of 6.65 per cent in the export of petroleum group was also recorded during the first half of the current fiscal year. However, cumulative exports for the period July-December, 2011-12 totaled $11.24 billion, as against $10.81 billion during the

corresponding period of last year, showing an increase of 3.9 per cent. Group wise export shows a rapid growth, of 17.6 per cent and 13.4 per cent, in export of food group and manufacturing group, respectively. analysis of the top 10 highest export value products during July-December, show that cotton cloth and knitwear was the top exporting products whose export value was over $1 billion. However, export of cotton cloth grew by three per cent and export of knitwear

witnessed a negative growth of five per cent. Other top four products, whose export value was above $500 million, were bedwear, readymade garments, cotton yarn and rice varieties. Only export of readymade garments grew positively, while other witnessed negative growth. Other food items which were the 7th top export item show a tremendous growth of 135 per cent, while export of naphtha, which is the 10th top export item, shows 24 per cent growth during the first of half of the year 2011-12.

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Saturday, 21 January, 2012

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Financial Literacy programmeme to Punjab posts promising numbers in first half of serve interest of financial sector: SBP KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

ASeen Anwar, Governor, State Bank of Pakistan has said the nationwide Financial Literacy programme (nFLP) will work towards improving financial inclusion and also serve the interests of all financial sector stakeholders. Delivering his key-note address at the launching ceremony of the programme at SBP Learning resource Centre, Karachi today, he said it will initially impart basic financial literacy to poor and marginalised people of Pakistan. He said the nFLP pilot will impart financial education and awareness on six personal finance themes that include budgeting, savings, investments, debt management, financial products, branchless banking and consumer rights and responsibilities to about 50,000 beneficiaries from low income strata. Pakistan’s first-ever nationwide Financial Literacy programme (nFLP) has been launched with the support and collaboration of Asian Development Bank (ADB), Pakistan Banks’ Association (PBA), Pakistan microfinance network (Pmn), Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) and Bearing Point. He said the programme has been developed after the Financial Literacy Gap Assessment Survey of beneficiaries. ‘The survey has been helpful in development and adaptation of curriculum and dissemination strategy. The curriculum will also be translated into national and main regional languages including Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pushto and Balochi,’ he added. SBP Governor said that the programme is financed under the ADBfunded Improving Access to Financial Services Fund (IAFSF) and implemented under the oversight of the IAFSF Committee which has representation from SBP, Pakistan Banks’ Association, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, Pakistan microfinance network, education sector, and the ADB. Upon completion of the pilot phase, an impact assessment of the pilot will be conducted by a third party, he said, adding that based on the experience and assessment of the pilot, the programme will be scaled-up to target more than half a million beneficiaries all over the country. mr. Anwar said that in addition to focused training sessions of beneficiaries, the dissemination strategy involves street theatres, board games,

comic strips, activity-based competitions, website and media campaigns to reach out the masses on a larger scale. The training sessions will be sourced from banks, microfinance Banks (mFBs) and microfinance Institutions (mFIs) based on their interest and pre-defined qualification criteria, he said and added that in order to encourage and incentivise participation from partners, professional fees and out of pocket expenses of partners will be reimbursed from the programme budget. ‘Besides involvement of local institutions, the project has formed international partnerships with international financial education programmes including microfinance opportunities, Finmark Trust, Association of microfinance Institutions of Uganda (AmFIU), Sewa Bank, microfinance Innovation Centre for resource and Alternatives (mICrA), World Bank Institute, Aflatoun, and others,’ Anwar added. SBP Governor said that consumer protection and financial education should be vital components of any financial inclusion initiative. It is now clear that policies which focus entirely on changing the supply of financial products and services can leave consumers ill-informed, vulnerable and not willing to participate in financial markets, he said, adding that focus of financial literacy programme should be broader than financial inclusion. ‘It should aim to increase consumer awareness about their rights, obligations and mechanisms for recourse to build a fair, inclusive and robust financial sector,’ he emphasised. He said, ‘I would like to encourage financial service providers to partner in the nFLP rollout and exercise proportionate level of accountability and responsibility to act in the best interest of their clients. Intermediaries should fully disclose their terms and conditions to clients before selling them a product or

service.’ Anwar said that many poor and non-poor people do not have a bank account and very few of them understand why this puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to their personal financial management. ‘According to Pakistan Access to Finance Survey (A2FS), only 12 per cent of the population has access to formal financial services. Whereas of the remaining 88 per cent, only 32 per cent are informally served and 56 per cent are completely excluded,’ he said, adding that according to the A2FS analysis, about 40 per cent of the financially excluded population reported lack of understanding of financial products as the main reason for financial exclusion. “This clearly identifies the need for financial education as a systemic area to be addressed to tackle financial exclusion in a big way,’ he said and added that financial literacy has assumed greater importance in recent years for both developed and developing countries, therefore, best practices in this area are still evolving. ‘What has been missing is a demand side solution – a programme to impart financial education and awareness to consumers,’ he said, adding this recognises that the very low level of financial awareness and confidence of financially excluded groups remains a strong barrier to their access and use of financial services.

financial year 2011-12 LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

UnJAB Government’s financial condition was sound during first half of financial year 201112. Government released development funds to the tune of rs125 billion in the first six months of current fiscal. out of these funds, an amount of rs50 billion was utilised. The spokesman of Punjab government said the government did not receive any new loan from SBP during the last two years. The older loan is being repaid according to agreement signed with SBP. Further, the government has been opening each month with a surplus. January 2012 was opened with a surplus of rs8 billion. The spokesman said that due to structural mismatch between federal receipts (which are 80 per cent of the total receipts of the provincial government) and provincial expenditure, government of Pakistan has allowed a uniform and formula based overdraft limits to all provinces.

As the Federal receipts are received in tranches, the first on the 17th of the month and the second on the last day of the month, the provinces have to seek recourse to the overdraft as major provincial expenditures viz salary and pension are payable on the first day of the month. However, this overdraft is adjusted at the time of receipt of federal tranches. He said that each month is opened with a surplus since January, 2011 i.e. for the last twelve months. The receivable amount from the federal government is between rs25-30 billion. If these funds are received lump sum and future receipts of nFC Award from the federal government are received in time there may not even be any requirement to access the overdraft. He said federal government has borrowed an amount of rs826.0 billion during the current financial year from SBP and commercial banks to meet its fiscal deficit. This deficit is approximately equal to four per cent of gross domestic product against the annual target of 4.6 per cent.

TCP awards import contracts for 250,000 metric tonnes urea KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

rADInG Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), in response to its international Gallop Tender notice floated on January 11, 2012, awarded import contracts for a total of 250,000 metric Tonnes (mTs) of Urea at $431.45 per metric tonne (PmT) C&F, to four different responsive bidders on the lowest bid price basis. 13 bidders participated in the tender and quoted prices ranged from $431.45 to $448.14 PmT (C&F). eleven (11) bids were found responsive in terms of prescribed evaluation criteria. m/s. CHS europe offered the lowest price of $431.45 PmT C&F for 50,000 mT which

was accepted and the contract was awarded to them accordingly. To complete the procurement of total targeted quantity of 250,000 mT Urea, the import contracts for balance quantity were awarded to three other bidders, who had quoted higher rates but agreed to match the lowest bid price of $431.45 PmT C&F. They are m/s. Dreymoor Fertiliser Pte Ltd. Singapore, for 100,000 mT, m/s. Incitec Pivot Ltd. Australia and m/s. Globle energy and Commodity exchange, Italy for 50,000 mT, each. Permission to seek matching of the lowest price had been provided by the competent authority with a view to ensuring earliest arrival of imported urea in the country to cater for rabi 2011-12.

Tariq Puri questions rice research facilities LAHORE IMRAN ADNAN

rADe Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) Chairman Tariq Puri has underscored that public sector rice research facilities in Punjab and Sindh are useless as they cannot contribute anything for rice crop. TDAP is willing to extend all possible cooperation to private sector for seed research and development. Addressing the members of rice exporters Association of Pakistan (reAP), TDAP chief said rice research institutes, in Kala Shah Kaku and Dokri, Larkana, were working as typical government organisations, which had no benefit for agriculture and rice trade of Pakistan. He asked reAP members to constitute a special committee that would make recommendations for seed development. Puri underlined that money was no issue, TDAP would offer matching grant to reAP for seed development. “If private sector invests $1 million for research and development, TDAP will pool the

same amount of money for development of rice produce of Pakistan. If a revolutionary seed is developed with an investment of $1 million, it is no price. It will enhance the country’s competitiveness by increasing yield. However, farmers’ awareness is another area that requires intervention, besides seed development,” he maintained. TDAP chairman said rice industry had to prioritise its agenda otherwise the country would be kicked out from international rice trade by its competitors, especially India. TDAP knew, he indicated, that domestic rice industry was facing the toughest competition from the neighbouring country as it had devalued prices by nearly 30 per cent to keep it competitive in international markets. Volatility in rice trade during recent years was beyond the control of anyone. Citing the example of economic recession in the West, Arab spring and economic meltdown in United Arab emirates (UAe) – the core hub of rice trade, he pointed out that all rice exporting countries, including

Pakistan and India were affected. However, Pakistan could fight with India up to some extent to protect its position in rice markets, but it could not have complete control over India, he maintained. He asked rice exporters to go for value addition and explore new markets. He pointed out that in 2001-02, domestic industry introduced parboil rice products that helped Pakistan in capturing South Africa, Saudi Arabia and GCC markets. now the industry had started introducing steamed rice products, which would ultimately add value. Appreciating the efforts of farmers and rice exporters, he said that Pakistan was hardly exporting $300 million worth of rice, but now it had touched $2 billion despite all odds. He was hopeful that the country would achieve $2.5 billion rice export target, if circumstances improved. Speaking about marketing, TDAP chief said the country had already invested a lot in marketing, but now the time had come to invest in branding and product development. He said TDAP would continue its efforts to

introduce Pakistani rice varieties to new markets. He pointed out that China was one of the fastest growing markets in the region, where purchasing power was swelling rapidly. TDAP was focusing to enter into Chinese markets. A small market share of 1.5 billion consumers would be sufficient for Pakistan; he said and added, “I believe Pakistan can export anything to China.” Updating on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India, Puri said that it was a hot debate that China would flood Pakistani markets with Chinese merchandise when Islamabad was negotiating FTA with China, but it never happened. The same was the case with India; he said and added that regional trade was always advantageous, especially when the developed world was in recession. He indicated that TDAP was setting up a study group comprising of foreign experts to look into the potential commodities and products, which could be exported to India and prepare a methodology to tap this opportunity. The group would interact with key

stakeholders, including farmers and rice exporters, to conduct an in depth research on Indian market and propose a list of items, which could be exported to Indian market from Pakistan. TDAP chairman underlined that he was sure that Pakistan would be the net rice exporter to India. He asked reAP members to recommend the government about tariff structure with India. Puri further disclosed that TDAP was also trying to capture Afghanistan and Iran markets. Duty structure problem would also be taken up with Iranian authorities, he maintained. He revealed that Indian Commerce minister was visiting Pakistan on February 13. TDAP wanted to initiate talks on geographical indicators (GI) in a cordial environment as litigation would never produce results. Basmati was a Punjab’s product and the province should maintain its leading role and TDAP would fight for it. He said that he would ask the Indian minister to bring some leading rice traders with the delegation so local rice exporters could develop direct contact with them.

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Saturday, 21 January, 2012

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CORPORATE CORNER

PIAF URGES GOVERNMENT TO RESOLVE LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

AKISTAn Industrial and Traders Associations Front (PIAF) has urged the government to resolve gas crisis as the situation has reached the point that business community is planning to defy government decision regarding suspension of gas to the industry in Punjab. In a statement issued here Friday, Chairman PIAF engineer Sohail Lashari said the business community does not want to stage protests but it is being forced to do so therefore the government should understand the sensitivity of the situation and come to the rescue of the people who are the back bone of the economy. PIAF Chairman said it is the duty of the government to ensure smooth

running of business but due to political uncertainty, the government has little time to think of economic mismanagement in vogue in various government institutions. He said gas crisis has put at stake the millions of workers attached with the industry in Punjab besides hitting hard the overall economic growth of the country. He said government needs to reset its priority regarding supply of gas as the decision to stop gas to the industry has rendered thousands of daily wagers jobless while it has also caused closure of a large number of industrial units that were used to remain in production in three shifts in 24 hours. Sohail Lashari said it was very

Technical workshop for broker’s staﬀ members held LAHORE: Lahore Stock exchange conducted a two days technical workshop, which is the part of a series of “workshops for broker’s staff”. In the ceremony of certificates distribution managing director and chief executive officer of LSe, mr Aftab Ahmad Chaudhry addressed the participants of the workshop. He briefed that the workshop contributes towards smooth functioning of brokerage houses. He emphasised that the purpose of such workshop is to tune up the level of the member’s employees in developing advanced technical skills according to the rapidly changing IT environment. He further added that such type of workshops could improve capacity building of the members’ employees which would ultimately help the members in long-term success of their brokerage business. STAFF REPORT

GAS CRISIS unfortunate that the economy of the country is the last priority of the present regime and only due to its non-seriousness towards the real issues is giving birth to a number of social problems and if the situation remains the same for quite some time it could also create law and order situation in the province. He said trade and industry would be able to pay back the markup to the banks when the productions in the industrial units are a complete halt for indefinite period now. He said it is the responsibility of the government to ensure provision of utilities to the masses either

they belong to trade or industry but the situation is totally otherwise and a long period of four years of its tenure has passed in making tall claims and doing nothing. He said that business community wants to play its role for the progress and prosperity of the country but government was trying to keep them busy in other issues. He said it is government policies that have forced the business community to stage sit-in. He said the president and the prime minister should intervene into the issue as the situation was fast heading towards a point of no return and their credibility in handling economic issues was at stake.

LCCI wants government to share energy plan with private sector LAHORE STAFF REPORT

AHore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Friday urged government to share its energy plan as the highest-ever electricity tariff and more than 14 hours power outages have crippled both the trade and industry. In a statement issued here, LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said cheaper and uninterrupted power supply is the only way to achieve economic targets set for the year 2012, but neither is the government sharing its future plans in this regard nor paying any

heed to the difficulties being faced by the trade and industry. “How the government would establish its writ and from where it would collect revenues to run its day-to-day affairs when the industrial wheel is coming to a grinding halt.” LCCI President said that the government should understand that economic well being is a must for democracy. Unemployment, price-hikes and industrial closures always give birth to lawlessness and anarchy. Therefore, the government should understand the ground realities and reset its priorities. Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said it is astonishing that on the one hand

the government circles were talking of economic stability in 2012 while on the other hand they were not sharing any kind of roadmap to achieve this goal. LCCI President said despite massive repeated increases in electricity tariff in last months the government had failed to decrease the ever increasing gap between the cost of power generation and revenue collection. He said that PePCo is adding up a staggering amount of rs30 billion per month as circular debt due to inefficiency in collection of power dues, its failure to stop power theft and Kunda culture.

Karachi Stock Exchange gains 259 points as trade volumes hit record high KARACHI STAFF REPORT

He trading volumes at Karachi Stock exchange (KSe) hit the historic high on Friday as hopes for good news on the unpopular Capital Gains Tax (CGT) ahead of the federal finance minister’s visit to the exchange boosted the investors’ confidence. With the benchmark 100-share index gaining 259.089 points the shares traded on last trading day of the week were counted at a record high of 178.424 million against 92.473 million of Thursday. “Stocks closed bullish with record high trades ahead of members’ meeting with federal minister for finance and SeCP chairman on Saturday to apprise members on Capital Gains Tax issues at KSe,” said Ahsan mehanti, a senior analyst and director at Arif Habib Investments. The index closed at 11,774.68 points against 11,515.59 points of the previous day. The intraday high and low were 11,882.70 and

Address seminar held at BISP secretariat

ISLAMABAD: Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) is the first ever initiative in Pakistan which proves to women and the poor of this country that State is facilitating the poor in a motherly way. At present 44 such programmes are in operation in different countries of the world whereas BISP has been termed one of the best among them. Federal minister and Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), Farzana raja said this during her address to the participants of the seminar “BISP making difference in the lives of the people”, held here at BISP Secretariat Tuesday. PRESS RELEASE

Toyota Indus to celebrate Green Ideas at Toyota School Environment Programme KARAcHI: After last year’s huge success, Indus motor Company (ImC) is bringing the Toyota School environment Program again and this year the nature Carnival will be held in both Karachi and Islamabad. Students from more than 150 schools, colleges & universities from Karachi are expected to participate in the TSeP-2012 to showcase their green ideas for environmental conservation. objective of this programme is to foster a sense of individual responsibility and accountability in the future generations of Pakistan towards nature conservation. The nature Carnival will be held on Sunday, 22nd Jan 2012 at PAF museum Karachi and on 26th Feb 2012 in CDA Park (F-9) Islamabad. PRESS RELEASE

PTCL expanding its network of bill collection points ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) is expanding its nation-wide network of bill collection points to provide enhanced customer convenience. PTCL customers can now avail the facility to pay their bills at any Ufone outlets, Ufone franchises, UShops and Service Centers. Furthermore, customers can also use any time and any day the many Public Cash Payment machines installed at prominent public places all over the country for bill payments. Around 200 one-Stop Shops are already serving PTCL customers to provide a broad range of customer solutions including bill payment, product sales, and after-sale services. PRESS RELEASE

Another first by Ufone: The ‘10 second Package’ takes the market by storm! Islamabad: once again Ufone has lived up to its reputation of delighting the customers with extreme value propositions. Ufone, being one of the most affordable telecom providers in the industry has launched a ‘10 Second package’ which is specifically designed for value-seeking customers who make quick and short calls. This package is an easy alternative to missed calls, brief work related conversations and quick updates etc. Ufone has once again successfully reinforced its stance as a customer centric organization by introducing this offer which is expected to create ripples in the market. PRESS RELEASE

Interim Payout from UBL Islamic Savings Fund

11,515.59 points, respectively. “Hopes for good news regarding CGT issues supported the market to cross intraday high over 11,880 (points) with the investors’ interest in stocks across the board,” mehanti added. The trading value remarkably increased to rs6.817 billion from the previous rs3.53 billion. The market capitalisation also finished in the green zone at rs3.056 trillion compared to Thursday’s rs2.99. The companies’ position remained strong as of the total 340 traded scrips, 185 gained, 69 lost and 86 remained unchanged. The KSe-30 index also

closed higher by 306.50 points at 10,907.45 against 10,600.95 points of the previous day. “Positive revision in Pakistan economic growth estimate to 4pc, recovery in global stocks, foreign interest in blue-chip scrips and statement issued by White House on US, Pakistan to work together to reset ties played a catalyst role in bullish sentiment at KSe,” analyst Ahsan mehanti said. Lafrage Pakistan was volume leader of the day counting 27.73 million of its shares traded with the opening and closing rates standing, respectively, at rs 2.01 and rs 2.06.

other scrips that traded well include Jahangir Siddiqui Company, Lotte Pak-PTA, Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim, Fatima Fertilizer Company, DG Khan Cement, TrG Pakistan, national Bank of Pakistan, Fauji Fertilizer and engro Corporation whose traded shares numbered, respectively, 14.49 million, 8.6 million, 8.4 million, 7.7 million, 7.0 million, 6.8 million, 6.5 million, 5.8 million and 5.7 million shares. The future market also rallied higher and the turnover increased to 13.397 million from 10.609 million of the preceding session.

KARAcHI: UBL Fund managers, a wholly owned subsidiary of UBL announced an interim payout for one of its Shariah-compliant investment schemes. UBL Islamic Savings Fund (UISF) announced a payout of 6.3891 units for every 100 units held by Unit Holders for the period ended January 18, 2012. The scheme gave a return of 12% p.a. from January to December 2011, and serves as an ideal investment avenue for investors who wish to earn a healthy return on their savings with the flexibility to withdraw their money anytime. PRESS RELEASE

Soneri Bank declares profit rates LAHORE: Soneri Bank Limited declared profit rates for different types of PLS deposits. In the deposit categories, PLS Savings Account had a profit rate of 5% p.a. With 5% Profit for customers with a balance threshold of up to rs100,000. 7% profit rate for customers with a balance threshold of over rs100,000 to rs1.0 million, 8% for a balance threshold of over rs1.0 million to rs5.0 million and so on. PRESS RELEASE