No risk to Pakistan's ratings: Moody's

KARACHI: Political wrangling in Pakistan is hampering the government's ability to focus on economic issues but poses no immediate risk to its sovereign ratings, Moody's Investors Service said on Wednesday.
 
Moody's has a B3 sovereign rating for Pakistan with a stable outlook.

Lotte Group plans to invest $40m in Pakistan

KARACHI: Lotte PA, the biggest producer of PTA (Purified Terephthalic Acid) in the country, plans to retire around 63 million dollars of foreign loans and invest 40 million dollars in Pakistan.

According to industry sources, the management reiterated its plan to invest S$40 million in a captive power plant for uninterrupted power supply and $5 million in a catalyst recovery plant for cost efficiency. This will help the company’s volatile margins to improve. The management endorses the news report that Lotte Group is considering acquiring confectionery business in Pakistan without giving much detail.

Govt urged to stop TCP from meddling in rice exports

KARACHI: Exporters have opposed intervention in rice export trade from the state-owned Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) and accused it of disturbing market mechanism thereby depressing prices of basmati rice in the world market.
 
The TCP floated export tender for 25,000 tons of super basmati rice on Dec 18, 2009 for the disposal of rice procured by the corporation last year, which is presently stocked at Pipri godowns, near Karachi.

Forex reserves cross $15 billion mark: SBP

KARACHI: The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at 15.0312 billion dollars on January 02, 2010, sources of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said here Thursday.

SBP extends waiver to facilitate exporters

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has extended waiver for another 180 days for the purpose of availing financing under the Export Finance Scheme (EFS) to facilitate the exporters whose export proceeds are overdue.

According to an official Circular issued Saturday, the period of waiver has been extended up to June 30, 2010.
Earlier in July, the SBP extended the waiver till December 31, 2009.

Forex reserves slip to $13.54 billion

KARACHI: Foreign exchange reserves eased to $13.54 billion in the week that ended on Dec 12 from $13.57 billion the previous week, the central bank said on Thursday.

Foreign investment declines by 25 per cent

KARACHI: Foreign investment has fallen since the beginning of the current fiscal year, and collective decline in the first five months was by 25 per cent over last year.

The State Bank reported on Wednesday that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) could not improve and fell steeply by 52 per cent.