Hafeez says IMF assures next tranche on May 14

WASHINGTON: Finance Adviser Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh has said that an arrangement with the International Monetary Fund compels Islamabad to increase power tariff by additional six per cent but the government is trying not to pass on the entire burden on consumers.

Dr Hafeez explained at a news conference here on Tuesday that the agreement required Pakistan to increase power tariff in three instalments of six, 12 and six per cent, respectively.

United Kingdom keen to invest in Sindh

KARACHI: Britain is keen to invest in infrastructure development, capacity building, technical support and policymaking to attract investors in Sindh.

C/A deficit narrows by 68pc in 9 months

KARACHI: The current account deficit kept supporting the traditionally weak external imbalances of the country as the deficit fell by 68 per cent at the end of third quarter of the current fiscal.

The State Bank reported on Monday that the current account deficit at the end of July-March 2009-10 was $2.702 billion. It was vastly against the massive deficit of $8.379 billion during the same period last year.

Pakistan seeks two waivers from IMF

ISLAMABAD: Pledging to completely eliminate subsidies on electricity by August this year, Pakistan has sought at least two waivers from the International Monetary Fund for slippages in important macroeconomic targets in the first nine months of the current fiscal year and requested modifications in future programme milestones.

“We request waivers of non-observance for the end-March quantitative performance criteria on the overall budget deficit (excluding grants) and net government borrowing from the State Bank,” says a letter of intent (LoI) signed by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and SBP Governor Syed Ali Raza.

IMF assures Pakistan to get next tranche in May

ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has assured Pakistan it will approve the release of the next tranche of an $11.3 billion loan at a board meeting on May 3, the Pakistani prime minister's office said on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said in talks with the IMF in Washington that his government was trying to broaden Pakistan's tax base and keep the budget deficit “close to” 5.1 per cent of gross domestic product, according to a statement from his office.

One window operation in Sindh to facilitate investors

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said here on Saturday that the Sindh Board of Investment (SBI) will facilitate investors through one-window in setting up industries to promote industrialisation.

The chief minister made this announcement at the conclusion of an investors’ conference organised by the Sindh Board of Investment at a local hotel on Saturday, says an official handout.

World Bank urges more economic reforms

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's economy has made progress through tough reforms but still needs to boost tax revenues and increase power supplies to improve finances, the World Bank said on Friday.

During two days of meetings with officials, including Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, the new Finance Adviser to the prime minister, World Bank Vice President for South Asia Isabel Guerrero noted substantial economic progress since her last visit in 2008.

Malaysian firm willing to invest $500m in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Renexus, a renowned Malaysian company, is willing to invest around US$500 million in Pakistan for building water treatment plants on Build, Own and Operate (BOO) basis.

This was stated by John Klerr, Executive Chairman of Renexus during his meeting with Acting High Commissioner for Pakistan in Malaysia, Dr Imtiaz Ahmad Kazi in Kuala Lumpur today.

Renexus deals in water treatment plants, construction infrastructure development, information and communication technology, says a press release received here today from Malaysia.

PTCL privatisation deal unfair, contrary to rules: minister

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Privatisation Waqar Ahmed Khan on Wednesday told the National Assembly that the privatisation deal of PTCL with Etisalat was not transparent and violated rules and procedures.

“The deal of privatisation of PTCL was not transparent. It was made contrary to rules and procedures,” said the minister replying to a question. The House later referred the matter to the Standing Committee on Privatization for probe. Members from the opposition party urged the chair to form a special parliamentary committee to probe the deal that was not opposed by the minister concerned but Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi said the matter was already under discussion with the standing committee concerned.

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.

IMF Board to finalise 5th tranche on 31st

ISLAMABAD: The Executive Board of International Monetary Fund (IMF) will meet in Washington on March 31 for an in-depth review of Pakistan’s economy and finalise the fifth disbursement of $1.2 billion (SDR766.7 million) as part of its Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) for the country.
Informed sources said that the upcoming meeting of the Fund will be the fourth review of Pakistan’s recent economic performance and the outlook for remaining last quarter of the current fiscal year. The IMF board will have before it a report prepared by the IMF mission that held discussions with Pakistani authorities in Dubai last month.

IDC team to attract Italian investment to Pakistan

Saturday, January 09, 2010
KARACHI: Italian Development Council (IDC) is taking a delegation to Italy from January 15 to 25 to attract Italian investment in Pakistan.

This was disclosed by IDC President Tariq Ikram while talking to media along with BoI Chairman Saleem H Mandviwalla here on Friday. He termed it a groundbreaking event which would set the stage for a larger delegation of leading Pakistani businessmen to visit Italy later this year.

MCB’s contract for acquiring RBS stands scrapped

KARACHI: The contract under which Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB) was to acquire majority stake with administrative control in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been scrapped as it failed to get regulatory approval.

Spokesman of MCB told Geo News that under the agreement MCB was to acquire 99.37 percent shares of RBS by December 31. However, the acquisition failed to get approval from Pakistani regulator in the stipulated time and as a result the contract now stands scrapped.

EPZA aims to attract more foreign investment

Wednesday, December 23, 2009
By our correspondent

KARACHI: The Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA) seeks long-term planning to bring diversity to the special economic zone for exporters in a bid to expand foreign investment.

Federal Minister for Industries and Production Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani visited the Karachi Export Processing Zone (KEPZ), here on Tuesday, where EPZA Chairman Aftab Memon and other senior officials briefed him on issues about functioning of the authority.

S. Korean group to invest in power sector

ISLAMABAD: The Lotte Group of South Korea, considered as eighth-largest conglomerate of Korea, has expressed interest in making investment in infrastructure, power and energy sector, as well as financial services, chemicals, electronic product and fast-food chains in Pakistan.

A 15-member delegation from the group, led by Min Han Kim, held talks with chairman, Board of Investment, and Minister of State Mohammad Saleem H Mandviwalla and other senior officials of the board in Islamabad on Wednesday.

Rupee depreciation

The latest speculative attack on the rupee was not unexpected following the State Bank’s announcement that it will shift the entire burden of arranging foreign currency for making crude-oil-import payments on the private sector from Dec 14. 
 
But the assumption that speculators will cause the rupee to fall sharply any time soon, just as they led it to cumulatively lose almost a quarter of its value in 2008, looks weak. The macro economy is stabilising and the IMF is expected to release the third stand-by-loan tranche of $1.2bn shortly. That should shore up the country’s import cover to seven months and reduce pressure on the rupee. We also know that the State Bank’s decision to transfer the burden of furnace-oil and diesel payments to the private sector in January and August brought the rupee under pressure. The exchange rate has depreciated but only gradually, by 0.5 per cent a month, since February because of higher inflation. Barring isolated speculative raids on the currency, the trend should continue during the rest of the fiscal year.