profit.com.pk

Trading volume climbs to historic553m shares at KSE Page 3

Saturday, 10 March, 2012

CoME to think of it, islamabad hasbeen a little too eager about thewhole MFn and negative list

issue. and even if the initial euphoria ofthe breakthrough, however soured bythe subsequent barter association withEu trade concessions (later denied),caused concerned quarters to overlookcrucial fine tuning, there have been fartoo many causes for concern since theDec 31 phasing out of the negative listwas decided and declared. What isworse, it is now clear that pundits of thecountry’s most significant sustenanceand export industry – agriculture –were not taken on board.

now rice growers are up in arms,fearing outright wipe out absent fairertreatment. interestingly, their point ofconcern is surprisingly easy to under-stand. Which of the two is more elastic? agovernment stressing trade liberalistionand (obvious) subsequent advantages? orpillar sectors, warning of breakdown incase of too much too quick? simply put,so long as the indians protect their farm-ers far more seriously than we do, andhave more secure energy, and more af-fordable inputs, a liberalisation timelineof nine odd months is simply insufficientfor the sector to re-posture.

While the commerce ministry’s (readminister’s) initiative is appreciated, it isstrange that other organs of the state arenot questioning imminent surrender ofsubstantial comparative advantage. true,trade is good, but not when erstwhileproduction advantage is compromised.and if it’s deliberate, well, it’s outrightridiculous. there is still time for a re-think. not about the MFn or the negativelist. Just about its phasing out, and pre-serving the original intent of the exercise– trade benefit for all.

QUICK EDIT

When tradecan hurt

Karachi

GHULaM aBBaS

tHouGH trade agree-ments like Preferentialtrade agreement(Pta) or Free tradeagreement (Fta) are

yet to be signed Pakistan andturkey despite the claims fromboth sides for the last eight or soyears, visiting turkish steel ex-porters have stressed the need forjust such agreement in order toboost bilateral trade.

Expressions of interest14 leading steel companies of

turkey, which held detailed meet-ings with at least 40 companies’heads here on at local hotel on Fri-day, expressed interest in investingin Pakistan’s steel sector.

interestingly, around 200companies in the internationalmarket currently cite lack ofagreements as a major hurdle inthe way of initiating trade with

Pakistan in steel products. talking with media persons,

namýk Ekinci, Chairman of theBoard of Directors, turkey’s steelExporters’ association (CiB), saidhis country is the 10th largest pro-ducer of steel, which produced 34million tones of the product lastyear. this year’s production is esti-mated at 39 million tones. at least26 million tones were consumed inhis country while 18 to 19 milliontones were exported.

turkey could also export flatsheets to Pakistan where the prod-ucts have huge demand. Besides,due to its high quality, turkishsteel has worldwide demand, headded.

He hoped as soon as the agree-ments are signed between the twocountries the trade of steel prod-ucts would be started at competi-tive rates.

to modern ways“During our visit we had the

pleasure and honour of meeting

with top executives of Pakistansteel. in our meetings we informedthem that as turkish steel produc-ers, we will be glad to share our ex-periences with our brothers andfriends in Pakistan. after receivingan official letter from the esteemedministry, we will start necessarytalks and make preparations tosend Pakistan a team of turkishtechnicians and engineers in orderto analyse the current situation ofthe mill. subsequently a report canbe prepared to define the necessarysteps to develop and modernise thefactory according to current tech-nologies”, he said. then we wouldshare this report with valuablemembers of our association and weare sure that this cooperation willend up with the mutual benefit ofboth parties, he added

However, a Pakistani steelmerchant claimed that until andunless there was Pta/Fta be-tween the two countries or sub-sidised production in the foreign

country, trade at competitive costwas not possible. there weremuch cheaper products availablein other countries like China.However, he said turkish prod-ucts are highly qualitative.

Been here beforeit bears noting that a proposed

Pta, aimed to lead the two islamiccountries to a Fta to strengthenbilateral trade, was not signedsince it was suggested in 2004 dueto the lack of interest, mainly onthe part of turkey.

according to sources, Pakistanwas willing to negotiate and fi-nalise the Pta as both nations al-ready agreed in the Frameworkagreement on Pta of 2004. Pak-istan was looking for an Fta, pro-vided it was permitted byturkey’s commitments under itscustoms union with Europeanunion (Eu). However, turkey hasbeen working on a go-slow policyas 80 per cent of the tariff linesof turkey were bound with the

European union (Eu) customsunion. in addition, turkey couldnot agree to allow substantialconcessions for the remaining 20per cent tariff lines as it was a po-litically sensitive issue.

Current bilateral trade standsat a meager $740 million. Pak-istan’s export to the foreign coun-try has also increased by 50.35 percent during the first six months ofthe financial year 2010-2011, as is-lamabad exported goods worth$320.56 million during July to De-cember 2010 compared to $213.2million in the corresponding pe-riod of 2009.

Pakistani exports to turkey in-clude rice, sesame seeds, leather,textiles, fabrics, sports goods andmedical equipment. While, Pak-istan’s imports from turkey pri-marily include machinery andparts, chemical elements and com-pounds, chemical materials, non-ferrous metals and coloringmaterial, etc.

Turkey’s steel exporters stress PTA/FTAg Turks show interest in Pak steel sector g Previous attempt (’04) at initiating PTA failed to materialise g Current bilateral trade stands at $740 million

Karachi

Staff RepoRt

Pakistan can significantlyreduce its oil import bill byshifting to renewable en-

ergy and meet its rising indus-trial and domestic energydemands without burning fossilfuels in thermal power plants,the most expensive form of fuel.

With the ground breaking ofcountry’s first 50MW WindPower Project, a significant mile-stone in country’s history, Pak-istan has taken first step in windenergy to bridge the current en-ergy shortfall, which is adverselyaffecting the national economy.these views were expressed byChief Executive and ManagingDirector of Fauji Fertiliser Com-pany, Lt General (R) Malik arifHayat, while addressing theground breaking ceremony ofcountry’s first 50MW WindPower Project by FFC EnergyLimited, a subsidiary of FaujiFertiliser Company, at Jhampir,District thatta on Friday.

the project is nearly 60 percent complete and will start itstrial production in June 2012which would be provided free ofcost till the start of commercialoperations in november 2012.

He said Pakistan is currentlymeeting 70 per cent of its powerneed by burning fossil fuels, de-spite the fact that soaring oilprices in the last few years havemade it very difficult to economi-cally generate power with currentenergy mix and consequently sus-tain economic growth.

Renewable energy sourceslike wind, solar, hydel and bio-mass are indigenous, abundantand green by their very nature.Moreover, project developmenttime for wind and solar powerprojects is significantly lesserthan coal or large hydel powerprojects, he added.

FFC’s investment in the on-going project of 50 mega watt is$ 135m. However company hascommitted to put up more windfarms with total capacity of 250mega watts.

50MW wind energyproject set up in Thatta

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news02Saturday, 10 March, 2012

SMEDA, LCWU ink MoU for

entrepreneurship programme

LAHORE: small and Medium Enterprises Developmentauthority (sMEDa) and Lahore College for Women uni-versity inked a Memorandum of understanding (Mou) toexecute a joint programme on entrepreneurship. themanuscript of the Mou was signed by Mr Yousaf naseemkhokhar, CEo sMEDa and Dr sabiha Mansoor, ViceChancellor, LCWu at Lahore College university. thesigning ceremony was attended by Mr Liaqat ali GoharDGM administration and Public Relations and Ms aishakamran siddiqui, in-charge Women EntrepreneurshipCell sMEDa. under the Mou, both organisations shalltake concrete steps to exchange technical expertise in de-veloping and executing “Entrepreneurship Programme”to be launched at LCWu. Both the parties would regularlyshare information regarding their initiatives, pro-grammes and activities along with repository of informa-tion on women development. sMEDa, under this Mouwould also be facilitating LCWu student delegations’ vis-its to sME houses on need basis. Both parties would alsomanage to regularly participate in each other’s activitiesfor Women Entrepreneurship Development, includingLCWu upcoming Female Job Fair. Staff RepoRt

PIAF dubs Kalabagh essential for survival

LAHORE: Pakistan industrial and traders associationsFront (PiaF) Friday called for a Punjab assembly Reso-lution to pave the way for early construction of kalabaghDam, as any further delay while waiting for a consensuswould turn the country into a desert due to an acutewater shortage. While talking to a delegation of Lahoretownship industrial association, Chairman PiaF Engi-neer sohail Lashari said Punjab would be the biggestloser if kalabagh Dam is not constructed, as the indiangovernment is spending billions of rupees to destroyPakistan’s agriculture sector. He said the federal govern-ment’s indecision on this vital project of national impor-tance is also raising many questions. He said allmembers of the Punjab assembly should unanimouslypass a resolution in favour of kalabagh dam as shortageof electricity in the near future would not only destroythe industry, but also turn the country into a trading hubwith a highest rate of unemployment. the PiaF Chair-man said the Chief Minister Mian shahbaz sharif waswell aware of the consequences of electricity shortage,therefore members of Punjab assembly should act fast tomove forward for the construction of kalabagh dam in-stead of waiting for some miracle to happen. Engineersohail Lashari said at a time when all state organs in-cluding the supreme Court in india were making all outefforts to stop Pakistani waters, the government in Pak-istan should also take measures to save the country andits economy from all such conspiracies. Staff RepoRt

SECP registers 353 companies in February

ISLAMABAD: the securities and Exchange Commis-sion of Pakistan registered 353 companies in February ascompared to 356 companies during previous month. Pri-vate companies have the highest share in the new incor-porations of 319, followed by 21 single-membercompanies, five public unlisted companies, three non-profit association and five foreign companies. of the fiveforeign companies from the us, France, uk, spain andsouth korea, four were registered in islamabad while onewas registered in Lahore. nationals from Qatar, Lebanon,australia, Portugal, italy, north korea, ukraine andPanama invested in seven new local companies. sector-wise breakdown shows that services sector had the high-est share with 46 companies, followed by trading with 44,hajj and umrah services with 30, construction with 22, itwith 23, food and beverages with 16, tourism with 20,communication with 18 and broadcasting and telecastingwith 10 companies. the Company Registration office inLahore registered 115 companies, followed by in karachiand islamabad offices registering 93 and 92 companiesrespectively. the remaining in Peshawar, Multan, Faisal-abad, Quetta and sukkur registered 19, 18, 10, 4 and 2companies respectively. Staff RepoRt

Lahore

Staff Report

aLLWoRLD networkhas announced thewinners of PakistanFast Growth 100 (Pak-istan100), a ranking of

the fastest growing non-listed com-panies in the country. the Pak-istan100 is a program of allWorldnetwork in partnership with Har-vard Business school ProfessorMichael Porter and presented byCyan Limited. Growing at 55 percent a year and collectively employ-ing 41,000, the Pakistan100 wereannounced worldwide at the Pak-istan100 awards & summit in La-hore.

the Pakistan100 awards &summit brought together Businessand government leaders includingHussain Dawood, CEo of DawoodHercules, Muhammad ali, Chair-man of sECP, us Chargé d’affairesambassador Richard Hoagland, usConsul General in Lahore ninaMaria Fite and Dr abdul Hafeezshaikh, Pakistan’s minister for fi-nance and revenue, to name a few.

in the midst of challenging po-litical and economic circumstances,the Pakistan100 broke many all-World records in relation to 15other country rankings in the re-gion, coming in only second to

turkey in terms of entrepreneurialgrowth and transparency. Many ofthe companies have been foundedin the last ten years, and have al-ready grown to be industry leaders.an average of only 42 years old,most Pakistan100 entrepreneursplan to establish another companyin the next two years.

“the Pakistan100 are a testa-ment to the zeal and passion of thePakistani private sector. their ac-complishment is even more impres-sive given the challenges that theyhave had to endure in the recentyears,” stated samad Dawood, CEoof Cyan Limited. “Cyan’s goal issimple: invest in businesses thathave the potential to take centerstage in the global economy whileimproving the lives of millions inthe process. We believe the Pak-istan100 are the companies to dojust that.”

the Pakistan100 was an un-precedented partnership betweenallWorld network, Cyan Limited,and partners Mishal, P@sHa,LadiesFund, CioPakistan, tiE,abacus Consulting and Rozee.Pk.thousands of emails were sent tocompanies around the countryinviting them to compete for a spoton the Pakistan100. Companies hadto be rapidly growing private non-listed companies, and they couldcome from any industry and any

part of the country. Each companyhad to provide audited statementsto confirm their revenues and eachapplicant’s business practices andethics were strenuously vetted. thefastest growing of these became theinaugural Pakistan100.

Leading the Pakistan100 isnumber 1 company e2e supplyChain Management, which grew1,918 percent between 2008 and2010, with 2010 revenues above$50 million and 297 employees.Launched in 2005, e2e has risen tobecome one of the most successfulend-to-end logistics companies cov-ering Pakistan and afghanistan.taking the second spot for Pakistanwas Exceed Private Limited, with agrowth rate of 1,320 percent and 90employees. Founded by theyoungest entrepreneur on the Pak-istan100, Exceed rose to promi-nence for its historic restoration ofsaidpur Model Village, redevelopedas an 18th Century city-museumwith 5,000 residents.

Pakistan also had the mostnumber of women entrepreneurs ofany allWorld list at eight percent,and 7th ranked Luscious Cosmeticsof Pakistan topped the list of thefastest growing women entrepre-neurs with growth of 392 percentand 82 employees. the Pakistan100entrepreneurs have built globallycompetitive businesses with one

quarter of their revenues comingfrom international markets andcompanies such as (#12) having se-cured VC investment from siliconValley.

Commenting on the success ofPakistan100 at the awards Cere-mony, allWorld co-foundersDeirdre Coyle and anne Habibyurged the Pakistan100 to go further“When no one expected much, thePakistan100 broke records forgrowth, transparency and competi-tiveness. they are the personifica-tion of what every country dreamsof having. now raise the bar higherand build Pakistan as a leading en-trepreneurial nation.” added Pak-istan100 Founding Director Malikahmad Jalal, “as the Pakistan100,you send a signal to everyone inPakistan and around the world thatPakistan is open for business. thereis no more important message to se-cure peace and prosperity.”

the Pakistan winners are in La-hore for the two-day Pakistan100awards & summit from March 9-10. the summit will be an actionpacked two days featuring the Pak-istan100 along with prominentspeakers, panel discussions, net-working sessions, and Pakistan100awards Dinner. over 160 represen-tatives from winning companieswill be in attendance and close to150 ViPs and influencers.

Pakistan’s fastest growingcompanies break records

LahOrE

Staff RepoRt

THE Lahore Chamber of Com-merce and industry (LCCi)on Friday appealed to theprime minister to disband

national Electric Power Regulatory au-thority (nEPRa) for its failure to pro-tect consumers’ interests under Clause31 of the nEPRa act.

LCCi President irfan Qaiser sheikhtook strong exception to nEPRa’smove to increase electricity tariff by 83per cent (Rs6.50 per unit) for thebilling month of april, the singlelargest raise in the history of Pakistan,under monthly fuel adjustment mecha-nism. He said the unprecedented in-crease would break nEPRa’s ownrecord of Rs3.03 per unit increase al-lowed a few days ago to be recovered in

the billing of month of March.He also said the combined effect

of the two increases will be about 123per cent that will translate into an ad-ditional burden of Rs9.53 per unit onall consumers.

irfan Qaiser sheikh said the price ofelectricity for consumers using 301-700units per month is Rs10.65 per unit andfor those utilising more than 700 unitsper month it is Rs13.29. it means, he in-dicated, these two increases would dou-ble the price of electricity. He opinedthat the nEPRa move is bound to in-crease the incidence of electricity theftthat already hovering around 25 per centof the 22 per cent line losses and eating

up Rs50-75 billion.the LCCi president observed that

nEPRa officials pose that they regu-larly conduct public hearings but infact nEPRa try to fool masses. theymade announcements in the Englishpress and hold these public meetingsin air-conditioned halls of five star ho-tels, where common man has no accessto express feedback. He suggested thatnEPRa should announce these meet-ings on both national print and elec-tronic media in urdu language andchoose a public place for these socalled public hearing.

He questioned how industry wouldremain competitive at such high price of

electricity, which was one of the basicindustrial raw materials. We alreadyhave the highest tariff in our region asin india, the electricity tariff for industryis 10.5 cents, in Bangladesh 10.75 centsand in sri Lanka it is again 10.75 centwhereas in Pakistan tariff is already 15cents meaning that 45 per cent higher ascompared to the region. With this pro-posed massive and unprecedented in-crease, Pakistan will have double thetariff of electricity what the regionalcountries are offering to their trade andindustries leaving Pakistan totally un-competitive and unviable in the interna-tional marketplace.

“the country had already lost a num-

ber of international markets to China,Bangladesh and india due to high-cost ofdoing business and the decision to in-crease power tariff would make the Pak-istani goods more uncompetitive.”

He said the business communitywas unable to understand why insteadof taking measures to control line lossesand enhance cheap power generationup to capacity, policies are beingevolved to add to the miseries of thebusiness people.

irfan said negative growth wit-nessed by the Large scale Manufactur-ing sector was indeed an eye openerand a wakeup call for the government.He said the industry needs cheaperelectricity to keep units operationaland complete the export orders wellwithin the given timeframe, but onlybecause of the shortage of electricityexports are being compromised.

LCCI for disbanding NEPRA

LahOrE

Staff Report

BusinEss Forum Punjab(BFP) President ibrahimQureshi has criticised thegovernment for unfairly

taxing the common man to the tuneof Rs60-100 billion per annumthrough an ad valorem surcharge onthe price of petrol. He was address-ing a press conference at a localhotel. nabeel Hashmi (ChairmanBFP), sohail Yousaf (General secre-tary), Hussain Fazal (Vice President)and other office bearers of the Forumwere also present on the occasion.

President BFP ibrahim Qureshisaid the federal government’smethodology to impose an ad val-orem surcharge on the price ofpetrol is based on a percentile for-mula resulting in unreasonable and

disproportionately high tax burden,especially on the general public. Heemphasied that no surcharge should

be levied on petrol prices. “Beforewe begin fixing this faulty taxationsystem, we must curtail expenses

and reduce deficits being incurreddirectly a result of corruption andincompetence”, he added. Regard-ing MFn status to india, ibrahimsaid BFP supports a pro-trade pol-icy not only with india, butthroughout the south asian region.Currently, he said, 90 per cent ofour trade takes place outside theregion against an ideal situation of2/3rds trade within regional part-ners. However, we need to listen toand seriously address the concernsof the industrial/business commu-nity before jumping to a December31 deadline of removing the nega-tive list. He said BFP is completelyagainst this unfair timeline anddemanded a 36-month initial pe-riod to maintain the negative listwith a review at the end of this pe-riod before such a major policy de-cision is undertaken.

Surcharge on petrol price criticised

g Program covers region, finds Pak second to Italy in entrepreneurial growth and transparencyg Accomplishment “impressive” given challanges

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Islamabad, Ankara to cooperate in

mass transit, solid waste management

and development of Ankara Park

ISLAMABAD: the Greater Municipality ofankara, the sister city of islamabad, would extendits full cooperation to the Federal Capital of Pak-istan, islamabad in the areas of Rapid Mass tran-sit, solid Waste Management and Development ofankara Park in the capital city of Pakistan. thiswas decided in a meeting of Chairman Prime Min-ister task Force on islamabad Faisal sakhi Buttand Mayor of ankara Mr. Melih Gokcek, whereinboth sides have agreed to develop further coopera-tion on the issues of common interest includingprovision decent public transport facilities, up gra-dation of the civic services and improvement of thecultural and recreational facilities in line withneeds of the modern metropolitans around theworld. PRESS RELEASE

PTCL to connect 1400 Habib Bank

branches across Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan telecommunicationCompany Limited (PtCL), the largest integratedtelecommunication services provider of the coun-try, has inked a Managed services network agree-ment with Habib Bank Limited (HBL) to providenetworking for the leading bank’s 1400 branchesacross Pakistan. the telecom giant’s latest initia-tive in the business and enterprise sector will makepossible deployment of primary and backup dataconnectivity, information technology equipment,support and maintenance in every single HBLbranch to provide seamless services for the bank.

“PtCL’s customer focused strategy coupledwith its comprehensive network infrastructure isthe only choice for enterprises to avail one-win-dow iCt solution,” said PtCL senior ExecutiveVice President Business Development, Hamid Fa-rooq, on the occasion of agreement signing held atPtCL CtH Building, karachi. “as the nation’slargest integrated telecommunication servicesprovider, it is our duty and obligation to provideservices of international standards to public sec-tor, as well as financial, educational and enter-prise markets.” PRESS RELEASE

Mobilink Foundation partners

with Pink Ribbon

LAHORE: Mobilink Foundation has partneredwith Pink Ribbon to spread awareness aboutBreast Cancer through their Ladies Portal. Pak-istan has the highest rate of Breast Canceramongst all asian countries. Every 9th woman inPakistan is at high risk of getting Breast Cancer.over 40,000 deaths every year are caused by this

cancer which can be treated if detected early. Withearly detection the chances of surviving BreastCancer are more than 90%.

Mobilink Foundation in partnership with PinkRibbon is striving to make life saving informationon breast cancer easily available. one of thebiggest challenges faced by Pink Ribbon in Pak-istan is that women do not have access to informa-tion about this cancer and often do not feelcomfortable seeking this information from peersor doctors. in order to provide essential informa-tion to women in the privacy of their own homes,Mobilink partnered with Pink Ribbon to createsimple audio messages that provide critical infor-mation on breast cancer such as how to recognizethe signs and symptoms, conducting a self-examand what to do in case of serious concerns.

Mobilink customers can dial 8585 from theirphone and access the ladies portal where they willbe guided to information on breast cancer througha series of voice prompts. in order to access thefull range of information customers need to sub-scribe to the ladies portal at just Rs. 1 plus tax perday. the portal also provides information on othermatters of interest to women such as tips onhealthy eating and exercise. PRESS RELEASE

USAID celebrates International

Women’s Day

ISLAMABAD: the united states agency for in-ternational Development (usaiD) celebrated in-ternational Women’s Day today in islamabad byhosting a panel discussion to provide inspiration,motivation, excitement, connection and opportu-nity to the women entrepreneurs in Pakistan. thetheme of the event was “Connecting Entrepre-neurs – inspire Future” , which highlighted therole and significance of women micro entrepre-

neurs, and particularly the rural women in thenational economy.

While sharing her thoughts, Deputy MissionDirector usaiD/Pakistan, Ms. karen Freemansaid, “Gender inequality is evident in the employ-ment sector. this leads to very limited opportuni-ties for women to venture into domestic marketswith their own businesses especially in embellishsector. this is what usaiD is endeavoring tochange through its Entrepreneurs project in ninedistricts across country. We are creating businessand livelihoods prospects for 26000 women.

the event was organized by usaiD through itsEntrepreneurs project implemented by MEDawho is an active international nGo in economicdevelopment with specific focus on women em-powerment. PRESS RELEASE

news

Saturday, 10 March, 2012

03

CORPORATE CORNER

KaRaCHI: etihad airways, the national airline of theUnited arab emirates, has launched its 2012 CorporateSocial Responsibility program in pakistan with a visitto the Deaf Reach School and training Centre inKarachi – pictures shows: Mr. amer Khan, area GeneralManager, etihad airways, Ms. Samra Muslim, Mr. RichardGeary, executive Director, feSf, Ms. anita florijn,Director, feSf with the group student at the DeafReach School and training Centres. PRESS RELEASE

KaRaCHI: Qatar airways Chief executive officer akbar

al Baker announces new routes at a packed pressconference on the opening day of ItB Berlin in theGerman capital. PRESS RELEASE

isLaMaBaD

Staff RepoRt

Pakistan institute of Development Economics (PiDE)has noted with concern that the key problems afflictingthe economy including energy shortages that have held

back investment and growth have not been tackled effectivelyby the incumbent government, showing signs of mismanage-ment and policy inertia. this independent assessment hasbeen made by PiDE in its macroeconomic brief for the currentmonth released on thursday. it worryingly notes that with thegovernment embroiled in political controversies and electionyear approaching, pressing economic issues are likely to re-main on the backburner dimming hopes of a reversal in eco-nomic situation at least in the near term. at the same time,the government may be tempted to adopt populist measuresahead of the elections that could further compound economicdifficulties and challenging times lie ahead. it finds that thereis considerable uncertainty prevailing about the future courseof economic policies, as the major political parties havelargely confined their attention to popular sloganeering andhave not come up with their detailed economic strategies sofar. it says that despite some positive developments includingeasing of inflation and reduction in fiscal deficit, Pakistan’seconomy remains in a precarious state with sluggish growth,fragile macroeconomic fundamentals, and heightened vulner-ability to balance of payments shocks. the present govern-ment may have little inclination to undertake structuralreforms at a time when it has its energies focused on the nextelections, we believe that it still has an opportunity to imple-ment a minimum agenda focused on correcting macroeco-nomic imbalances as well as on setting the future direction forsustainable economic growth. Pakistan cannot afford to losetime and the cost of policy paralysis would be very high interms of macroeconomic instability and lost opportunities forgrowth. to begin with, the forthcoming budget should aim atachieving fiscal stability by avoiding politically driven publicexpenditures, cutting wasteful spending, and channeling re-sources into key public investments in energy, infrastructureand human resource development, the key drivers of eco-nomic growth and development. these measurers need to besupported by prudent public debt management through in-duction of professionals in the debt management office whichwill help reduce the cost of public debt. the government hasalready approved the Framework of Economic Growth whichlays out a comprehensive strategy for long term competitive-ness and growth focusing on governance and institutions,markets, connectivity and cities. the government would dowell to expedite the process of operationalising this growthstrategy by initiating specific policies and programs in keystrategic thrust areas of the growth strategy.

Karachi

Staff Report

tRaDinG volume atthe karachi stockmarket hit a newrecord on Friday,climbing to 553 mil-

lion shares by the time the bench-mark index closed for the week.

“stocks closed bullish, lead bysecond and third tier scrips onstrong valuations,” viewed ashenMehanti of arif Habib securities.

the ksE 100-share indexclosed at 13,352.74 points against13,271.39 points of the previousday. the index climbed to the in-traday high of 13,425.65 pointsbefore sliding to the intraday lowof 13,271.39 points.

“the investors’ hopes for re-formed CGt regime implementa-tion from april 1, higher globalcommodities and stocks played acatalyst role in bullish sentiments

post major earning announce-ments at ksE,” said Mehanti.

the total traded sharesjumped to the record high of552.793 million shares againstthursday’s 358.177 million shares.the trading value also climbed toRs7.11 billion from Rs5.884 billionof the previous session.

“Exchange volumes hitrecord high on renewed foreigninterest, recovery in global

stocks and commodities on de-velopments in Greece crucialdebt swap, resumption of gassupplies in fertiliser sector, eas-ing circular debt concerns inpower sector after expectationsfor increase in Discos electricitytariff,” viewed analyst Mehanti.

Market capital remained upand was recorded at Rs3.472 tril-lion against Rs3.448 trillion fromthe last trading day. in total 367

scrips were traded of which 205gained, 108 lost while 54 re-mained unchanged.

the turnover in future con-tracts rose to 15 millions sharesfrom 13 million of thursday.

niB Bank Limited was thevolume leader as its tradedshares were accounted at 86.580million each priced at Rs1.89 inthe opening and Rs2.85 in theclosing.

Trading volume climbs tohistoric 553m shares at KSE

rEutErs

GoLD rebounded in heavytrade on Friday, revers-ing early sharp losses as

the metal took heart from gainsin crude oil and us equities’after an encouraging us non-farm payrolls report.

Bullion, which has taken tofollowing riskier assets, rose inthe face of a dollar rally and di-minishing hopes of furthermonetary stimulus from theFederal Reserve after us em-ployment grew strongly for athird straight month.

analysts said gold priceshave already factored in a re-

covering economy which less-ened the need of more mone-tary easing. Gold notched a fiveper cent drop last Wednesdayafter Fed Chairman BenBernanke did not signal moreeasing was on the way.

also lifting the metal wasGreece’s winning acceptance ofits bond swap offer to privatecreditors. it also found technicalsupport from its key 200-daymoving average.

“Despite the severity of theearly steep losses, we have al-ready seen fairly decent buyingcoming in, and the firm oilprices were helping,” saidJames steel, chief commodity

analyst at HsBC.“Gold is showing a lot of

resiliency and it may re-bound as emerging-marketdemand is gradually reviv-ing,” steel said.

spot gold gained 0.5 per-cent on the day to $1,708.29an ounce by 11:34 a.m. Est(1634 GMt), having fallen toa session low of 41,677.34.Gold’s gains on Friday havelargely erased losses fromearlier this week.

us gold futures for aprildelivery were up $10.40 at$1,709.10 an ounce. spot sil-ver rose 0.9 percent to $34.14an ounce.

Gold turns higher on US jobs data, oil gains

‘Mismanagement, policy

inertia responsible for

fragile economic growth’

g Gold reverses initial losses; oil and equities gains help g Gold set for flatfinish for week g Bullion initially slid toward 200-day moving average

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