Pakistan Economy: News & Discussion

ajtr

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Sindh to export 375,000 tons of wheat: official


By Shahid Shah
Tuesday, February 01, 2011


KARACHI: Sindh Food Department has decided to export 375,000 tons of wheat out of its stocks of 7,32,000 tons, an official told The News on Monday.

"The provincial government will keep 85,000 tons of wheat as buffer stock to meet any emergency situation, 375,000 tons will be exported, while the rest will be consumed in Karachi, Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas regions mostly," said Munir Jalbani, spokesperson for Sindh Food Department.

The provincial government has storage capacity for 700,000 tons of wheat, while the rest was stocked at private warehouses and flourmills, Jalbani said. The province needs to export the commodity to retire the loan it had taken from the State Bank to buy the wheat during the procurement drive last year.

If the provincial government does not retire the central bank's loan it would not get financing for the next wheat season, he said. State Bank of Pakistan has given a loan of Rs35 million to Sindh Food Department for purchasing 1.5 million tons of wheat.

The loan was disbursed through National Bank of Pakistan, Allied Bank Limited, United Bank, MCB Bank, and Habib Bank. Besides Sindh, the Punjab food department is exporting 0.8 million tons of wheat out of its 6.0 million tons stock.

Punjab's food department, which was paying heavy interest to banks daily, finally decided to export wheat, and two deals of 200,000 each were finalised. However, it is still not known when the deals would materialise, Jalbani said.

Market sources informed that Pakistan is selling its wheat at $292 while international rates are $330. Pakistan cancelled its plans to export two million tons of wheat, after the 2010 floods affected its grain stocks, sources said.

Private dealers signed deals to sell around 200,000 tons of wheat in January, which were first in three years, after the country lifted ban on wheat exports last month. Punjab government's warehouses are still full with wheat stocks and growers doubt whether the provincial government will purchase wheat this year.

Rasheed A Baig, director of Farmers Association of Pakistan told The News they are not sure whether government has enough money to buy wheat from them. "If they buy where will they store?" he asked saying Punjab was not likely to sell off its six million tons of wheat stocks in two months when new crop reaches the market.

The daily wheat consumption in Punjab is 1,400 tons, which comes 0.84 million tons for two months, he explained. "Decision of exporting wheat is fine, but it should have been taken earlier and in bulk quantity as country had huge stocks," Baig said.

Despite heavy floods, Pakistan still has a export surplus of wheat after a bumper crop of 23.86 million tonnes in 2009/10 in addition to a carryover stock of 4.2 million tons from the previous crop, he said.
 

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They say "there is always light at the end of the tunnel" But in this case it doesn't seem to be because of power-cuts.
or

There is light at the end of the tunnel for Pakistan, but it's that of an oncoming train which will run them over. - Sidhu :p
 

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Pakistan's debt-to-GDP ratio crosses 61%
14:19, June 27, 2010

Pakistan's central bank said the country's total debt-to-GDP ratio has crossed 61 percent during the current fiscal year, breaching the 60 percent limit set under the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Act, local media reported on Sunday.

According to the report of the State Bank of Pakistan on its official website, Pakistan's external debt-to-GDP ratio hit 30 percent while the domestic debt-to-GDP ratio mounted to an alarming level of 31 percent.

Despite better performance on the external front, domestic public debt remains on the rise, up by 20 percent during the 11 months of the current fiscal year, said the report.

Pakistan has been facing the burden of mounting debt pressure. The same stems from escalating fiscal deficit of the country as compared to the budgetary estimates.

During the current fiscal year of 2010 which closes at the end- June, the fiscal deficit rose to 5.2 percent of the GDP against the budgeted 4.7 percent. The domestic side remained a prominent source of financing fiscal deficit.

A differentiating factor came in the form of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) budgetary support under its augmented funding plan for Pakistan.

The contribution of the IMF funding in the overall external financing of the country has risen. The IMF's total share in external debt has risen from 4 percent in the fiscal year of 2006 to 14 percent till the third quarter of the current fiscal year.

Contribution of public debt under total external debt dropped to 82 percent from 91 percent in fiscal year 2006.

The disbursements under the IMF program are expected to conclude in fiscal year 2011, but it remains to be seen whether the government will seek further budgetary support from the global donor during fiscal year 2011 in case additional inflows from sources such as the United States under the Kerry-Lugar and Tokyo pledges fail to materialize on time.

Even though the IMF program contributed towards bringing stability, favorable external factors also played a major role.

The country's current account deficit has shown substantial improvement as it dropped by 66 percent during the first 11 months of the current year. Credit should be given to better export performance, which registered a growth of three percent during the period.

However, the real savior was in fact the recessionary condition in the global markets, which kept commodity prices, especially oil under stress. The result is evident as imports registered a decline of 3.5 percent.

Another commendable aspect is record level of remittances, which is set to reach 8.8 billion U.S. dollars in the current fiscal year, thereby providing desirable support to the overall balance of payments in the absence of foreign direct investment.

Despite better performance on the external front, domestic public debt is still on the rise. Overall public debt, thereby, remains a strong source of vulnerability to the economy and mounting domestic debt is also strongly suggesting an interest rate rise in the offing.

Source: Xinhua (From their friend of life, jaan-e-jigar jaan-e-bahar)
 

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Pakistan is the safest country in terms of food security: minister




ISLAMABAD (February 04, 2011) : Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture Nazar Mohammad Gondal on Thursday reiterated that Pakistan was the safest country in terms of food security. Addressing a press conference he dispelled the notion that Pakistan was facing any food security issue, adding the country has surplus stocks of wheat, potato, rice, vegetables and sugarcane.


Gondal said that the production of main foods items including wheat, rice, gram pulse, potato, sugar, maize, tomatoes and milk was in surplus so no question of food shortage arises in the country. Giving break-up, the federal minister said that the country has surplus wheat stock and was exporting the extra stock. Similarly, he added, production of potato has been 3.5 million tons as compared to consumption of 1.5 million tons.

The production of gram was 561,000 tons as compared to consumption of 550,000 tons, the minister said adding the production of milk was 43.56 million tons against the consumption of 35.2 million tons. The minister added that Pakistan's tomatoes production is 5.5 million tons against consumption of 3.5 million tons, adding that there was also surplus in rice and sugar production so there is no question of food shortage.

"The analysts should go through the facts and figures before portraying the picture," Gondal maintained. Gondal said that the flood did not cause any major destruction to wheat stocks, adding that about 120,000 tons of wheat stock was destroyed in Sindh province due to floods, however, added that not even a single grain was wasted of federal government stock.

He said that even the government was exporting two to three million tons of surplus wheat and about 0.2 million tons of the crops has already been exported. To another question, he said that inquiry into the sugar crisis was going on and added that Pakistan would be self-sufficient in sugar next year so need to import sugar would not arise.


He said that the sugar consumption was about 4.2 million tons and the production would be more than that. However, on the issue of prices, the federal minister said that we cannot delink ourselves from international prices while determining the local sugar prices.

About higher prices of food items, the minister said it was another issue, but the government believed in ensuring supply of all basic food items. However, the minister said the world became global village and increase in price of a commodity in one country impact it in other parts of the world.

For vulnerable sections of the society, the government has established utility stores corporation where most of the commodities were provided at subsidised rates. Apart from it, the minister said that for most poor person, there was Benazir Income Support Program (BISP).

Gondal totally rejected the report of an international organisation, which showed that there might be food security issue in Pakistan. He said there was a democratic government and they were more concerned about people miseries.


Answering a question, the minister said that about 3.5 million tons sugar production expected this year and sufficient stock of imported sugar also available, and it would be sufficient to meet country's total requirement of 4.2 million tons.

About recent sugar crises, the minister claimed that it was artificial and created by some people. He said the government always wanted to ensure availability of all essential commodities.
 

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"Pakistan's exports to China increased by 37 per cent"


BEIJING: From January to December 2010, Pakistan's exports to China increased by nearly US $ 500 million and their overall growth rate was 37.4 per cent.

According to the figures released by China Customs, the total Pakistani exports to China last year were US $ 1.7 billion compared to US $ 1.2 billion in 2009.

Since 2006, Pakistani exports to China has been gradually climbing. The total volume of Pakistan-China trade rose by US $ 2 billion to US $ 8.7 billion approximately.

Last year, textiles, ores and mineral products, leather, chemicals and plastics, sports goods, iron and steel, surgical instruments showed the trend of faster growth rates.

In 2010, Pakistan's imports from China also increased by US $ 1.4 billion and the total volume of imports from China stood at US $ 6.9 billion. The trade deficit right now for Pakistan is US $ 5.2 billion.

"The two governments have agreed on a series of measures to reduce the trade deficit" said Ambassador Masood Khan on Friday adding that in this regard, China would be sending purchase missions to Pakistan to identify suitable Pakistani products for Chinese markets.

He pointed out that Pakistani traders and businessmen will be attending major trade exhibitions in Kunming, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Urumqi, Kashghar, Dalian, and Beijing.

Trade seminars would also be held to create greater space for Pakistani products in China.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has requested assistance from China in vocational and technical training in the areas of value added textiles, gems and jewelry, ceramics, surgical instruments, leather and light engineering.

At the last meeting of the Free Trade Commission (FTC), China agreed to consider the proposal and invite Pakistan to identify specific training needs in these areas.

Pakistan has also requested China to give unilateral tariff concessions to 268 Pakistani product lines.

Pakistan is the second largest trading partner of China in South Asia.
 

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Pakistan's debt-to-GDP ratio crosses 61%
You're shittin' me. At that debt-GDP ratio, they must be producin' cork balls.

Anybody tell me what the debt-deflation- or "years to pay off debt at fraction of GDP devoted to debt" is? That will give you an indication of how many more years they are set to remain in this slump.
 

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Obama admin proposes $3.1 billion for Pakistan

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has proposed to Congress a $3.1 billion in financial assistance to Pakistan for the year 2012.

This is part of the administration's ongoing effort towards its continued funding for operations and assistance in key regions of the world -- Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Of this as many as $1.9 billion in assistance has been proposed to promote a secure, stable, democratic and prosperous Pakistan with a focus on energy, economic growth, agriculture, the delivery of health and education services, and strengthening the Government of Pakistan's capacity to govern effectively and accountably.

$1.5 billion of this is part of the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Bill.

Another $45 million has been proposed in operations to support infrastructure for maintaining the US government civilian and diplomatic presence and to support educational and cultural exchange programs to build bridges with civil society.

"We have $350 million in that part of the budget for FMF (Foreign Military Financing) programs, which is part of the five-year agreement that we have made with the government of Pakistan," a State Department official told reporters.

In addition to $1.9 billion, Obama has also proposed $1.2 billion to Pakistan under the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) Budget.

This includes $1.1 billion for the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund (PCCF) to provide critical equipment and training for Pakistani security forces, increasing the ability of the Pakistani government to combat insurgents inside that country and eliminating the insurgent's capacity to conduct cross-border operations in Afghanistan that jeopardize US lives and the mission there.

In 2010, Pakistan received $79 million under OCO budget, which is estimated to jump to $1.3 billion in 2011.

"So the unique part of the budget, the extraordinary part of the budget is the PCCF. The enduring part of the budget is more of our economic and military assistance that's going to be sustainable over the long term," he said.

An OCO budget is of great help as we transition from military-led to civilian-led operations since it provides a mechanism through which we can view and budget for a transition to a more normal diplomatic presence in these countries when appropriate, the budgetary proposals said.

Source
 

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Pakistan could be top of UK foreign aid list

By Orla Guerin BBC News, Islamabad

Pakistan could become the UK's biggest aid recipient by 2015.


Plans unveiled by the International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell indicate aid could more than double, reaching £446m ($726m) a year.



But Pakistan's government will have to introduce real reforms in order to secure the funding, officials say.
They say authorities should push for the extra investment by tackling corruption and introducing economic reforms - like broadening the tax base.


"If Pakistani politicians are failing to pay their own taxes, the aid will get harder to justify," one official said.
Half of the spending will be on education, one of Pakistan's greatest weaknesses.


More than 40% of children under nine here do not go to school. The aim is to buy text books, train teachers and get an extra four million children into classrooms over the next four years.



Last October, a group of 26 nations and global institutions urged Pakistan to reform its economy and government.
In response, Islamabad said it was raising more taxes from its wealthiest citizens and urged improved access to EU markets to boost Pakistan's economy.
 

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Pakistan could be top of UK foreign aid list
Dr. frankenstein's heart still beats for his monster. If we were to go for surgical strikes against Pakistan apart from China and KSA. England would be the first country to voice their opposition.
 

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Mian Muhammad Mansha: Pakistan's richest man speaks




FORTUNE -- Social and political turmoil tops the headlines coming out of Pakistan. But for billionaire Mian Muhammad Mansha, the untold story lies in the country's rich, untapped business opportunities. He should know: Widely regarded as Pakistan's wealthiest man, Mansha, 64, has built a vast and diverse empire, beginning with a single textile mill. Today his Nishat Group, Pakistan's largest business conglomerate and private employer, with $2.1 billion in sales, encompasses banking, cement, textiles, and energy. The following are edited excerpts from a January interview with Fortune in his Lahore offices and, later, by phone.

Q. How did the Nishat Group get started?

A. After partition [my father] moved from Calcutta and established a textile mill in Faisalabad, the big cotton-producing area in Pakistan. Unfortunately, he died at the age of 50, when I was only 22 years old. I had to come back from London, where I was studying. I was given the textile mill. I worked there for 17 years and expanded my business. By the mid-1980s it was the biggest textile company on the entire subcontinent.

Does your success come from strategy or luck?

I realized early on, maybe better than some of my competitors did, that a textile business can run only if you have scale. I decided to horizontally and vertically integrate, adding everything from spinning, dyeing, weaving, and stitching to processing and packing. By the time I left, I even had a large school and our own railway station within the factory.

What challenges do you have to deal with doing business in Pakistan that, say, a Warren Buffett or a Bill Gates does not?

The impression of Pakistan is that people are corrupt. I don't think they are as corrupt as they are made out to be. I can look you in the eye and tell you I've never bribed anybody. The main challenge we have is a democratic government that's not functioning very well. But I hope that we do not get off the path of democracy.

Is Pakistan really ready for democracy?

I think that it is, but we need to be patient. People who had been out of power for at least 20 years have had to learn how to govern. The politicians are not ready in that sense, but we have to start somewhere. So we have to go through this experiment.

Some have remarked that the recent instability and uprisings that we have seen in the Middle East could happen next in Pakistan. What do you think?

Egypt and Tunisia will have an impact on the entire Middle East and Pakistan. But Pakistan is a little different. The other two countries had very long dictatorial regimes. And the leaders were grooming their children to take over. This is not the situation in Pakistan.

Our democratic setup is a little more advanced. And we have a ferociously independent judiciary and free press. A lot of the steam is let out through criticism in the press and all that. But there are a lot of unemployed people, and we need to create jobs. In a way, it is having a good effect because people think we need to accelerate our reforms.


What about the silencing of moderate voices, like Gov. Salman Taseer, who was assassinated in January, or the situation with Raymond Davis, the American accused of murdering Pakistani citizens?


The governor was a very courageous person. But we are in a situation where we have a war on our border that's been imposed on us. The only way to kill militancy, to reduce it, is to provide opportunities to people who have no opportunities. I've always told my American friends that. Before he died, I told [former U.S. envoy] Richard Holbrooke, "Come and do some big projects here. You are spending $10 billion to $12 billion in Afghanistan -- why don't you put that into jobs?" This peculiar situation [regarding Davis] is a cause of concern. It has been mishandled by both governments. It has been a huge embarrassment. This issue of diplomatic immunity has not been clarified. They say he is immune, but he has not shown any proof. By creating this delay, people take positions, and hype is created.

A big part of your empire is MCB Bank, which survived the global credit crunch and boasts high capital ratios. How did you manage that?

MCB is a leading bank in Pakistan, with 9% of total banking sector assets and deposits. Return on assets is 3.18%, and return on equity is 26%. We have been trying to decrease risk with products like debit cards, mobile banking, and insurance. In the West there are not many long-term shareholders who participate in management; most are passive investors. Banks need to have large shareholders on the board that have a direct interest in their performance. That's what we have.

You work with American companies like Gap (GPS, Fortune 500) and Levi Strauss. What do you tell other U.S. companies wanting to do business in Pakistan?

The American companies operating in Pakistan are successful. Nobody has lost money or had a problem repatriating his profits. If you go to India, many sectors are closed. The problem right now is that we must resolve this conflict [in Afghanistan]. It's giving us bad publicity and terrorism. But I am very optimistic that President Obama will have a policy of reconciliation [with the moderate elements of Afghanistan and Pakistan] after these military hostilities end. There is so much devastation. We need to start with rebuilding before we can get to security.

You have said you believe that the best way to extract Pakistan from terrorism is to create jobs by opening the borders.

I am a very big proponent of opening the borders with India. Most of our trade is done through unofficial channels. Why not open the trade? Also, our industrial policy has been partly misdirected. We should put money into simple industries, like the garment industry, where you can employ a lot of people, you don't consume too much energy, and you don't need too much capital.

What are the most promising growth sectors in Pakistan?

Energy. We have not been investing in energy in Pakistan, but for every 10 wells we dig, we get three with oil. Another is agriculture. We are the fifth-largest producer of milk, for example. But our yields are dismal. If we can just bring in modern farming, we can do it. Last year the commodity that had the largest increase in the futures was cotton, and we are the fourth- or fifth-largest producer. So if we increase our yields, we can make at least 50% more.

In Pakistan we have fewer obstacles than other countries. In Europe growth is very slow. There are so many old people and too many social taxes to pay. I feel that we are coming into a balanced society for the first time in my life. I predict that in 20 years, you'll find that a lot of our Pakistanis who are living abroad will have come back.
 

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Arabic Web- Pakistan suffers as key cotton crop hit.

 
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Legislation endorsed: US panel seeks to limit Pakistan aid


WASHINGTON:

A US House of Representatives panel on Tuesday approved a defence spending bill that would impose limits on American aid to Pakistan. The bill envisages the creation of a special bipartisan group to examine Washington's future role in the decade-long war in Afghanistan.

The bill endorsed by the House Appropriations Committee would withhold 75 per cent of the $1.1 billion in US aid to Pakistan
until the administration reports to Congress on how it would spend the money. The committee on Tuesday went a step further, adopting an amendment by Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, that would give Congress 30 days to review the report before deciding whether the money should be spent.
Full article at Legislation endorsed: US panel seeks to limit Pakistan aid – The Express Tribune

Let's see if their "all weather friends" fill the gap :rolleyes:
 
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Unaccounted for: Rs38b go missing from Punjab accounts

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Unaccounted for: Rs38b go missing from Punjab accounts
By Anwer Sumra
Published: May 7, 2012

Accountant general asks chief secretary to explain the anomaly.
LAHORE:
The Punjab government is unable to explain where it has spent Rs38 billion, which is missing from its accounts for the current fiscal year, official sources told The Express Tribune.
The authorities are reluctant to reconcile the missing amount despite repeated letters of accountant general (AG), they said.
It is feared that either the amount was embezzled or the Punjab government was not willing to share the details of expenditures with the AG – the custodian of public money.
The AG in a letter requested the Punjab chief minister to intervene personally in the issue, as the chief secretary was not responding even after repeated requests, an official said requesting anonymity.
Punjab AG Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam, in a letter No R&P/2011-12/31 dated March 27 written to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, pointed out that there was a gap of Rs38 billion between the expenditures in civil accounts of Punjab government since July and no department was ready to reconcile this big amount, sources in the chief minister's secretariat said.
According to a copy obtained by The Express Tribune, the Punjab AG wrote that unfortunately over the years the reconciliation of expenditures and receipts had weakened owing to non-responsive attitude of spending provincial departments and principal accounting officers by diversion of funds into Special Drawing Accounts (SDA)/Personal Ledger Accounts (PLA).
A huge amount of funds is diverted into these accounts to avoid normal mode of payments after pre-audit checks to be exercised by Punjab's AG being custodian of public money on behalf of the auditor general. It is a matter of concern that diversion of funds to these accounts has been on the rise during the last few years and at present, there are about 1,754 accounts and pre-audit checks are not being exercised by the operators (heads of provincial departments and principal accounting officers of Punjab).
The matter was taken up with the Punjab Chief Secretary Nasir Mehmood Khosa via letter No R&C/HM-1609 dated December 2011, followed by a reminder R&C/HM/4486-87 dated February 29, but no response had been received.
The AG requested the CM to look into the matter personally to strengthen the pre-audit system of payments out of the consolidated fund and discourage the practice of opening SDA/PLA except in unavoidable cases.
There were apprehensions that such big gap could not develop without any ulterior motives. Some operators may have misappropriated or embezzled public funds and now they were not ready to reconcile expenditures with the AG, said an official requesting anonymity.
Punjab Treasury Chief Inspector Amjad Saleemi said being the chief accountant of the province it was failure on part of the AG's office to reconcile accounts showing a gap of Rs38 billion.
About SDA/PLA, Saleemi said there was no need to get consultation from the AG to open these accounts of self accounting entities like Solid Waste Management and Arts Councils. On April 2, the finance department had directed the heads of the provincial departments and principal accounting officers to cooperate with the AG for reconciliation of accounts. The finance department spokesperson said that the Punjab government was fully cooperating with the AG for the reconciliation of accounts. If any department failed to do so the AG should stop payments of bills of defaulting departments, he added.
Chaudhary Zaheerud Din, chairperson Public Accounts Committee of Punjab said, "We were pointing out financial mismanagement of Punjab's rulers from the very first day." The PAC would take up the issue in the next meeting and upcoming assembly session, Din added.
Pakistan Peoples Party deputy parliamentary leader in the Punjab Assembly, Shaukat Basra, said the chief minister was putting a huge amount in ill-planned projects like sasti roti and free laptops without getting approval of legislature. It was a technical plundering of public money, he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 7th, 2012.
 

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Pakistan Q1 exports to India rise by 2.8%
Major export of construction materials, including cement, which rose 89.9%

Pakistan's exports to India have risen by 2.8% to nearly $74 million during the first quarter of 2011-12 fiscal as compared to the same period of the previous financial year.

Total exports to India between July-September, 2011, stood at $73.871 million. (Pakistan's financial year commences from July 1.)

This is against exports of $71.825 million during the same period of previous year, according to data released today by the Commerce Ministry here.

Major growth was witnessed in exports of construction materials, including cement, which rose from $5.717 million to $10.850 million, a growth of 89.9%.

This was followed by the export of fruits and fruit preparations, which increased from $19.076 million to $22.425 million dollars, a growth of 17.6%.

The export of cotton yarn during the period increased by 149.2%, growing from $2.112 million dollars to $5.264 million dollars.

Among other items, exports of medical and surgical instruments increased from $1.217 million to $1.725 million during the period under review.

Pakistan's overall exports during July, 2011-April,2012 stood at $19.39 billion, a decline of 3.48% compared to the same period of last fiscal, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
 

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Reopening NATO supply routes: Pakistan to gain $365m annually

Pakistan is all set to gain $365 million annually under an agreement after the reopening of supply routes for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) troops in Afghanistan, a report on The Christian Science Monitor website has revealed.
The Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) had earlier given a go-ahead to lift the six-month old blockade on Nato supplies passing through the country. The supply routes had been suspended after the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers during an air raid last year on border posts located in Mohmand Agency.
The United States-led (US) coalition is expected to pay Pakistan a fee of $1,500 to $1,800 for every truck carrying supplies through the country. Officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the bill is estimated to go up to $1 million per day.
Officials in the US have said that they are not aware of how much cost they will have to bear.
The US, in return, has asked Pakistan to provide security for the supplies which are transported using private local companies, faster customs clearance and checkpoints, reveals the report. Pakistan has not provided security to trucks carrying Nato supplies in the past.
It is estimated that as many as 600 trucks will pass through Pakistan every day between now and next year.
Last week, Nato chief General Anders Fogh Rasmussen had tacitly linked Pakistan's participation in the Chicago summit on Afghanistan with the resumption of supply lines.
Rasmussen had later extended an invitation to President Asif Ali Zardari. The presidential spokesperson had insisted that the invitation was unconditional and not linked to the opening of Nato supply routes or to any other issue.
Pakistan has also repeatedly demanded that the US issue a formal apology for the raid, while Washington has only expressed deep regret and offered condolences on the killing of Pakistani troops.
The demand for an apology has been the bone of contention between Pakistan and the US for reopening the supply routes. Acting Assistant Defence Secretary George Little had earlier said that the US was still noncommittal to a Pakistani demand for a formal apology.
Many set to gain from reopening of supply routes
Traders of looted goods, the military and militants in tribal areas are all set to gain from the reopening of supply routes.
A report in The Washington Post states that local transport associations have revealed the military indirectly controls 30% of Nato oil tanker contracts. The military had declined to comment on its share.
Traders of looted goods had earlier experienced a downward trend for their business, but are now expecting a boost. A trader who spoke to The Washington Times said that he was selling food, daggers, computers, technological goods and American flags at reasonable prices.
He said that suspension of supply routes had made it hard to meet expenses, but the reopening will be beneficial.
Militants in the tribal area too will benefit once supply routes reopen. They are known to demand protection money from transport companies and also attack trucks to steal the goods.
 

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Pakistan bucks student trend
BY: JOHN ROSS From: The Australian May 16, 2012 12:00AM
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PAKISTAN has become the top growth market in the struggling international education industry, even though revenue from its neighbour India fell almost $1 billion in a single year.

New Australian Bureau of Statistics figures reveal that Australia's fourth-biggest export industry is turning to new markets to counter a $2.2bn loss of revenue last year.
 

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Reopening NATO supply routes: Pakistan to gain $365m annually

Pakistan is all set to gain $365 million annually under an agreement after the reopening of supply routes for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) troops in Afghanistan, a report on The Christian Science Monitor website has revealed.
The Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) had earlier given a go-ahead to lift the six-month old blockade on Nato supplies passing through the country. The supply routes had been suspended after the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers during an air raid last year on border posts located in Mohmand Agency.
The United States-led (US) coalition is expected to pay Pakistan a fee of $1,500 to $1,800 for every truck carrying supplies through the country. Officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the bill is estimated to go up to $1 million per day.
Officials in the US have said that they are not aware of how much cost they will have to bear.
The US, in return, has asked Pakistan to provide security for the supplies which are transported using private local companies, faster customs clearance and checkpoints, reveals the report. Pakistan has not provided security to trucks carrying Nato supplies in the past.
It is estimated that as many as 600 trucks will pass through Pakistan every day between now and next year.
Last week, Nato chief General Anders Fogh Rasmussen had tacitly linked Pakistan's participation in the Chicago summit on Afghanistan with the resumption of supply lines.
Rasmussen had later extended an invitation to President Asif Ali Zardari. The presidential spokesperson had insisted that the invitation was unconditional and not linked to the opening of Nato supply routes or to any other issue.
Pakistan has also repeatedly demanded that the US issue a formal apology for the raid, while Washington has only expressed deep regret and offered condolences on the killing of Pakistani troops.
The demand for an apology has been the bone of contention between Pakistan and the US for reopening the supply routes. Acting Assistant Defence Secretary George Little had earlier said that the US was still noncommittal to a Pakistani demand for a formal apology.
Many set to gain from reopening of supply routes
Traders of looted goods, the military and militants in tribal areas are all set to gain from the reopening of supply routes.
A report in The Washington Post states that local transport associations have revealed the military indirectly controls 30% of Nato oil tanker contracts. The military had declined to comment on its share.
Traders of looted goods had earlier experienced a downward trend for their business, but are now expecting a boost. A trader who spoke to The Washington Times said that he was selling food, daggers, computers, technological goods and American flags at reasonable prices.
He said that suspension of supply routes had made it hard to meet expenses, but the reopening will be beneficial.
Militants in the tribal area too will benefit once supply routes reopen. They are known to demand protection money from transport companies and also attack trucks to steal the goods.
Finally Pakistan allows supply without receiving any apology from US
 

ajtr

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Pakistan revenue collection up 25 percent


slamabad, May 20 — Revenue collection in Pakistan has registered a 25 percent growth during the first 10 months of 2011-12 fiscal year as compared to last year, Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has said.

"If the trend continues, the revenue target of Rs.1,952 billion (about $21 billion) is expected to be achieved by the end of current financial year," the official APP news agency quoted Shaikh as saying Saturday.
 

Bangalorean

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Pakistan bucks student trend
BY: JOHN ROSS From: The Australian May 16, 2012 12:00AM
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Heh - I am delighted by this news.

Indians reduced going to Australia because of all the media campaign about "racism in Australia". And now, Australia is inviting Pukes to make up for the shortfall. And pukes are delighted, since they find it tough to get a student Visa for almost every other civilized country on earth.

But now, as they say - "ab aayega mazaa". The Aussies will experience Pakistaniyat first-hand. Expect more teenage rapes and similar shit now.
 

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