News Updates

Tuesday, July 15, news 2014 updates

Office # 05, Ground Floor, Arshad Mansion, Near Chowk A.G Office, Nabha Road Lahore. Ph. 042-37350473 Cell # 0300-8848226 NEWS OF Mail to: [email protected], [email protected] THE DAY PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 NEWS HEADLINES Top Stories ...... 5 Pakistan-India trade: prospects of bilateralism bleakened ...... 5 Operation, facilitation of IDPs: adequate resources to be made available: Dar ...... 6 Chairman PTI annoyed with Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...... 6 Hospital, colleges to be set up in North Waziristan: Shahbaz ...... 7 BoI prepares business improvement plan ...... 8 Government welcomes Moody's bond upgrade to stable ...... 10 No urea import from Iran due to curbs on POL items: National Assembly panel informed ...... 11 Citigroup to pay $7 billion to settle US mortgage suits ...... 13 Error in MEFP: Corrigendum submitted to IMF ...... 13 42 major cooperative schemes: FBR collecting data for CVT recovery ...... 14 Decision on increase in gas tariff put off ...... 16 Debt servicing: Pakistan to pay $1.3 billion to IMF in fiscal year 2015 ...... 17 Eighth NFC Award: process to be completed by fiscal year 2015-end ...... 18 Unscheduled load shedding being carried out, concedes Asif ...... 19 China, Pakistan, Malaysia list US greatest threat: Pew ...... 21 Stocks snap losing streak ...... 21 BRIndex30 256.8 points higher ...... 22 Business and Economy: Pakistan ...... 23 Eighth NFC Award: process to be completed by fiscal year 2015-end ...... 23 Pakistan-India trade: prospects of bilateralism bleakened ...... 24 KEPZ shows remarkable export increase in June ...... 25 Pak-China Economic Corridor: Prime Minister to chair steering committee meeting today ...... 26 Anjum Nisar appointed member of EPZA's BoD ...... 27 15 members of KCCI's MC to retire on September 30 ...... 27 Consumer Promotion campaign Samsung announces lucky winners ...... 28 Activity at Karachi and Qasim ports ...... 28 New pay scales for PRAL employees approved ...... 30 Government allocates Rs 39 billion for NHA projects in Sindh ...... 31 'Modaraba/Musharika' scam: affected people asked to submit claims within 15 days ...... 32 Company News: Pakistan ...... 33 Attock Refinery Limited ...... 33 Habib Metropolitan Bank declares PLS profit rates ...... 35

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Cotton and Textiles: Pakistan ...... 37 Cotton market: firm trend seen amid improved activity ...... 37 Textile minister to raise power supply issue with Nawaz ...... 38 Agriculture and Allied: Pakistan ...... 40 No urea import from Iran due to curbs on POL items: National Assembly panel informed ...... 40 July-May of fiscal year 2014: non-Basmati rice export records 15.64 percent growth ...... 41 Cotton, maize and sugarcane crops: met Office warns farmers of pest, viral attacks ...... 42 Daily trading report of PMEX ...... 43 Facilitating mango farms: government to introduce small hot water treatment plants: minister ...... 43 May tobacco export dips by 65.35 percent ...... 44 Taxation: Pakistan ...... 45 Certain field formations defying FTO''s orders ...... 45 Taxation: World ...... 47 WTO says US anti-dumping duties on Chinese products wrong ...... 47 Fuel and Energy: Pakistan ...... 48 Senate body visits Engro's Terminal Site at PQA ...... 48 Sehri, Iftar, Taraveeh: no respite from loadshedding ...... 48 Thar Coalfields' project: Sindh government fails to initiate 'Water Master Plan' ...... 50 Fuel and Energy: World ...... 51 World oil prices little changed ...... 51 Asian naphtha cracks higher ...... 52 Indonesia's coal production, exports up in H1 2014 ...... 52 Markets ...... 54 LSE gains 25.15 points ...... 54 ISE-10 index stays bullish ...... 54 Crackdown against profiteers; 390 fined, 30 arrested ...... 55 BR Research: All ...... 56 Coal projects: slow but progressing ...... 56 Pakistan charms Moodys ...... 57 Oops! He did it again ...... 58 Political capital slipping away ...... 59 Crime Records ...... 61 Lahore killings: chief minister's, others' phone numbers given to ISI ...... 61 Israeli aggression kills 5 in Gaza, toll exceeds 2012 war ...... 63 High laxity: Daylight robbery near Military Accounts office ...... 63

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Protest: Minority, religious groups censure Israeli aggression ...... 65 Modaraba scams: NAB asks victims to file claims within two weeks ...... 66 Catch and release: Escaped ‘kidnapper’ still on the lam ...... 67 Fight to continue till last militant is eliminated ...... 68 Model Town probe: Tribunal gets recording of CM-others talks ...... 69 Karachi: Suspected robber lynched in Orangi Town ...... 71 Evacuation of Mamond villages ordered ...... 72 Miscellaneous News ...... 73 Improvement: Moody’s revises outlook, Pakistan is now ‘stable’ ...... 73 Gems, jewellery: Company board lacks experienced professionals ...... 74 Mobilink to launch commercial 3G services on July 18 ...... 75 On the surge: NBP jumps on the Islamic banking bandwagon ...... 76 Steel sector: Steel re-rolling mills fear unrest if power cuts persist ...... 77 Export processing zones: Chief satisfied with Karachi unit’s performance ...... 78 FCCI to explore business during Shanghai trip ...... 79 European market: Bosan pleased with mangoes’ sale ...... 80 Pakistan Protection Act: ‘Act aims to contain militancy, extremism’ ...... 80 Exhibition: Calligraphic exhibition kicks off at RAC ...... 81 OPEN MARKET FOREX RATES ...... 82 INTER BANK RATES ...... 83 Bullion Rates (Gold Prices) in Pakistan Rupee (PKR) ...... 84

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Top Stories Pakistan-India trade: prospects of bilateralism bleakened

July 15, 2014

MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN

Any interest in trade liberalisation with Pakistan appears to have waned in India with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government expressing regret at scheduling a bilateral meeting between the two Commerce Ministers in Bhutan, well informed sources told Business Recorder.

In March this year the two countries were very close to clinching a deal on complete trade normalisation after Congress (I)-led government accepted Pakistan's demand to remove textile products from its negative list. However, Pakistan's federal cabinet which was to approve the deal documents, failed to give the approval at the eleventh hour because of what many believe were establishment's concerns while others maintain that Pakistan's High Commissioner to New Delhi did not favour any trade deal on the eve of Indian elections.

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs which represents establishment's concerns, maintains that any positive development on trade with India should be linked with progress on thorny issues that include Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek and water disputes; however Commerce Ministry urges a de-linking of trade from other thorny issues. The commerce and trade ministers of member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) are due to meet in Bhutan this month to discuss progress on South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). According to sources, Pakistan had formally requested the Indian government to schedule a bilateral meeting between Commerce Ministers of the two countries on the sidelines of SAFTA meeting, but New Delhi has expressed its inability to arrange the meeting.

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has conveyed to the Commerce Ministry that India has expressed regret in arranging a meeting with the Commerce Minister in Bhutan because of other prior engagements of Indian Commerce Minister. At a recent meeting with a group of journalists, Commerce Minister, after Narendra Modi became prime minister stated that "we got some positive signals for trade normalisation. However, if you ask me if the new Indian government is ready to ink trade deal with Pakistan which had been worked out with the Congress government, then I am not in a position to respond in the same way as the Foreign Office which wants to link trade deal with development on other thorny issues".

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Operation, facilitation of IDPs: adequate resources to be made available: Dar

July 15, 2014

Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Ishaq Dar here on Monday assured the Director General (Budget), Pakistan Army Major General Mohammad Tauqeer Ahmad that adequate resources will be provided for the military operation and facilitation of internally displaced persons. He said this while talking to Major General Mohammad Tauqeer Ahmad, DG (Budget), Pakistan Army who called on the Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar at Finance Ministry today and discussed budget related issues.

The Finance Minister assured the Director General that adequate resources will be provided for the military operation and facilitation of internally displaced persons. He informed that re- imbursement on account of CSF is on track. He further emphasised that all relief measures for IDPs should be combined to make it effective and efficient. The meeting was also attended by Finance Secretary, Dr Waqar Masood Advisor to the Finance Ministry, Rana Assad Amin Additional Finance Secretary/SA to Finance Minister, Shahid Mahmood and senior officials of the Finance Ministry.

July 15, 2014

Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan has questioned the Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Sardar Mehtab Abbasi why the CM Punjab Shahbaz Sharif was received against all protocol norms. He pointed out that when the CM KP visited Punjab the Governor Punjab did not receive him. Khan said the Sharifs are creating an oligarchy in Pakistan, undermining democracy, by placing family and friends in official positions.

Imran Khan alleged that Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) led central and Punjab government were aggravating the feeling of deprivation in the smaller provinces by depriving them of their fair share of resources, many of which come from these provinces. He said that Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Sharjeel Memon had recently protested about the manner in which the federal government was trying to intrude into the affairs of the Sindh government. "Their myopic vision sees Pakistan as Punjab and Punjab as Raiwind," according to him. Imran Khan also criticised the federal government's refusal to aid the KP government in the ongoing IDP crisis where 900000 IDPs have now registered themselves in Bannu after fleeing the military operation in NWA. This had strained the resources of the KP government which was providing assistance to the IDPs despite its limited capacity. Hospitals are overstretched; doctors and medicines are in short supply and the threat of epidemics is looming large but the federal government is unmoved.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Their focal person is nowhere to be found on the ground in Bannu.

Even more shameful has been the federal government's severing of electricity supply to 30 villages around Bannu. "We keep hearing of the federal government releasing money for the IDPs but where is it going? It is certainly not being given to the KP government which is bearing the brunt alone especially since international aid agencies and NGOs are not being permitted to assist the KP government in its relief efforts," Khan asserted. He added that the situation has turned KP into a calamity-hit area but the federal government is refusing to declare the province as such.

The pleas of the CM KP have gone unheard by the Centre at a time when KP in undergoing a severe humanitarian crisis. Now one hears that the PM is off for a week to Saudi Arabia at a time when he should be devoting his resources and time to steering the country out of the IDP crisis by giving visible leadership.

This inhumane approach of the federal government to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in KP and towards the long-suffering people of FATA is reflective of the tunnel vision of the rulers who cannot empathise and understand the needs of the smaller provinces. Even within Punjab they cannot see beyond Lahore and Raiwind. Khan said it was unacceptable to have a single family oligarchy destroying the national fabric of Pakistan. Their lack of concern for the poor people of Pakistan has become only too evident in the IDP crisis.

July 15, 2014

Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif said here on Monday that Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of North Waziristan Agency (NWA) had left their homes for the sake of the country and the entire nation stood with them in the hour of trial and tribulations. He said durable peace would return to the country after success of the operation in NWA.

He was addressing IDPs here after reaching on a brief visit to appraise the government arrangements made for assistance of the IDPs. The Chief Minister announced the establishment of a hospital, a technical college and a girls college in NWA and a relief package for the IDPs. He said government was well aware about the problems of the IDPs and would utilise all available resources for their assistance, rehabilitation and a dignified resettlement.

He said that the entire nation supported the ongoing operation "Zarb-e-Azb", adding it was in fact a war for the survival and protection of the country. The terrorists had paralysed life through their unlawful activities in the country and there was no way except to launch a major operation to flush them out, he added. Shahbaz lauded the sacrifices of brave soldiers for the defence of the country.

He was of the view that action initiated by the Pakistan Army would make the country peaceful

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 and durable peace would return to restive North Waziristan Agency soon. Governor KPK Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, Prime Minister, Advisor, Engr Amir Muqam and Commissioner Bannu Syed Mohsin Ali Shah also accompanied the Chief Minister. Earlier, he was informed that the number of IDPs had soared to about 900,000, including nearly 5000 who were registered in Peshawar.

Soon after his arrival in the city, Shahbaz Sharif was briefed about the activities in IDP camps and facilities being provided there. He also met the displaced people. Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan said that the operation Zarb-e-Azb was aimed at bringing a permanent peace in the country, including the tribal areas.

He said the government tried its level best to resolve the issue of militancy through a dialogue but had to launch the "Zarb-e-Azb" after the failure of dialogue process. He appreciated the cooperation and relief provided by the Punjab government and its people for IDPs.

July 15, 2014

WASIM IQBAL

The Board of Investment (BoI) has prepared a business improvement plan in consultation with key stakeholders and provincial governments with an objective to creating a conducive business environment. The plan will be implemented in two phases. In the short-run, as a pilot project, specific attention would be given to the improvement of various procedures involved in improvement of the city of Karachi, which is business hub and also serve as a representative of economy of Pakistan in the World Bank Doing Business Report.

In the long-run, a regular review will also be undertaken by considering interdepartmental integration and removal of redundant processes, if any. The plan's Phase-I is focused on the five business indicators mentioned in the 'Ease of Doing Business Report' of the World Bank. The focus of the plan is on starting a business, dealing with construction permits, paying taxes, trading across borders and enforcing contracts.

Under the IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF), the government is committed to improving business climate and to make a viable time bound implementation plan which will also be shared with the IMF. The BoI, being the investment promotion agency, has given the lead role to formulate a workable plan for improving business climate. A technical committee was constituted comprising representatives of federal & provincial stakeholders and representatives of the business community to work on Ease of Doing Business. The focus was to simplify the procedures & processes and to reduce the time & cost involved at various stages of business cycle.

During Musharraf government in 2006, Pakistan was ranked 61, which gradually slid to 110 in 2014. To improve the business climate in the country, BoI held meetings with Finance Division, SECP, EOBI, FBR, provincial governments including provincial departments (labour, social

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 security, excise & taxation, works departments), including private sector.

The government is committed, in consultation with Finance Division, SECP, FBR and EOBI, to complete establishment of a virtual One-Stop-Shop (OSS for limited liability companies; establish physical OSSs for limited liability companies in at least two provinces; and approve framework and strategy for registration of Non-LLCs (Limited Liability Companies).

Pakistan though is not far behind on ease of doing business as compared to the regional countries. By comparing the countries' ranking for last two years, ranking of the regional countries have also fallen except for Malaysia and Turkey. To improve the 'starting a business' certain steps will be taken to reduce procedures require to complete the business registration process as well as cost. In the work plan, a Virtual One Stop Shop (VOSS) would be installed by end of September 2014 to ease down business registration procedures of LLCs related to SECP, FBR and EOBI.

Once the Virtual One Stop Shop is operational, it will result in reduction of 2 procedures and 3 days for starting a business, in terms of the WB Doing Business methodology. A physical OSS will be developed by September 2015 initially at Lahore followed by other provincial capitals. The board is also preparing a concept paper in collaboration with Finance Division for mandatory business registration. Implementation of unique ID concept is part of concept paper which considers SECP registration as Corporate Universal Identification Number (CUIN) as the proposal would entail active collaboration amongst all the concerned authorities and may also require changes in their respective legal framework.

As per World Bank Report, dealing with construction permits in Karachi requires 11 procedures, takes 222 days and costs 190.4 percent of per capita income. Seven out of Eleven Procedures pertains to SBCA. To address this issue, the action plan includes rationalisation of inspection procedures to reduce at least 30 days in overall time involved and to reduce at least two procedures. At second step, it will bring improvement in co-ordination between the utilities agencies, ie, KESC, KWSB, SGC, Sub-registrar and district administration and policy authority. The BoI will be able to complete this by June 2017 deadline.

Inspection procedures are being rationalised by Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) and it will take 186 days to complete the inspection procedure instead of 222 days as reported by the World Bank. After taking these steps, in case of obtaining a building permit it will take 30 to 45 days instead of 60 days as reported in the World Bank report. Similarly, it will take maximum 30 days to receive a completion certificate instead of 51 days reported by the World Bank. Hence, there would be net reduction of 36 days to complete above two procedures.

Improvement in co-ordination mechanism will result in reduction of time involved. It will also curb the illegal construction activity in Sindh particularly in Karachi. For easing down procedures of tax payment for foreign companies, it has been committed that by June 2015, simplification and integration of federal and provincial taxes will be introduced. Infrastructure cess will be 100 percent computerised. Motoring public will be facilitated to pay motor vehicle tax in their respective districts. Registration facilities of new motor vehicles at all regional headquarters through 12 National Bank of Pakistan online authorised branches linked with Main Server at Civic Center Karachi will be available. 100 percent computerised demand challans for professional tax will be available and property tax system will be computerised.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 For improving trading across borders, most of the initiatives started by the government to improve road and rail, transportations will be completed by end June 2016. A pilot reform project at Wagha will be completed by June 2017. IFC of the World Bank has already initiated collaboration with FBR to pilot reforms project at Wagha Border for the facilitation of importers and exporters.

By June 2015, it will improve awareness about automation of the on line customs procedures. The government hoped to improve trade infrastructure will reduce the travelling time from cities to borders. Improvement infrastructure at Wagha Border will reduce time and cost with respect to import and export. The project will be replicated in other Border ports of the country.

At the side of 'Enforcing Contracts' action plans include the implementation of various MoUs signed by Karachi Centre for Dispute Resolution (KCDR) with other organisation eg, KCCI, SECP, and ICAP and enforcement of State Bank's regulation recommending banks to resolve disputes in respect of non-performing loans and cases of small business loans through mediation at KCDR.

The government has already set up a committee to develop and implement an electronic case management system, especially at the lower judiciary level. ADR Centre at Islamabad will be established by June 2015. The Board will work with Ministry of Law and Commerce for early approval of Sindh Mediation Act proposed by KCDR; amendments in section 89 A, Civil Procedure Code and enforcement of relevant provisions of law relating to mediation.

The government is working for early disposal of disputes through ADR mechanism. Increased geographical coverage of ADR mechanism will enable a higher proportion of businesses to reach timely out of court settlement of their commercial disputes. Better case management and development of specialised tribunals to improve existing court processes.

Approval of Sindh Mediation Act proposed by KCDR, amendments to Section 89 A, Civil Procedure Code and enforcement of relevant provisions of laws relating to mediation will further improve the ADR mechanism. Remarkable reduction in huge backlog of pending cases involving commercial disputes. Considerable reduction in time, cost and procedure for resolving disputes of commercial nature including government revenue, etc.

July 15, 2014

Pakistan sovereign dollar bonds were trading up after Moody's Investors Service upgraded the country's foreign currency government bond rating from negative to stable on Monday, a move that the finance minister hailed as the fruits of reform. Those due in 2019 were half a point higher at 103.5-104.5 cents on the dollar for a yield of around 6.3 percent. The bonds due in 2024 were also half a point higher at 104.75-105.75 for a yield of around 7.5 percent.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Moody's said the government's issuer rating and senior unsecured rating remained at Caa1. "Moody's decision to revise the outlook on Pakistan's foreign currency rating is primarily based on a stabilisation in the country's external liquidity position, supported by the government's strong commitment to reforms under an ongoing programme with the

International Monetary Fund," the firm said. Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves increased to $9.0 billion by the end of June 2014 from a low of $2.9 billion in early February 2014. The country benefited from a new IMF programme, bilateral assistance and government deals that included the auctioning of 3G and 4G licences. A Eurobond sale in April also raised $2 billion.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the upgrade was a vote of faith in the government's reform programme in a statement issued by the ministry. "As a result of hard work, commitment and financial discipline introduced by the government that the world has changed its outlook towards Pakistan," he said.

The IMF programme will disburse $6.7 billion over three years if the government institutes reform. Those include privatising some loss-making state industries, closing some tax loopholes and reforming the country's troubled energy sector. Almost all wealthy Pakistanis, including most legislators, pay extremely small amounts of tax. Recent initiatives to increase tax collection have disproportionately hit poor Pakistanis. Daily blackouts are crippling the economy, leading to widespread unemployment and unrest.

Reform will be difficult, Moody's acknowledged, but "a stalling of the ongoing IMF program, a deterioration in the external payments position or a worsening political environment would be viewed as credit negative." Eleven out of 12 IMF programs since 1998 have been scrapped or abandoned because Pakistan failed to institute reforms.

July 15, 2014

MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN

National Assembly's Standing Committee on Commerce was informed on Monday that Pakistan cannot import cheap urea from Iran because of restrictions on petroleum-related products but India is free to import Iranian urea. This was disclosed by Chairman Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), Rizwan Ahmad during a presentation to the committee. Minister for Commerce, Engineer Khurram Dastgir also attended the meeting.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 under discussion, Minister for Commerce, Khurram Dastgir said the role of the Commerce Ministry is limited only to import, adding that other matters are dealt with by Ministry of Industries and Production and its attached department, ie, National Fertilizer Marketing Limited (NFML).

He, however, revealed that import or export of much needed commodities have lately landed in the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet due to which vulnerable sections of society do not benefit from government decisions. He said there should be a proper mechanism for import and export of commodities in time. "The government is evaluating different options including timing of export or import of commodities so that people can benefit," he maintained.

The Commerce Minister also sought the opinion of the standing committee about the future of cotton procurement centres as, according to him, TCP has not been involved in cotton procurement operation since 2009. Standing Committee Chairman Siraj Muhammad Khan said that if these centres are not generating funds, there is no need to hold onto them. Some of the members of standing committee proposed that the government should give cotton procurement centres to private sector.

Chairman TCP informed the committee that he has already started revamping the godowns at Port Qasim Authority (PQA) and requested the Chairman PQA to get TCP godowns on rent. The commerce minister also sought collective wisdom of the standing committee on future of TCP's regional office is Gwadar which is only meant to handle urea import as no other activity is currently ongoing at Gwadar Port.

The minister maintained that the cost of regional office is too high besides other issues which he did not mention. Chairman TCP informed the committee that six sugar mills did not allow lifting of 7,400 MT sugar procured in 2007-08 despite receiving the entire payment. He said the TCP cannot pay more than Rs 100,000 to the lawyer due to which the issue is pending in litigation. He said TCP has imported wheat since 2009.

Earlier, Secretary Commerce informed the committee that a summary has been sent to the Prime Minister for appointment of Chairman State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan. He said, Islamabad High Court had declared the notifications of 28 public sector entities null and void. However, the government has filed an appeal against the decision. He said the Commerce Ministry has amended SLIC Rules in consultation with Ministry of Law and Justice so as to run daily affairs of the organisation.

In reply to a question, representatives of SLIC informed the committee that railway passengers' insurance scheme has been abandoned. They maintained that accidental death insurance scheme of Rs 100,000 has been launched in Punjab and KPP as pilot project. Federal government is also considering launching insurance scheme for critical diseases.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Citigroup to pay $7 billion to settle US mortgage suits

July 15, 2014

Citigroup said Monday that it will pay $7 billion to settle allegations that it misled investors in its sale of mortgage-linked securities ahead of the financial crisis. Citi said the settlement with the US Department of Justice and other government bodies resolves "substantially all" of its litigation on mortgages through 2008. The bank will take a $3.8 billion pre-tax charge to cover the settlement. The huge charge dragged Citi's second-quarter earnings down 96 percent to $181 million, the bank said.

Under the mortgage settlement, Citigroup will pay $4.5 billion in cash and $2.5 billion in consumer relief. The cash component consists of a $4.0 billion civil penalty to the Justice Department. Consumer relief includes financing for the construction of affordable rental housing and principal reduction. Citi said the settlement will allow it to close the books on a messy set of civil claims.

"We believe that this settlement is in the best interests of our shareholders, and allows us to move forward and to focus on the future, not the past," said Citigroup chief executive Michael Corbat. Besides the huge legal charge, Citi's second-quarter earnings were marred by an industry-wide drop in trading revenue that is also expected to hit J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and others when they report earnings later this week.

Those effects were offset by lower operating costs following corporate reorganisations, better credit quality and improved results in several categories of investment banking. Excluding the legal settlement, Citi's results translated to profits of $1.24 per share, much better than the $1.05 projected by analysts. Including the legal charges, earnings were just three cents per share. Revenues dropped to $19.3 billion from $20.5 billion a year ago. Analysts had projected revenues of $18.9 billion. Citi shares rose 3.9 percent to $48.82 in pre-market trade.

The Citi settlement comes amid a broader US government fraud crackdown on large banks, and follows a similar $13 billion US mortgage deal with J.P. Morgan Chase. The government also is in talks with Bank of America about a potential settlement. In recent weeks, the Justice Department has also extracted guilty pleas from French bank BNP Paribas and Switzerland's Credit Suisse for cases involving, respectively, violations of US economic sanctions and the enabling of tax evasion.

July 15, 2014

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 ZAHEER ABBASI & WAQAR LILLAH

Finance Ministry claims that a corrigendum has been dispatched to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on rectification of an 'inadvertent' oversight with regard to country's GDP growth rate in Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP). An official of Finance Ministry stated that the corrigendum was communicated to the IMF on Saturday.

The official was not ready to share the one page corrigendum claimed to have been submitted to the IMF with this correspondent. He added that the Finance Ministry has clarified the media reports of a discrepancy in the GDP figure for 2013-14 in the MEFP for the third quarter review under the IMF program as a typographic error.

The Finance Ministry in a press release stated that "on perusal of the Memorandum it transpired that due to inadvertent oversight the expected GDP growth of 4.3 % was mentioned as 3.3 % whereas for the year 2014-15, the GDP expansion of around 4 % was mentioned instead of 5 %. The official stated that the Finance Minister has always maintained that GDP would remain over 4 per cent in 2013-14 and even stated during a press briefing along with Jeffery Frank Chief head of the IMF staff level mission at the conclusion of third review.

"The fourth review of economic performance of the country under $6.64 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) is likely to be held next month and all the issues including growth rate would be further clarified," the official added. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said on Monday that it has communicated a GDP growth rate of 4.1 per cent to the Finance Ministry and is ready to defend its stance at any forum.

Talking to Business Recorder Chief Statistician, PBS Asif Bajwa said that Finance Ministry was responsible for creating confusion on the issue by giving a 3.3 per cent growth rate in Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) submitted to IMF after the conclusion of third review.

Bajwa added that PBS calculated 4.1 per cent GDP growth rate on the basis of performance of various sectors of the economy. "We stick to 4.1 GDP, which was mentioned in budget as well as announced by the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on the floor of the parliament", he added. When asked about the growth rate mentioned in MEFP, he said 3.3 per cent GDP was noted by Finance Ministry in the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP), which was inaccurate and does not match PBS figure for last fiscal year. He said PBS is not responsible for the 'typo mistake'.

July 15, 2014

SOHAIL SARFRAZ

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation Inland Revenue (IR) Islamabad is actively collecting data of buyers and sellers of properties from 42 major cooperative housing societies/schemes within Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) for recovery of evaded amount of 2 percent capital value tax (CVT) on property transactions.

Sources told Business Recorder here on Monday that on specific directions of the Director General I&I IR Ijaz Hussain Shah, the agency has launched recovery drive from the housing societies that failed to collect CVT from buyers within the jurisdiction of the ICT. The random checking of records of all 42 top housing societies of Islamabad would be carried out for recovery of the unpaid amount of CVT on property transactions.

As a result of on-going exercise, the directorate of intelligence IR Islamabad is confident to recover the whole amount of the unpaid amount of CVT during 2014-15. The agency would ensure that the property should not be further transferred to any new buyer till the CVT has bee paid by the last buyer. Only in one case of a leading housing society of Islamabad, 630 buyers have not paid Rs 300-350 million CVT involved in their transactions.

Sources said that the prices and values of commercial and residential property including plots, houses, flats and apartments have shown considerable increase within the limits of federal capital. Federal government is legally empowered to collect the CVT within the jurisdiction of the ICT. The potential of the CVT in federal capital is very high due to day by day raise in property prices in the ICT. Housing societies have created an impression that the CVT applicable on immovable property is payable after full payments made by the purchasers. The law does not specify that the CVT payment would be made on complete payments of instalments. The CVT is applicable on the value of the properties and such values are fixed at the time of purchase of plots, houses/shops and apartments etc. The amount and mode of payment of property has been agreed between housing societies and buyers before payment of first instalment. If the government waits for CVT collection after full payment of the price of the property, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) cannot get the actual CVT due to be paid by each buyer and investors. It is observed that the investors earn profit and run away without payment of the due amount of the said CVT.

Every year, thousands of property transactions took place within the jurisdiction of ICT, but the Regional Tax Office (RTO) Islamabad has not given any priority to the CVT recovery from the concerned buyers. The CVT sources included Capital Development Authority (CDA), cooperative housing societies, federal government employees housing foundation etc. The mode of transactions included purchase of property files and purchase of property on attorney and transfer of property, etc.

One of the Islamabad's leading housing societies is engaged in massive campaign through advertisements. The record obtained from the said society revealed that it has been engaged in selling of large size plots to potential buyers with no collection of the CVT on such transactions. The record further disclosed that the plots have been sold at a very expensive price, but CGT has not been charged. It was wrongly argued by the society that the CVT would be collected after complete payments deposited by the buyers.

According to the data, around 630 purchases have not been subjected to the CVT involving an amount of Rs 300-350 million. The directorate of intelligence I&I IR Islamabad has adopted two-prone strategy to deal with the issue. The purchasers of properties have been specifically

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 confronted to pay the CVT and also explain source of investment. Secondly, the agency has also directed the concerned housing society not to transfer the property till full payment of the CVT in future. In 630 cases, the housing society should play its due role in recovery of the CVT from purchasers as it is their legal obligation to pay the due amount of the CVT. Till deposit of the CVT by the buyers, the properties should not be further transferred.

The agency would also ensure that the property could not be transferred till the CVT has been duly paid by the buyer. Now onwards, the directorate is making serious efforts to check cases where properties are being transferred through the power of attorneys or affidavits, but full amount of CVT has not bee deposited. The CVT is applicable on each transfer of residential and commercial property. It is being ensured that property be transferred or attested in buyer's own name when CVT has been paid. This would also discourage investor and only genuine buyers would be engaged in transactions after payment of the due amount of the CVT, they said. The directorate of intelligence IR Islamabad has also obtained the relevant records from the Federal Housing Foundation for cross matching the data with the FBR's database of computerised payment receipts (CPR) to identify defaulters, they added.

July 15, 2014

ABDUL RASHEED AZAD

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources has decided not to increase gas tariff for all the categories of consumers, it is learnt. Earlier on July 3, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) approved a 14 percent increase in gas tariff for all gas consumers, but now the petroleum ministry high-ups have postponed the decision due to precarious political satiation and a petition field by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Member National Assembly (MNA) Asad Umar against the Ogra decision.

The ministry has decided that for the time being gas prices will not go up for the domestic consumers while for other sectors of economy, new prices would soon be announced. The sources said the government had also considered increasing the price of compressed natural gas (CNG) by Rs 10 per kg to Rs 25 per kg, while consumers had to bear additional Rs 49 billion burden following Ogra's decision to increase the tariff for the on-going financial year.

"The Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) has yet not issued any policy guidelines regarding gas tariff hike and now we will be in a position to notify new gas tariff after the apex court decides the petition filed by Asad Umar and normalisation of political situation," a senior petroleum ministry official said.

Sources said Asad Umar on Thursday filed a petition before the apex court, requesting a restraint from the Ministry of Petroleum and Ogra to increase the Unaccounted for Gas (UfG) benchmark from 4.5 percent to nine percent, pleading that if it was done, the helpless gas consumers would have to bear the brunt. The ministry has already forwarded a summary to the ECC for setting UfG benchmark at 9 percent and if the summary is approved the gas consumers will have to pay

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 an additional Rs 49 billion on account of UfG gas consumption.

A senior official at the ministry of petroleum on condition of anonymity said a final decision on either to pass on gas tariff increase to consumers or not would be made after the apex court verdict. Ogra on the request of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) has approved gas tariff for the current financial year.

The body has approved an increase of Rs 58.29 per mmbtu for gas consumers of SNGPL, which is 14 percent higher than the current tariff. After the approval, new gas tariff for SNGPL consumers, gas prices on the network of SNGPL has reached Rs 464.94 per mmbtu which will enhance the SNGPL revenue by Rs 29 billion per annum. The authority has approved an increase of Rs 22.90 per mmbtu in gas tariff for SSGC and has fixed at Rs 469 per mmbtu. Sources said if the petroleum ministry high-ups are deciding not to increase the gas tariff, the government will have to subsidise gas. A final notification will be issued on the advice of the petroleum ministry.

July 15, 2014

RIZWAN BHATTI

Pakistan is to pay some $1.3 billion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in FY15 as debt servicing on account of Stand-by-Arrangement (SBA) and other loans. Sources told Business Recorder on Monday that repayments during this fiscal year are much lower than previous year as the country has already made major debt payments to the IMF in FY14.

"Payment of $1.15 billion to the IMF during second quarter of FY14 was the peak of the loan repayment schedule and despite a challenge of depleting forex reserves, Pakistan successfully managed all payment," they said. Now, the situation is much better, supported by rising foreign inflows. Debt servicing during this fiscal year will not put any pressure on the country's forex reserves, they added.

After the third review of Extended Fund Facility (EFF), the IMF has updated projected payments schedule. As per the updated schedule, already agreed between Pakistan and the IMF, the country is required to pay Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) 845.655 million to the IMF in FY14. In terms of dollar, the due amount, in this fiscal year, has been calculated around $1.325 billion.

These payments include some seven instalments of Stand-By Arrangements (SBA) loan, one repayment of Principal-Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and four instalments of Emergency Assistance - Natural Disasters. While the remaining due amount is on account of different charges that includes four payments of General Resources Account (GRA) charges and four instalments of Net SDR charges.

Major amount is due on account of SBA programme, availed in November 2008 to avoid default.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 The SBA's scheduled payments included some seven instalments amounting to SDRs 671 million. In terms of dollar, it has been calculated approximately $1 billion. All seven SBA payments have the same amount of SDR 95.837 million. The first payment worth SDR 17.228 million of ECF was due on July 9, 2014, which already been paid to the IMF. While, the second repayment of this fiscal year amounting to SDR 5.615 million is due on August 1, 2014 on account of GRA charges.

Sources said following the previous practices, these payments will be made from the reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). After facing a drastic decline during the last year, presently, the country's total liquid forex reserve are gradually increasing and surged to over $14 billion. The country's total forex reserves have reached $14.638 billion as on July 4, 2014 compared to $13.99 billion as on June 27, 2014. Reserved held by SBP stood at $9.602 billion and banks $5.03 billion.

In addition, Pakistan has obtained another programme Extended Fund Facility (EFF) amounting to $6.7 billion from the IMF in September last year to strengthen the depleting forex reserves. The EFF is a three-year concessional loan facility, with an interest charge of 3 percent and a repayment period of up to 10 years. Pakistan has received so far three instalments from the Fund. Economists said debt servicing to the IMF will not put pressure on the country's forex reserves as scheduled payments during FY15 are much lower than previous year. They said the country's forex reserves posted a massive increase during last three months supported by issuance of Eurobond and inflows from a friendly country.

July 15, 2014

AAMIR SAEED

The federal government plans to start negotiations for the 8th National Finance Commission award with the provinces and the process may take an entire year to complete. In the Memorandum on Economic and Financial Policies signed with the International Monetary Fund, the government committed to establishing a new National Finance Commission by end-August.

"It isn't an easy thing to do. The consultations on the NFC award may consume the whole fiscal year to produce a consensus result," Secretary Finance Dr Waqar Masood told Business Recorder on Monday. He, however, said that the government plans to complete the NFC award process by the end of the fiscal year 2014-15. "It's premature to say anything about what will come up in the negotiations with the provinces," he said. The secretary said the government is committed to strengthening the provinces by distributing a fair share of resources amongst them. "We hope the commission will listen to all the stakeholders to come up with a unanimous award," he said.

"The government will seek a new agreement that will ensure that the terms of fiscal

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 decentralisation find a balance between devolution of revenue and expenditure responsibilities and is consistent with the imperatives of macroeconomic stability," the memorandum reads. The government also commits in the memorandum that it will seek technical assistance from the international partners on best practices in sustainable federal-provincial fiscal relations.

Under successive constitutional amendments (most recently the 18th), Pakistan has moved decisively to a more decentralised federal system of government, the memorandum says. "The most recent NFC award granted 57.5 percent of the most revenues to the provinces, along with a substantial devolution of spending responsibilities and taxation authority in agriculture, property and services," the memorandum notes.

The government commits to ensuring the achievement of the fiscal targets in FY 2014/15, and following last year's agreement under the Council of Common Interest, and claims that the provincial financial secretaries have agreed to increase provincial budget surpluses consistent with the programme. In addition, the federal government is encouraging the provinces to balance their budgets and has provided incentives to them to maintain surpluses, the government claims in the memorandum. The 7th NFC award was signed in March 2010 during the previous PPP-led coalition government's last year of its tenure.

The National Finance Commission is constituted under Article 160(1) of the 1973 constitution and proposed to be held at the intervals of five years. Its members are Federal Finance Minister (Chairman), all provincial finance ministers and other relevant experts which the president may appoint after consultation with provincial governors.

July 15, 2014

MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN

Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif on Monday acknowledged that unscheduled load shedding has been unleashed as shortfall is hovering around 7000 MW. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has summoned the team of Ministry of Water and Power on Tuesday (today) to grill them for not taking concrete measures to manage loadshedding in Ramazan. People across Pakistan are cursing the government for unscheduled loadshedding especially at Sehri, Iftar and Traveeh.

"We have to opt unannounced loadshedding to save the system after 1500 Megawatt (MW) of power went out of the system due to shut down of some power plants,' said the Minister in a hurriedly called press conference. Well informed sources told Business Recorder that the Prime Minister's power sector team lacks understanding as both the Ministers are busy in political statements whereas Secretary is spending her most of the time on petty issues instead of policy matters.

Giving the Ministry's position on current power crisis, the Minister for Water and Power said

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 that 1500 MW power disappeared from the system due to default in two transformers placed in Lahore, causing a decline in generation from 15500 MW to 13000 MW whereas demand had hiked 19000 to 20,000 MW, forcing the government to opt forced loadshedding. He said that power shortfall had swelled up 6000 to 7000 MW. The situation is improved now after some power is back on and it will become better in coming few days," he said adding that the government was providing uninterrupted power supply to the industry for the last ten months. "There have been protest in the corresponding period last year but there is no such situation at present," he claimed.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 China, Pakistan, Malaysia list US greatest threat: Pew

July 15, 2014

China's neighbours are increasingly anxious that Beijing's maritime disputes with countries like Vietnam and the Philippines will lead to military conflict, a US research group said in findings released Monday. Even in China itself, polling showed that 62 percent of the public worried that territorial disputes between China and its neighbours could lead to an armed conflict, according to a broad study conducted in 44 countries by the Pew Research Center.

"This year in all 11 Asian nations polled, roughly half or more say they are concerned that territorial disputes between China and its neighbours will lead to a military conflict," the study found. At 93 percent, Filipinos were most concerned, followed by the Japanese at 85 percent, Vietnamese at 84 percent and South Koreans at 83 percent, according to Pew.

Beijing and Hanoi in particular are embroiled in an increasingly heated territorial row. But the Asian giant has also seen tensions rise with Japan and the Philippines, both of which claim Beijing has taken inappropriate steps in the East and South China Seas, where claims of several island chains are under dispute.

July 15, 2014

The Karachi share market, on the commencement of the new week Monday, bounced back sharply, supported by institutional buying. The benchmark KSE-100 index gained 387.01 points to close at 29,705 points. Samar Iqbal, AVP at Topline Securities, said the institutional buying helped the index to recoup last week's losses. The 100-index increased by 1.26 percent. Volume rose by 66 percent to 91 million shares and value increased to Rs 6 billion, she added.

Moody's rating agency raised Pakistan debt outlook to stable from negative. Renewed interest in PSO helped the stock gain 4.70 percent with healthy volumes. PTC also rallied ahead of its result announcement tomorrow, Samar said. During the intra-day trading, the index reached 29,731.63 points highest and 29,312.36 points lowest level. Following a bullish trend, volume at the ready counter surged sharply to 91.08 million shares compared to 54.86 million shares in previous session. Market capitalisation climbed by Rs 71 billion to Rs 6.972 trillion against Rs 6.901 trillion Friday.

Trading took place in 332 companies, of which 206 closed in green zone, 92 companies in red while 34 landed in blue zone. Among top 10 volume leaders, except JS Bank Ltd, all companies recorded a positive trend. Lafarge Pak emerged volume leader with 5.69 million shares, up Re 0.22 to close at Rs 16.16. Pak Elektron Ltd stood second, up Rs 1.33 to close at Rs 28.04 on 5.59

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 million shares. Fauji Cement gained Re 0.37 to close at Rs 19.82 on 5 million shares.

JS Bank Ltd posted a negative trend, down Re 0.18 to close at Rs 5.51 on 4.34 million shares. Hascol Petrole with 3.27 million shares, closed at Rs 87.47, up Rs 4.16. P.T.C.L surged by Re 0.55 to close at Rs 26.58 on 3.25 million shares. Meaple Leaf Cement climbed by Re 0.42 closed at Rs 30.49 on 2.93 million shares. P.S.O gained Rs 16.89 to close at Rs 396.54 on 2.57 million shares. With a trading volume of 2.3 million shares, United Bank closed at Rs 168.47, up Rs 1.95. Engro Crop bagged Rs 4.76 to close at Rs 185.31 on 2.29 million shares.

Rafhan Maize and Murree Brewery were the top gainers with Rs 556.37 and Rs 28.52 to close at Rs 11,683.87 and Rs 937.60, respectively. Wyeth Pak Ltd and Mithchells Fruit were the worst losers with Rs 207.46 and Rs 13.99 to close at Rs 4,020.04 and Rs 656.00, respectively. Aruna Perchani, an analyst at Aba Ali Habib Securities, said the week started off on a positive note where KSE-100 index witnessed a 387 points increase. The prominent reasons behind this healthy activity were widespread rumours that that the finance minister has directed to resolve the brokers' tax-related concerns.

July 15, 2014

On Monday, BRIndex30 opened at 16,490.78 and remained positive throughout the trading session. It touched an intraday high of 16,770.94 and an intraday Low of 16,490.78 and closed at 16,747.58 which was 256.8 points or 1.56 percent higher than previous close. Total volume was 55,042,300, which was 60.43 percent of KSE All share volume and 90.14 percent of KSE 100 volume. The KSE All Share volume was 91,080,680 and KSE 100 volume was 61,060,270.

BR Commercial Banks Index Closed at 6,957.29 with a net positive change of 98.95 points or a percentage change of 1.44 and a total turnover of 19,666,200. BR Cement Index Closed at 3,271.62 with a net positive change of 43.22 points or a percentage change of 1.34 and a total turnover of 18,213,700. BR Oil and Gas Index closed at 4,147.69 with a net positive change of 56.6 points or a percentage change of 1.38 and a total turnover of 8,803,650.

BR Tech. & Comm. Index closed at 920.24 with a net positive change of 13.57 points or a percentage change of 1.5 and a total turnover of 4,672,000. BR Power Generation and Distribution Index closed at 4,576.53 with a net positive change of 62.68 points or a percentage change of 1.39 and a total turnover of 3,707,000.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Business and Economy: Pakistan Eighth NFC Award: process to be completed by fiscal year 2015-end

July 15, 2014

AAMIR SAEED

"It isn''t an easy thing to do. The consultations on the NFC award may consume the whole fiscal year to produce a consensus result," Secretary Finance Dr Waqar Masood told Business Recorder on Monday. He, however, said that the government plans to complete the NFC award process by the end of the fiscal year 2014-15. "It''s premature to say anything about what will come up in the negotiations with the provinces," he said. The secretary said the government is committed to strengthening the provinces by distributing a fair share of resources amongst them. "We hope the commission will listen to all the stakeholders to come up with a unanimous award," he said.

"The government will seek a new agreement that will ensure that the terms of fiscal decentralisation find a balance between devolution of revenue and expenditure responsibilities and is consistent with the imperatives of macroeconomic stability," the memorandum reads. The government also commits in the memorandum that it will seek technical assistance from the international partners on best practices in sustainable federal-provincial fiscal relations.

The government commits to ensuring the achievement of the fiscal targets in FY 2014/15, and following last year''s agreement under the Council of Common Interest, and claims that the provincial financial secretaries have agreed to increase provincial budget surpluses consistent with the programme. In addition, the federal government is encouraging the provinces to balance their budgets and has provided incentives to them to maintain surpluses, the government claims in the memorandum. The 7th NFC award was signed in March 2010 during the previous PPP-led coalition government''s last year of its tenure.

The National Finance Commission is constituted under Article 160(1) of the 1973 constitution and proposed to be held at the intervals of five years. Its members are Federal Finance Minister

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 (Chairman), all provincial finance ministers and other relevant experts which the president may appoint after consultation with provincial governors.

July 15, 2014

MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN

Any interest in trade liberalisation with Pakistan appears to have waned in India with Prime Minister Narendra Modi''s government expressing regret at scheduling a bilateral meeting between the two Commerce Ministers in Bhutan, well informed sources told Business Recorder.

In March this year the two countries were very close to clinching a deal on complete trade normalisation after Congress (I)-led government accepted Pakistan''s demand to remove textile products from its negative list. However, Pakistan''s federal cabinet which was to approve the deal documents, failed to give the approval at the eleventh hour because of what many believe were establishment''s concerns while others maintain that Pakistan''s High Commissioner to New Delhi did not favour any trade deal on the eve of Indian elections.

Pakistan''s Ministry of Foreign Affairs which represents establishment''s concerns, maintains that any positive development on trade with India should be linked with progress on thorny issues that include Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek and water disputes; however Commerce Ministry urges a de-linking of trade from other thorny issues. The commerce and trade ministers of member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) are due to meet in Bhutan this month to discuss progress on South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). According to sources, Pakistan had formally requested the Indian government to schedule a bilateral meeting between Commerce Ministers of the two countries on the sidelines of SAFTA meeting, but New Delhi has expressed its inability to arrange the meeting.

Pakistan''s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has conveyed to the Commerce Ministry that India has expressed regret in arranging a meeting with the Commerce Minister in Bhutan because of other prior engagements of Indian Commerce Minister. At a recent meeting with a group of journalists, Commerce Minister, after Narendra Modi became prime minister stated that "we got some positive signals for trade normalisation. However, if you ask me if the new Indian government is ready to ink trade deal with Pakistan which had been worked out with the Congress government, then I am not in a position to respond in the same way as the Foreign Office which wants to link trade deal with development on other thorny issues".

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 KEPZ shows remarkable export increase in June

July 15, 2014

Chairman 'EPZA Rabiya Javeri Agha has expressed satisfaction over consistent growth trends in EPZ exports recorded during last seven months. The Karachi Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) has achieved a significant export success by a raise of 43 percent in the month of June 2014.

The months of April, 14 and June, 14 set records of highest exports in any individual months over all the previous years. Annual exports for 2013-14 were US $363.13 million compared to $299.16 million in 2012-13, an overall increase of 26 percent. Gradually, signs of healthy resurgence of KEPZ export activities are being noted and are duly reflected in export growth which is pulling KEPZ out of its dormancy. This achievement becomes all the more important if analysed in context of 5 percent export drop in 2011-12 and two percent decline in 2012-13.

European Union (EU) is single largest export destination of Zone products with 38 percent market share, which itself displays existence of value-added manufacturing/quality compliances in the Zone. The other notable destinations include Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Reinvigoration of KEPZ industrial activities may be rightly attributed to exclusive efforts being made to improve its investment and business environment. These include consultations with Zone investors to resolve their immediate operational issues, facilitating sick units towards revival of operations, besides, exercising regulatory controls on import/export operations.

The Chairman 'EPZA also assigned EPZA Team comprising Umer Kazi, Secretary and Ms Shahida Qaiser , General Manager (North and Special initiatives) to finalise Roadmap for future projects aimed at image building of EPZs, and attracting FDI in value-added industries . It is noteworthy that many potential investors have shown their interest in putting up industries in KEPZ but plots possessions by sick units is an issue for which different revival packages backed by extension of utilities facilitations are being offered after obtaining investor's commitment to start operations by agreed deadline. This strategy is expected to yield results within six months to one year period. -PR

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Pak-China Economic Corridor: Prime Minister to chair steering committee meeting today

July 15, 2014

NAVEED BUTT

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today is scheduled to chair a Steering Committee on Energy Projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to discuss the concession sought by China over power purchase agreements and feasibility studies of coal-based projects, it is learnt. According to sources, China's companies are requesting concessions in power purchase agreements on coal-based power projects prior to investing in Pakistan.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister for Water and Power Khwaja Asif, Secretary Planning Hasan Nawaz Tarar, Secretary Water and Power Nargis Sethi and representatives from Ministry of Railways and Economic Affairs Division and others would participate in the meeting. The Chinese companies had sought concessions from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government on energy projects during the recent visit of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to China on July 6, 2014 after discussion of modalities of power purchase and payments related to coal-based power projects.

A meeting of Steering Committee on Energy Projects under CPEC was held with Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform in the chair on July 12 and it reviewed payment modalities of the power purchase agreements in case of coal-based projects. The sources said that the Steering Committee on Energy Projects has already reviewed the agreement but would now send it to the Prime Minister for final approval. Sources further said that technical experts of relevant ministries would then finally hold an internal meeting for deliberations and settlement of technical issues.

A meeting of Working Groups on Energy of the two countries would be held on August 4 in Beijing to finalise the agreements on the projects. The government has decided to amend the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) to facilitate Chinese companies to invest in Pakistan.

The sources said that Punjab Chief Minster during his visit to China invited Chinese companies to install coal power projects in Punjab. The sources said that Prime Minister Nawaz Shairf and Planning Commission did not agree to install coal projects in Punjab because imported coal would be used in these projects which would have to be transported from the port. They said the Punjab government has to face cost of transport to bring coal from Karachi or Gwadar ports to Punjab. Such projects should be launched near ports or in the area of Thar where coal is available, they added.

On the insistence of the Punjab Chief Minister, it was decided to install coal power projects in Punjab. The coal power projects which would be launched in Punjab are 2x660MW Coal Base

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Power Project, Sahiwal (District), 2x660MW Coal Base Power Project Rahim Yar Khan (District), 2x660MW Coal Base Power Project Jhang (District) and Solar Power Part Bahawalpur.

July 15, 2014

Vice Chairman Businessmen Group (BMG) and former President of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Anjum Nisar has been appointed as Member of the Board of Directors (BoD) of Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA). According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Industries and Production, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has approved the composition of EPZA's Board of Directors with immediate effect, said a press release of KCCI, here on Monday.

Anjum Nisar has served as a board member of Port Qasim Authority (PQA) and as a member of Businesspersons Council of Finance Division, Government of Pakistan. He has also represented KCCI as Member in various public sector bodies including the Advisory Committee of Ministry of Commerce, Advisory Committee of Ministry of Finance, Export Development Fund (EDF) - Ministry of Commerce, Sindh Public Procurement Regulatory Authority, Karachi Water & Sewerage Board etc.

Meanwhile, Chairman Businessmen Group and former President KCCI, Siraj Kassam Teli, Vice Chairmen BMG, Tahir Khaliq, Zubair Motiwala and Haroo Farooki, President KCCI Abdullah Zaki, Senior Vice President KCCI, Muffasar Malik, Vice President KCCI, Muhammad Idrees and members of the Managing Committee have felicitated Anjum Nisar on his appointment in the Board of Directors of EPZA.-PR

July 15, 2014

N H ZUBERI

Fifteen members of Managing Committee (MC) of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) will complete their tenure and retire on September 30, 2014 while election to fill these vacant seats will be held on September 20, 2014. Those who will complete their two-year term as members of KCCI managing committee are former KCCI President Mohammed Haroon Agar, Senior Vice President Muffasar Atta Malik, Zafar Saeed, Abdul Jabbar, Alamgir A. Shaikh, Asif

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Iqbal Bega, Muhammad Arif, Anis Memon, Mohammad Saqib, Shahzad Mobeen, Jahangir Shahid, Farhan Hanif, Abid Nisar, Mansoor Sulaiman and Zahid Iqbal.

KCCI's Managing Committee comprises 32 members and every year 15 members retire on completion of two-year term. According to election schedule, election of managing committee members will be held on September 20, 2014 and office bearers on September 27, 2014.

July 15, 2014

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Monday announced lucky winners of the Consumer Electronics (CE) Smart Home Consumer Promotion campaign. A ceremony was held at a local hotel to present prizes to the winners of the campaign that became very popular among consumers.

To promote the innovative, sleek and top-notched featured products by Samsung, a special consumer engagement initiative was launched, where 18 lucky consumers, who purchased the new products, were rewarded with prizes through two lucky draw quests. The winners were included Ejaz Imran, Zahid Hussain, Syed M Raza, M Shoiab Sheikh, Kazi Muhammad Javaid, Muhammad Arslan, M Younas, Seemi Rehan, Dr Kamran, M Kamran, Sheikh Nisar Ahmad, M Iqbal Ahmad, Masood, Sajan Mai, Rashid Ikraam Saddiqui, Babar and Javaid Ansari. Samsung always privileges its customers by providing incentives and premium product experience.

July 15, 2014

The Karachi Port handled 284,543 tonnes of cargo comprising 252,556 tonnes of import cargo and 31,987 tonnes of export cargo including 7,794 loaded and empty containers during the last 48 hours ending at 0700 hours on Monday. The total import cargo of 252,556 tonnes comprised of 87,625 tonnes of containerised cargo; 21,213 tonnes of general cargo; 36,575 tonnes of bulk cargo: 27,000 tonnes of coal; 7,941 tonnes of DAP; 1,634 tonnes of soyabean meal and 107,143 tonnes of oil/liquid cargo.

The total export cargo of 31,987 tonnes comprised of 31,324 tonnes of containerised cargo; 20 tonnes of general cargo and 643 tonnes of cement As many as 7,794 containers comprising 3,921 containers import and 3,873 containers export were handled during the last 24 hours on Monday.

The breakup of imported containers shows 1,286 of 20's and 1,030 40's loaded while 479 of 20's and 48 of 40's empty containers, whereas that of exported containers shows 554 of 20's and 208

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 of 40's loaded containers while 823 of 20's and 1,040 of 40's empty containers were handled during the business hours. There were seven ships namely Lissy Schulte, Naira, Kota Lawa, United Grace, Chrisopigi Lady, MT Karachi and Trans Spring carrying containers, oil tankers and general cargo respectively sailed out to sea during the reported period.

There were eight vessels viz. Kota Lawa, YM New Jersey, Northern Prelude, Hyundai Singapore, Ponente, HS Everest, Port Louis and Port Menier carrying containers, oil tankers and general cargo respectively currently at the berths. There was one ship namely Ikan Sembak carrying coal sailed out to sea on Monday, while six ships namely YM New Jersey, Hyundai Singapore, Ponente, HS Everest, Pona and Port Luois carrying containers and oil tanker respectively are expected to sail on Tuesday. There were two vessels viz. MOL Dignity and Pona carrying containers respectively due to arrive on Monday, while three vessels viz. Gao Cheng-3, Oriental Lotus and Positive Pioneer carrying oil tankers and vehicle respectively are due to arrive on Tuesday.

PORT QASIM

A cargo volume of 86,298 tonnes comprising 70,205 tonnes of import cargo and 16,093 tonnes of export cargo inclusive 1,870 loaded and empty containers (TEUs) was handled at Port Qasim during the last 24 hours on Monday. The total import cargo of 70,205 tonnes includes 27,057 tonnes of furnace oil; 8,299 tonnes of palm oil; 9,195 tonnes of coal; 6,217 tonnes of chemical and 19,437 tonnes of containerised cargo.

The total export cargo includes 16,093 tonnes of containerised cargo. As many as 1,870 containers comprising 1,026 containers import and 847 containers export were handled during the last 24 hours on Tuesday. There was one ship namely CV MSC Antigua with containers sailed out sea on Monday morning, while two more ships namely CV Pona and MT Stolt Markland with containers and palm oil are expected to sail on the same day afternoon.

A total number of nine vessels viz. CV Maersk Hartfold, CV MSC Antigua, CV Pona, Moon Ray, MT Ocean Royal, Mega Lahori, MT Stolt Markland, MT Theresa Leo and MT Quetta currently occupied berths to load/offload containers, cement, chemical, coal, palm oil and furnace oil respectively during the last 24 hours.

As many as five ships namely MSC Atlanta, Mercur, Ashahda, Morecenturion and Kuran with containers, chemicals palm oil and diesel oil are currently at the outer anchorage of Port Qasim. There were four vessels viz. CV MSC Atlanta, CV Safmarine Ngami, MT Mercur and MV Anna Maria with containers, chemicals and fertilizer expected to take berths at Qasim International Containers Terminal, Engro Vopak Terminal and FAP Terminal respectively on Monday. There are no ships due to arrive on Monday.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 New pay scales for PRAL employees approved

July 15, 2014

The Board of Directors of the Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited (PRAL) approved the new pay scales of the PRAL employees, discontinued gratuity from July 1, 2014, and reduced sanctioned strength from 1,481 to 1,200 employees by abolishing 281 posts. Sources told Business Recorder here on Monday that the decision has been taken by the PRAL Board of directors meeting headed by Tariq Bajwa, Chairman of FBR / Chairman of PRAL BoD.

The meeting was attended by Ms Raana Ahmad, Member (IT) / CEO PRAL / Director PRAL BoD, Nisar Muhammad Khan, Member (Customs) / (SP&S) / Director PRAL BoD, Muhammad Ashraf Khan, Member (PR-Operations) / Director PRAL BoD, Shahid Hussain Jatoi, Member (Admin) / Director PRAL BoD and Ahmad Dildar, Member (Legal) / Director PRAL BoD. The BoD was informed that PRAL had been providing IT related services to FBR since 1994. Traditionally, this was being done without defining service structures. As a result, PRAL's services had been continuously deteriorating over the years. This had been highlighted by the international consultants, the System Auditors, the FTO and the courts. Detailed and comprehensive PRAL's Service Level document was submitted for approval of the Board of Directors which was unanimously approved.

Sources said the PRAL was established on June 12, 1994, as a private limited company wholly owned by the FBR. The Board of Directors in its meeting held on August 4, 1994, approved "Company Rules and Procedures 1994" and in its meeting held on September 17, 1995, approved "Delegation of Financial and Administrative Powers-1995". These rules were replaced by the Board of Directors in July 1998 vide Resolution through Circulation titled: "Pakistan Revenue Automation (Pvt) Ltd Service Rules 1998" approved vide letter No 01/Resol/PRAL-CS/98-99 dated 18-07-1998; and "Pakistan Revenue Automation (Pvt) Ltd Delegation of Administrative and Financial Powers-1998", approved vide letter No 02/Resol/PRAL-CS/98-99 dated 18-07- 1998.

The BoD was informed that current rules needed amendment because these were deficient, outdated and poorly drafted. Major changes proposed in the rules were discussed in the meeting. Sources said PRAL employees were currently entitled to gratuity equal to one month basic pay per year. Though a gratuity fund had been created, its balance was Rs 0.4 million only. The liability was increasing every year. It was proposed that accumulated balance of Rs 325 million to the credit of employees as on June 30, 2014, be paid during financial year 2014-2015. The Board of Directors unanimously approved discontinuation of gratuity from July 1, 2014, and it was decided that one-time expenditure Rs 325 million would be met through special one-time grant from FBR and savings from the budget for 2014-15.

On the issue of revision of pay scales, sources said the pay scales were revised in 2010 and in 2006. Traditionally, pay scales were revised every four years. Market salary in the private sector had increased and PRAL's pay scales, especially for technical cadre, were not enough to attract competent professionals. It was proposed that pay scales be revised and existing employees be adjusted in the new scales as per their existing salary. The Board of Directors unanimously

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 approved the new Pay Scales of PRAL Rules, 2014.

Under the plan for rationalisation of organisational structure, it was informed that over the years, PRAL's workforce had grown from original 67 in 1994 to 1,481 in 2012 employees, (employees of commercial projects are over & above this number) without any increase in output. The majority of employees were hired in utter violation of merit. There are instances of hiring of candidates who had crossed the age-limit, did not possess required/relevant qualification and even had fake degrees. It was proposed that sanctioned strength be reduced from 1,481 to 1,200 which was actual working strength of PRAL by abolishing of 281 vacant posts. The Board of Directors unanimously approved the new Organisational Structure of PRAL Rules, 2014. Detailed and comprehensive "PRAL Rules 2014" was submitted for approval of the Board of Directors which was unanimously approved, applicable from July 1, 2014, sources added.

July 15, 2014

The government has allocated Rs 39 billion for different National Highways Authority (NHA) projects for the Sindh province in the current fiscal year's Public Sector Development Programme against a demand of Rs 84 billion, documents reveal. Official documents submitted to the Senate Standing Committee on Communication by the Ministry of Communication and NHA stated that the amount was allocated for 13 on-going projects and one new scheme.

The total cost of these projects in their PCs-I was estimated at Rs 160.945 billion, as physical work on most of the projects has been completed by 50 to 80 percent. The federal government allocated Rs 400 million for a bridge over the River Indus in Larkana against Rs 1.2 billion demanded in the PSDP for the current fiscal year. An amount of Rs 500 million was earmarked during the current fiscal PSDP for the construction of bridge over the Indus River at Qazi Ahmed Amri, including Sakrand By-pass against a demand of Rs 1.2 billion. The committee was informed that 77 percent physical work on the projects, costing Rs 3.036 billion has been completed.

`The Ministry of Communication has demanded Rs 800 million for the construction of road from Gharo to Keti Bunder (190 Km) in Thatta district in the PSDP, but was allocated total Rs 100 million. According to the document, 74 percent work on the project has been completed. The PSDP demand was Rs 500 million for dualization /rehabilitation of Larkana-Moenjodaro Road up to Airport Road (28 Km) while Rs 00 million was allocated in the fiscal year 2014-15. The Ministry demanded Rs 300 million for Karachi- Hyderabad M-9 (136 Km) (Malir, Dadu, Jamshoro, Hyderabad), which was fully met in the PSDP for the next fiscal year. Work on the project worth Rs 13.439 billion (PC-I cost) is yet to be started. Similarly, the demand of Rs 100 million for the Karachi Northern Bypass (KNBP) was also provided.

The committee was informed that Rs 10 million was allocated in the PSDP for Lyari Expressway (LEP) (16.5 Km) (Karachi) against the demand of Rs 300.00 million, Rs 100 million was

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 earmarked for rehabilitation of Qamber- Shahdadkot Road (29 km) against the demand of Rs 500 million.

The government was requested to provide Rs 200 million for Larkana-Qamber Road (21 Km) (Qamber-Shahdadkot- Larkana) in the PSDP, however, Rs 100 million was allocated. Similarly, Rs 347 million was allocated against a demand of 1.2 billion in PSDP for rehabilitation of Larkana-Rasheed-Wagom-Nasirabad Road (34 Km) (Larkana-Qamber-Shahdadkot). An amount of Rs 1 billion was requested in PSDP and Rs 500 million was allocated for a new scheme namely dualization of Balance Portion of Sukkur Bypass.

July 15, 2014

FAZAL SHER

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has asked the 36,462 affectees of 'Modaraba/Musharika' scam to submit their claims within 15 days. An official said that NAB Rawalpindi has given a final deadline to the affectees of the Modaraba/Musharika scam to submit their claims to ascertain the total value of fraud committed by the companies under investigation. "The bureau has asked the affected people to submit their applications along with the copies of their Modaraba/Musharika agreements and CNICs within 15 days," he said.

He said that NAB has sought complaints and claims against seven companies. The official said that presently, NAB is investigating seven major Modaraba/Musharika scams involving an amount of Rs 22.01 billion; of which, so far, only Rs 1.209 billion have been recovered. The NAB has arrested 10 accused in cases which are now under investigation, he said.

He said the accused persons convinced people in mosques and madrassas against the present banking systems and invited investment in the name of Modaraba and Musharika in cash. The major affected areas include Hazara Division, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Malakand Division, Potohar Division and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, he said. The official said that NAB took up the case of multi-billion scam in March, 2013 after receiving complaints from general public as well as Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) alleging that Mufti Ehsan, chief executive officer of a private company presently in the NAB custody and others are involved in illegal business of Modaraba and Musharika without approval from concerned authority. The SECP informed NAB that seven companies were involved in the illegal business, but none of these was registered with the government and their accounts had not been verified by any certified auditor, he said.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Company News: Pakistan Attock Refinery Limited

July 15, 2014

Attock Refinery Limited is a subsidiary of Attock Group. It was incorporated as a private limited company in 1978. Later in 1979, it was converted into a public limited company and listed on all the three stock exchanges of the country. Attock Group is a fully integrated group. It has a presence in the E&P sector via Pakistan Oilfields Limited, and its refinery business is engaged in refining of crude oil and supplying of refined petroleum products, pioneering the crude oil refining as early as 1922.

ARL's current nameplate capacity stands at 43,000 barrels per day (bpd), and it possesses the capability to process lightest to heaviest crude.

REFINERY PRODUCTS Attock Refinery Limited produces a wide range of petroleum products including both energy and non-energy petroleum products. These include Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), unleaded Petroleum Solvent Grade (PMG), naphtha, motor gasoline, JP-1, JP-8, kerosene oil, High Speed Diesel (HSD), Light Diesel Oil (LDO), Furnace Oil (FO), Low Sulfur Fuel Oil (LSFO) paving grade asphalts, etc. The firm is also engaged in exporting of various high grade and high specification products including naphtha, kerosene oil, HSD and JP- 8.

HIGHLIGHTS FY13 The refinery industry improved during FY13 where profitability gained momentum after weak FY12. Lower refining margins and the notorious circular debt riddle hampered the operations of the downstream sector in the country where the profitability of the refining sector slipped in FY12. However, during FY13, the profitability of the refining sector gained pace on the back of not only positive but also better Gross Refining Margins (GRMs) due to better petroleum product prices.

The profitability during FY13 also improved with rising crude prices as well as from reduction in the finance cost by more than 40 percent during FY13 versus FY12. A major cause of concern for the oil and gas sector has been the circular debt. During FY13, it remained a major cause of concern for the refinery as well. However, the end of June settlement of the circular debt by the government adjusted trade debts accumulating to over Rs 15 billion against the creditors, which gave the company breathing space.

ARL's capacity utilisation increased from 99.5 percent in FY12 to 100 percent in FY13. Due to the installation of a new charge heater, the company was able to increase its nameplate production capacity by 1,000 barrels per day (bpd). Its throughput jumped to 14.989 million barrels, up by two percent year-on-year. This was due to increased production from the northern part of the country that helped the refinery remain buoyant, and no crude oil from the southern region was required; Tal Block crude in the northern part was a significant contributor to the refinery operations.

REFINERY OPERATIONS 9M FY14 In FY13 a total of 14,931 million barrels of crude oil

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 was received from 42 various fields. As a result, the firm was able to supply 1,864 million tons of petroleum products during FY13. During FY14 so far, the company has been able to continue to operate at 100 percent capacity which results in smooth supply of petroleum products by refining the volumes of crude oil coming from the northern Pakistan.

The refining throughput during the nine-month period (9M FY14) was 11.333 million barrels, almost similar to what it was during 9M FY13. Sales volumes were 10.786 million barrels, versus 10.858 million barrels during 9M FY13

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE 9M FY14 Even though the firm's profitability improved during FY13 due to the government's efforts to control the inter-corporate circular debt, the progress of the company during 9M FY14 appears to slip once again. The growth of six percent in company revenues during 9M FY14 is primarily attributable to relatively stable crude prices as volumes remained flat. In terms of products, motor gasoline and high speed diesel make up for the majority of the sales mix, which is above 50 percent of the total sales revenue

The bottom line of ARL plunged by more than 40 percent during 9M FY14 vis-à-vis 9M FY13. Even the non-existent finance cost couldn't lift the profits of the firm. This was because of weakening earnings from the refinery operations and had it not been the non-refinery operations, the firm would have been in a loss for the period. The gross margins turned negative, while the net margins slipped from 2.63 percent in 9M FY13 to 1.42 percent in 9M FY14. Furthermore, the firm also witnessed contraction in other income which reduced by almost 50 percent year on year during 9M FY14.

OUTLOOK Even though the profitability during FY14 has not been very impressive, ARL has optimistic expansion plans for the coming times, which will serve as a catalyst for the earnings of the company. Attock Refinery's expansion plans and up-gradation projects like the installation of isomerization plant that will allow the company to convert its naphtha into premier motor gasoline, a value-added product, are progressing.

The company is also looking into Pre-flash, Diesel Hydro Desulphurization unit and expansion of its captive power plant. This would increase its refinery capacity, its motor gasoline production and help the refinery produce euro II compliant low sulphur diesel. The projects are expected to be completed by 2015, and will bode well for the refinery as demand for petrol and diesel are expected to remain buoyant amid curtailing usage of CNG.

======ATTOCK REFINERY LIMITED ======FY12 FY13 9MFY14 ======Profitability ------Gross profit margin (RHS) 1.31 % 1.86 % -0.21 % Net profit margin 1.77 % 2.40 % 1.42 % Return on PP&E 27.80 % 39.02 % 14.33 % Return on total assets 2.92 % 6.06 % 2.62 % Return on equity 11.67 % 14.59 % 9.39 % ------Liquidity and Solvency

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 ------Current ratio (LHS) 1.01 1.09 1.06 Liabilities to Assets 0.75 0.58 0.60 ------Efficiency ------Fixed asset turnover 15.69 16.27 10.10 Total asset turnover 1.65 2.53 1.85 Receivables turnover 4.02 4.90 8.17 Payables Turnover 2.85 3.31 3.88 ------Market ------EPS (refinery operations) 13.44 30.69 -0.02 EPS (non refinery operations) 18.63 15.22 21.66 Total (Rs/share) 32.07 45.91 21.64 ------Source: Company Accounts ======Habib Metropolitan Bank declares PLS profit rates

July 15, 2014

Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited has declared the following rates of profit on various types of PLS deposits for the period of six months ended June 30, 2014.

======Saving Deposit - Individuals only 7.00% p.a. ======Habib Metro Multiplier Accounts ------Upto Rs 5 Million 7.00% p.a. Over Rs 5 Million 7.25% p.a. ------SNTD ------7 days 7.00% p.a.30 days and over 7.00% p.a. ------Term/Fixed Deposits ------1 month 7.00% p.a.3 months 7.00% p.a.6 months 7.00% p.a.1 year 8.50% p.a.2 years 8.50% p.a.3 years 8.75% p.a.4 years 8.75% p.a.5 years 9.25% p.a. ------Habib Metro Saving Plus Account - Individuals only ------

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Upto Rs 100,000/- 7.00% p.a. Over Rs 100,000/- upto Rs 25 Million 7.25% p.a. Over Rs 25 Million 7.00% p.a. Habib Metro Izafa Certificate 14.29% p.a. ------Habib Metro Privilege 55 Plus ------Upto Rs 24,999/- 7.00% p.a. From Rs 25,000/- upto Rs 25 Million 7.50% p.a. Over Rs 25 Million 7.00% p.a. ------Jan 2014 - April 2014 -March 2014 June 2014 ------Habib Metro Mahana Scheme ------For 1 year - minimum placement Rs 25,000/- 8.10% p.a. 9.12% p.a. For 3 years - minimum placement Rs 50,000/- 8.40% p.a. 9.36% p.a. For 5 years - minimum placement Rs 100, 000/- 8.70% p.a. 10.02% p.a. ------Habib Metro Jan 2014 - March 2014 April 2014 - June 2014 Premium Deposit Quarterly Half yearly Quarterly Half yearly ------Scheme ------For 1 year 8.30% p.a. 8.40% p.a. 9.28% p.a. 9.52% p.a. For 3 years 8.60% p.a. 8.70% p.a. 9.52% p.a. 9.68% p.a. For 5 years 8.90% p.a. 9.00% p.a. 10.24% p.a. 10.48% p.a. ======

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Cotton and Textiles: Pakistan Cotton market: firm trend seen amid improved activity

July 15, 2014

Steadier trend seen on the cotton market on Monday as prices showed firmness following the exporters' demand, dealers said. The official spot rate was firm at Rs 6,000, they added. The prices of seed cotton in Sindh were at Rs 3300-3350 and in Punjab rates were at Rs 3100 and Rs 3200, they said. In the ready session, about 5000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 6050-6150, they said.

Some analysts said that yarn prices in the local market may stabilise in the coming days because of rising demand by the exporters and mills. Importing countries were looking interested in the local stuff, this factor caused firmness in the prices, they said. Lack of Chinese demand, pushed the rates sharply down of local cotton, they added.

Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said trading activity has improved but mills and spinners were worried about short supply of power and gas. The following deals were reported: 800 bales of cotton from Mir Pur Khas sold at Rs 6050-6100, 800 bales of cotton from Tando Adam at Rs 6100, 1000 bales from Sanghar at Rs 6100, 400 bales from Shahdad Pur at Rs 6100, 200 bales from Chichawatni at Rs 6100, 200 bales from Khanewal at Rs 6100, 200 bales from Pak Pattan at Rs 6100, 100 bales from Haroonabad at Rs 6100, 600 bales from Burewala at Rs 6100-6115 and 400 bales from Arif Wala at Rs 6150, dealers said.

======The KCA Official Spot Rate for Local Dealings in Pak Rupees ------FOR BASE GRADE 3 STAPLE LENGTH 1-1/32" ------MICRONAIRE VALUE BETWEEN 3.8 TO 4.9 NCL ======Rate Ex-Gin Upcountry Spot Rate Spot Rate DifferenceFor Price Ex-Karachi Ex. KHI. As Ex-Karachion 12.07.2014 ======37.324 Kgs 6,000 155 6,155 6,155 NIL ------Equivalent ------40 Kgs 6,430 155 6,585 6,585 NIL ======

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Textile minister to raise power supply issue with Nawaz

July 15, 2014

TAHIR AMIN

In a bid to save the industry from total collapse and ensure adequate power supply to keep its wheel moving, the ministry of textile industry has decided to raise the issue of regular electricity supply with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, it is learnt.

Official sources revealed to Business Recorder that Textile Minister Abbas Khan Afridi wrote a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif last week seeking time to raise power supply issue, being faced by the industry. The Ministry has not received any response till now, however it is expected that a meeting is likely to take place in next two days where the issue would be discussed and seeking maximum relief for the industry.

A delegation of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) comprising S.M Tanveer, chairman APTMA Punjab, Seth Akbar vice chairman APTMA and Ali Ahsan senior member APTMA met the minister for Textile Industry Abbas Khan Afridi and apprised him of the prevailing power supply situation, being faced by the industry.

Talking to Business Recorder, Seth Akbar said the minister was informed that about 50 textile mills have been shut as they are running in losses due to inadequate power supply while jobs of millions of people are at stake. He further said that there is fear that more mills would stop working as power loadshedding is becoming unbearable and the industry is facing a total collapse. Seth further said that the industry is ready to bear burden of 8 hours load shedding however currently power was not available for about 16 hours. He said that the textile minister assured the delegation to raise the issue in next two days with the Prime Minister and would try to get maximum relief for the industry.

Earlier talking to the delegation, Minister Abbas Khan Afridi said that the textile industry is in fact the bread winner for the country and the government is trying its level best to facilitate the textile sector. The government values revival of economy, therefore textile industry holds foremost importance. The Minister added that the government commitment is clearly reflected in the budget incentives announced for the textile industry.

The APTMA delegation urged the minister to find some way out as the businesses are being ruined at the hands of power outages. The APTMA delegation lamented an inadequate electricity supply for the last one year and the rising unemployment due to the laying off of shifts. The delegation highlighted that to reap maximum benefits from GSP plus status, uninterrupted power supply is imperative.

The minister assured the delegation that in the month of Ramazan the load shedding hours would be reduced to 8 hrs. The minister stated that he understands the problems faced by the textile units and that he would take up the issue with the Prime Minister and Minister for water and

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 power soon. The minister admitted that no doubt the conditions are tough but he envisages a prosperous future for the country and textile industry in particular.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Agriculture and Allied: Pakistan No urea import from Iran due to curbs on POL items: National Assembly panel informed

July 15, 2014

MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN

National Assembly''s Standing Committee on Commerce was informed on Monday that Pakistan cannot import cheap urea from Iran because of restrictions on petroleum-related products but India is free to import Iranian urea. This was disclosed by Chairman Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), Rizwan Ahmad during a presentation to the committee. Minister for Commerce, Engineer Khurram Dastgir also attended the meeting.

The Chairman TCP maintained that urea is from the family of petroleum products and Pakistan is not allowed to import any such product from Iran. He said Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is holding meetings to streamline bilateral trade with Iran. When the issue of urea import came under discussion, Minister for Commerce, Khurram Dastgir said the role of the Commerce Ministry is limited only to import, adding that other matters are dealt with by Ministry of Industries and Production and its attached department, ie, National Fertilizer Marketing Limited (NFML).

Chairman TCP informed the committee that he has already started revamping the godowns at Port Qasim Authority (PQA) and requested the Chairman PQA to get TCP godowns on rent. The commerce minister also sought collective wisdom of the standing committee on future of TCP''s regional office is Gwadar which is only meant to handle urea import as no other activity is currently ongoing at Gwadar Port.

The minister maintained that the cost of regional office is too high besides other issues which he

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 did not mention. Chairman TCP informed the committee that six sugar mills did not allow lifting of 7,400 MT sugar procured in 2007-08 despite receiving the entire payment. He said the TCP cannot pay more than Rs 100,000 to the lawyer due to which the issue is pending in litigation. He said TCP has imported wheat since 2009.

In reply to a question, representatives of SLIC informed the committee that railway passengers'' insurance scheme has been abandoned. They maintained that accidental death insurance scheme of Rs 100,000 has been launched in Punjab and KPP as pilot project. Federal government is also considering launching insurance scheme for critical diseases.

July 15, 2014

Although the rate of Pakistan's non-Basmati rice has increased up to around $400 per ton in international market as compared to India, Thailand and Vietnam, the country's rice export witnessed a growth of 15.64 percent during July-May of fiscal year 2013-14.

According to a report of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the country exported non-Basmati rice worth $1.338 billion during July-May of FY14, up by $181.103 million ie 15.64 percent. In terms of volume, the country's export of non-Basmati rice went up by 0.3 million metric tons ie 11.54 percent in the last 11 months. An official of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) said: "Due to high quality of the country's non-Basmati rice, international buyers are ready to pay extra premium of $30 to $40."

The monthly export of non-Basmati rice has shown a decline of 9.56 percent to $101.091 million from $111.772 million, due to what reports suggest growing incidents of stealing of rice from containers on way to port from factories. Lack of timely shipments due to excessive loadshedding and inconsistency in dollar rate also affected the rice export. In terms of volume, the rice export declined from 198,758 metric tons to 185, 331 metric tons ie 6.76 percent.

The country's overall rice industry has shown a handsome gain of 14.50 percent to $2.013 billion in the 11 months FY14. In terms of quantity, the rice export increased from 3,154,258 metric tons to 3,457,488 metric tons. The official said: "A four percent loss in rice export was witnessed in May due to power shortages." A rice exporter said that demand for Pakistani rice was growing regardless of the surge in its prices in the global market. "The international price of non-Basmati rice ranges between $380 to $430 per metric ton, while the price of Basmati rice ranges between

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 $800 to $1,500 per metric ton, depending on its quality," he added.

On the contrary, some exporters claimed that due to increase in its rates, the international buyers were not in favour of buying rice from Pakistan. However, the export of basmati has increased by 12.29 percent to $674.626 million. In terms of volume, it has increased to 623,897 metric tons in FY14 as compared 613,857 metric tons in FY13. While the export of Basmati rice decreased by 13.67 percent in May 2014 to 69,250 metric tons from 70,980 metric tons in April 2014. Senior Vice-Chairman of REAP, Chela Ram Kewlani, said that India had captured the international market of Basmati rice due to improved quality of its rice.

July 15, 2014

The Met Office has warned the farmers of pest and viral attacks on sugarcane and other standing crops following the expected monsoon rains in the upcountry. "Pest/viral attacks and more weeds growth are expected after monsoon rains in sugarcane and other standing crops in upper parts of the country," said the office in its farmers' advisory ending on July 20. It advised the farmers to take timely measures.

Farmers should schedule crops irrigation in line with the forecast on expected rainy spell, the office said, adding the rainfall after irrigation may cause leave fields of standing crops waterlogged, including maize, sugarcane and cotton. It advised the farmers to take precautionary measures to protect their standing crops, livestock and property during the expected heavy rains in the coming days.

It said light to moderate rainfalls at isolated places was expected over most of the agricultural plains of Punjab in the next few days. In Sindh, it said, mainly dry weather was expected. However, it said, light rainfall was likely to hit lower parts of the province, including Karachi, Thatta etc.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it forecast heavy rainfall at isolated places over most of the agricultural plains of the province in the next few days. It said weather in Balochistan was expected to remain mainly dry. In Gilgit-Baltistan, it said, mostly cloudy weather with light to moderate rainfall over hills was expected in most parts of the province. Weather in Kashmir is expected to remain mostly cloudy with light to moderate rainfall over hills and in isolated parts of the valley, it said.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Daily trading report of PMEX

July 15, 2014

On Monday at Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX) value traded was recorded at PKR 3.225 billion as compared to PKR 1.974 billion registered on Friday, up 63.4 percent. Number of lots traded was 15,491 and PMEX Commodity Index closed at 3,064. Major business was contributed by crude oil amounting to PKR 1.778 billion, up 75 percent from PKR 1.014 billion. It was followed by gold amounting to PKR 1.364 billion from PKR 851 million, up 60 percent and silver at PKR 83 million.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2014 Facilitating mango farms: government to introduce small hot water treatment plants: minister

July 15, 2014

Federal government is taking necessary steps to introduce small hot water treatment plants at farm level as well as encouraging private sector to establish commercial facility centres for hot water treatment in mango producing areas of the country. Government is also launching a project to control mango fruit fly and introduction of hot water treatment units in the mango areas.

This was stated by Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research (NFSR) while speaking on the occasion of Demonstration of Small-scale Mango Hot Water Treatment Unit at Multan. Sikandar Bosan said that fruit fly attack on mango is a serious issue. Due to fruit fly infestation our mango export has a big challenge to operate in European Union and threat of ban due to fruit fly always hovers around us. We are still practising traditional mango harvesting and processing methods except few modern mango processing facilities.

Due to lack of proper mango processing plants including hot water treatment plants, quality of mango exported by bulk exporters is not up to the required standards. Sikandar Bosan said to enter into the export domain of USA and Japan, exporters require a high level of entrepreneurship, market demands, awareness of processing, packaging techniques and plant technologies, adaptation to modern refrigeration methodologies, and conforming to quality standard set out by different importing countries for import of mangoes.

He said Government of Pakistan will prefer to shrink mango export rather than allow uncertified fruit to European Union and induce ban. He said UNIDO is doing its job to enhance mango export and at the same time making efforts to reduce fruit fly infestation in partnership with Ministry of National Food Security and Research for introducing small scale mango hot water treatment plants.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014

He said we are planning to distribute 10 more such plants to different clusters of mango growers. Small growers should benefit from small hot water treatment plant and get rid of fruit fly infestation and other diseases. Farmers should farm clusters of 4 growers and use this plant. He said mango is the second major fruit crop in Pakistan in terms of areas, production and export volume. Mango is cultivated on 172400 hectares, last year we exported 6% of total production and earned $48 million. The major mangoes export destinations for Pakistan are Middle East, Far East and EU markets. He further said that characterising of the Pakistan mango market on the supply side is the high level of fragmentation.

July 15, 2014

Country's tobacco export dipped by 65.35 percent to $1.055 million in May 2014, official figures said. Tobacco export showed a plunge of $1.99 million during May in 2014 as compared to the commodity's export of $3.045 million in May 2013, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said. In term of volume, tobacco export slid by 836 metric tons (69 percent) to 382 metric tons in July 2014 as compared to the commodity's export of 1,218 metric tons in May 2013, the statistics suggested.

Tobacco export scalded back by $3.092 million (14 percent) to $19.817 million in July-May 2013-14 from $22.909 million in July-May 2012-14, the PBS said. In term of quantity, export of tobacco in July-May 2013-14 reduced by 160 metric tons (2.22 percent) to 7,049 metric tons from 7,209 metric tons in July-May 2012-13, the official figures indicated.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Taxation: Pakistan Certain field formations defying FTO''s orders

July 13, 2014

SOHAIL SARFRAZ

Some field formations of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) are defying the orders of the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) and making fresh assessment of taxpayers without first implementing the unchallenged FTO recommendations. Sources told Business Recorder here on Saturday that some field formations are not only involved in defiance of orders issued by the FTO but are also disobeying the binding instructions issued by their parent agency "FBR".

In this regard FBR has issued binding instructions to its field formations vide C No1(337)S(TO- II)/2013 dated 23-1-2014 and C.No 1(11)CSTRO/FBR/2013 dated 25-9-2013. When contacted, a Lahore-based lawyer Waheed Shahzad Butt told this correspondent that the office of the FTO proved to be of great help in redressal of genuine grievances and hardship of the aggrieved taxpayers as a result of maladministration of justice and corrupt practices on the part of the revenue division employees.

Tax lawyer added that the President of Pakistan while disposing of FBR''s representations against FTO''s recommendations for issuance of due refunds, has invariably directed that no action may be taken by FBR before first implementing the FTO''s recommendations. FBR too has strictly directed field formations, in writing, to fully implement the FTO''s recommendations in such cases within the time given in the FTO''s order and not to take any other action without first doing so.

Under the provisions of FTO Ordinance, 2000, FTO makes time bound findings/recommendations through his order disposing of complaints, thereafter concerned Advisers (I&M) monitor the process of implementation. FBR has also directed its field officials, in writing, not to delay the issuance of refund under any pretext in cases where the FTO or any competent Court, has directed that refund be issued even if that entails ''breaking the queue.''

Explaining the provisions of Federal Ombudsman Institutional Reforms Act, 2013 (FOIRA), Waheed Butt said that it was the primary statutory responsibility on the part of FBR functionaries to implement the unchallenged FTO''s recommendations, where the department had neither filed any Review Application before FTO nor preferred any Representation before the President against the FTO and so as a consequence, FTO''s order had attained finality. However, some field formations are not only involved in defiance of orders issued by FTO but they are also disobeying the binding instructions issued by their parent agency "FBR". In this regard, Waheed referred to FBR''s instructions issued vide C No1(337)S(TO-II)/2013 dated 23-1-2014 and C.No 1(11)CSTRO/FBR/2013 dated 25-9-2013 which stipulates that "When the findings/recommendations attain finality, then fresh assessment cannot be made without first implementing the recommendations.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014

In case of other important hot issue of "Queue Breaking", the following instructions have been issued by the FBR to field formations "...claims warranting immediate processing on account of Court/FTO Orders shall be given priority in the queue...". Breaking the queue has been expressly desired by the FBR in Court/FTO''s cases and these instructions are binding on all FBR functionaries under all fiscal statutes but some officials are grossly violating the binding instructions with some ulterior motives.

Tax lawyer also referred a test case wherein unchallenged recommendations issued by the FTO remained unimplemented despite lapse of more than one year, while the refund claim was pending for the last 14 years. In Complaint No 281/2013 pertaining to RTO-I Lahore, for the last one decade, a senior citizen of 71 years of age is running from pillar to post to seek his lawful right of refund even after having unchallenged recommendations issued by FTO. However, due to strict lawful intervention by the Adviser (I&M) Lahore, Refund Payment Orders (RPO) for partial claim pertaining to years 2000 and 2001 have been issued by RTO Lahore on 06.06.2014. The balance claims of lawful refunds are still pending on flimsy grounds, however, the RPO so issued also remained un-cashed by the FBR without any lawful excuse. This state of affairs reflects only one thing what is meaning of resistance when there is issue of returning taxpayer''s money in shape of refunds and even when there is intervention by FTO.

Instructions issued by the FBR are binding on all functionaries but they failed to follow the same in the cited case. The IRS officials should be held accountable for non-observance of binding instructions and non-compliance thereof should be treated as misconduct and the defaulting officers must be proceeded against under Efficiency and Discipline Rules, Waheed added.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Taxation: World WTO says US anti-dumping duties on Chinese products wrong

July 15, 2014

Beijing won a key victory Monday in a trade dispute with Washington, as a WTO panel said the United States was wrong to slap punitive duties on a host of Chinese goods. The battle covered an array of products including paper, steel, tyres, magnets, chemicals, kitchen fittings, flooring and wind turbines. The United States had hit them with extra import duties because it argued that they were being dumped on its market to help Chinese companies grab business.

China filed a complaint over the measures at the World Trade Organization in 2012. A World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel on Monday said that the US duties were "inconsistent" with global rules. "They have nullified or impaired benefits accruing to China," said the panel, which is made up of independent trade and legal experts. "We recommend that the United States bring its measures into conformity with its obligations," it added.

In a statement issued by its diplomats at the WTO, China's ministry of commerce hailed the decision, noting that the annual export value of the affected products was around $7.2 billion. "China urges the United States to respect the WTO rulings and correct its wrong doings of abusively using trade remedy measures, and to ensure an environment of fair competition for the Chinese enterprises," it said.

The WTO polices global trade accords in an effort to provide its 160 member economies with a level playing field. Members have the right to impose extra duties when goods are being "dumped" on them or sold at below market prices to corner a share of business unfairly.

But hand in hand with that right, they are obliged to prove that their domestic producers are suffering as a result of dumping, and that the duties are not simply being deployed to protect them against foreign competitors. Wrangling over dumping is common at the WTO, whose panels can authorise retaliatory trade measures against a guilty party that fails to fall into line. The WTO disputes settlement process can last for years, amid appeals, counter-appeals and compliance assessments. Washington has the right to appeal against the ruling, which was the first in the case.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Fuel and Energy: Pakistan Senate body visits Engro's Terminal Site at PQA

July 15, 2014

The Standing Committee of Senate visited the Engro's proposed LNG terminal site on Monday to review and discuss the progress on Pakistan's first LNG import infrastructure. While giving a briefing to the delegation, Elengy Terminal Pakistan Limited (ETPL) appraised the delegation of the project status and stated that ETPL has not commenced any construction activity for LNG Terminal at Site yet.

Only basic engineering and procurement activities have been initiated. These activities are necessary for timely completion of this fast project requiring commissioning in 335 days for which 280 days are left. The activities for construction of temporary site facilities have also been initiated. Construction equipment and machinery is being mobilised and dredger and piling barges are expected to arrive on site by end of July.`

ETPL has been issued licence by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to construct a terminal at Port Qasim (PQ) for landing and re-gasification of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be imported early next year. ETPL has also obtained the NOC from the Ministry of Defence and now has all the prerequisite approvals as per the LNG Policy 2011 for carrying out the construction works at site. PQA Board has approved and additionally MP&S has approved IA. Engro has been in terminal business for more than i6 years now and it is to be noted that all risks are with ETPL that is why due diligence by LNG suppliers has proactively been initiated to ensure that ETPL meets all applicable international LNG standards.-PR

July 15, 2014

AMJAD ALI SHAH

The unabated power outages in many parts of the city have perturbed consumers, particularly during Sehri, Iftar and Taraveeh timings, as Peshawar Electric Supply Company continuously carrying out excessive load shedding, failure to comply with the order of the government.

Tall claims of government regarding uninterrupted power supply during holy month of Ramazan have fallen flatten, as power consumers complained that since the beginning of holy month of Ramazan power supply are facing hour long load shading, especially during Sehri and Iftar

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 timings in most areas of the city due to which faithful faced immense difficulties. The dwellers of Hazarkhwani, Garhi Qamar Din, Hashnagri, Dalazak road, Sikandarpur, Gulbahar, Ganj gate, Landi Arbab, Shahedabad, Charkhakhel, Manakro and Baragate areas and other adjacent localities were among the worse affected.

'There was no power supply at Sehri time on Monday for hours, and if supply was restored it didn't for even ten minutes and it again trapped, said Akramullah Khan a resident of Landi Arbab. He added that the consumers connected with Lanidi Arbab feeder were the worst affected because the supply remained suspended for most of time in routine. "We are facing 14 to 16 hours long unscheduled load-shedding, which is totally injustice with the people of the area, whom had given a huge piece of land free of cost, for the construction of grid station. He termed it quite injustice with the people of these localities, adding the Pesco authorities give us penalty of being regular payer of utility bills despite the absence of electricity for hours.

Similarly, another consumer in Charkhakhel lamented that the government claims that the overall system of electricity had been improved to some extent, but we even then suffering for hours long in the hot weather, said Ishtiaq Ahmad. "If the government want to overcome the energy crisis they can, but they don't want to put hand upon the big thieves, he alleged. Pesco authorities should care the sanctity of the holy month of Ramazan, should stop inhuman attitude with its consumers and ensure smooth supply at least in Sehri, iftar and Taraveeh prayer times.

Afzal Ahmad, a resident of Hazarkhani that as they started Sehri electric supply was suspended and frequently continued till morning that also disturbed rest of the hard workers in night times. "We complained the authorities concerned of Landi Arbab sub-division for frequent breakdown, but to no avail, he maintained. Similar complaints of power suspensions during iftar and sehri times and frequent brake downs were also received from localities adjacent to walled city, Kakshal, Dlazak road, Charsadda Road, Badhber and Sarband areas as well.

When contacted the Pesco spokesman, Shaukat Afzal categorically denied the carrying of hours long load-shedding against the scheduled timings, saying the Pesco is strictly following schedule of electricity load-shedding in both in rural and urban areas, according which four hour loadshedding in urban and six hour in rural areas.

Asking about public complaint regarding load-shedding during sehri, iftar and taraveeh, he replied that power supply has been uninterrupted supplied during sehri, iftar and taraveeh timings. Some time due to overload, tripling down system, which will take few minutes to resume supply, the spokesman said. He, however, said the Pesco has compelled to carry out maximum load shedding in those areas, where the company being faced huge line losses.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Thar Coalfields' project: Sindh government fails to initiate 'Water Master Plan'

July 15, 2014

YASIR BABBAR

Despite the passage of over seven years since its approval, Sindh government has failed to initiate the project "Water Master Plan for Thar Coalfields." Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP) had approved the project in January 2007, with an estimated cost of Rs 176 million, which includes studies for water supply and waste water management.

Later, the project was revised and cost was increased. Provincial government has always been allocating a token amount in the ADPs, but the scheme could not be initiated, sources in Planning and Development (P&D) department told Business Recorder. For being a desert, Tharparkar district is arid region with very low rainfall and limited water resources. They said that the supply of uninterrupted water for development of mines and installation of power plant was vital for generation of coal-based electricity.

Investigation revealed that coal is in-seams with extractable thickness of 22m at a depth of 110m up to 200m, they said, adding that the upper seam layer of coal reserve contains in-situ water. However, there are no systematic hydro-geological studies of the in-situ groundwater in terms of quantity as well as the quality. Some samples of the water tested so far (at Drainage Reclamation Centre, Tando Jam) shows that such ground water has an EC in the range equivalent to or more than the raw seawater, they said.

Sources said that the groundwater quality was saline in all aquifers with dominant sodium chloride contents. For coal mining, the saline water from the upper layers of coal seam is likely to be drained out. It is difficult to estimate the amount of effluent that would be generated. However, it could be substantial and requires proper planning of disposal systems, as the effluent would be highly saline and polluted. Sources said that a water pipeline for the domestic supply to the existing town and villages of district Tharparkar had been constructed from one of the Naukot distributory of Mithrao Branch Canal.

In November 2009, the provincial government had asked the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (SIDA) to complete a project for supply of fresh water from Nabisar Canal to the Thar Coalfields within the shortest possible time, they said and added that the scheme was put in cold storage due to apathy of the authorities concerned. Though the PPP is in power in the province for the last six years, but the scheme has not yet been executed.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Fuel and Energy: World World oil prices little changed

July 15, 2014

Oil prices were little changed on Monday as traders weighed renewed violence in Libya and uncertainty over nuclear talks with Iran against broader signs of a global market well-supplied with crude. North Sea benchmark Brent closed at its lowest in three months last week as easing tensions in Libya and Iraq mitigated fears of supply disruptions. But Brent prices perked up a bit on Monday as violence flared anew.

"More violence in Iraq and Libya raises some questions about their ability to keep production going," said James Williams, an energy economist at WTRG Economics in London, Arkansas. "But the fundamentals of supply and demand continue to be fairly balanced." In Libya, fighting broke out between rival militias vying for control of the main airport on Sunday, killing at least seven people in the worst violence in the capital for six months.

Meanwhile, protesters have shut down production at the eastern Libyan oil port of Brega, state firm National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Saturday. No timetable was disclosed for resuming operations at the 43,000-barrel-per-day facility. Brent crude was up 18 cents at $106.84 at 12:07 am EDT (1607 GMT). It had dropped to $106.21 earlier in the session, the lowest intraday price since April.

US crude futures fell 5 cents to $100.78 a barrel. Oil prices spiked to a nine-month high last month as an Islamist insurgency swept across Iraq. Crude futures have since pared gains, however, falling for three consecutive weeks as Iraq's main oil-producing centers in the south have remained unaffected and as Lybia restored oil production in key facilities.

Libya's oil output has risen to 470,000 barrels and could increase further to its full capacity of more than 1 million bpd, government officials said. "We had a steep selloff on Friday and it was a very high volume, which probably shows that there was a lot of liquidation by people who bought higher up," said Christopher Bellew, a broker at Jefferies Bache in London.

In Iraq, lawmakers struggled to break a political deadlock in forming a new government to tackle the Islamist-led insurgency raging less than 50 miles (80 km) from Baghdad. The market also kept an eye on talks in Vienna between Iran and the big world powers over Tehran's nuclear program. Iran's oil supplies have been restricted by sanctions for several years, but an agreement among negotiators could lead to a softening, or lifting, of those limits.

Negotiators have set a July 20 deadline for a deal but diplomats say the two sides are deeply divided and assume the talks will be given another six months. US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, for a second day in a row on Monday, a US official said.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Asian naphtha cracks higher

July 15, 2014

The Asian naphtha crack rose to a 17-month high of $174.63 a tonne on Monday, while the gasoline crack edged up to a one-year high of $15.05 a barrel due to squeezed supplies. India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp cancelled a naphtha cargo for August 9-10 loading from Hazira due to gas supply disruptions to its complex. ONGC shut a 42-inch subsea pipeline supplying gas to the Hazira plant to carry out repairs after sand was displaced beneath the pipe by high tides.

This added to the string of previous and ongoing plant maintenance and outages in India which have dented naphtha and gasoline supplies. "The cancellation of the ONGC's cargo and production issues helped explain the strength behind the naphtha market. Formosa's purchases also came as a surprise," said a Singapore-based trader.

Taiwanese Formosa, Asia's top naphtha importer, has bought a total of 200,000 tonnes of spot naphtha for August delivery, similar to what it had purchased for July delivery, despite a scheduled maintenance at the largest of three naphtha crackers at its 2.93 million tonnes per year (tpy) cracking complex in Mailiao from August 16 to end September.

South Korea's YNCC bought between 67,500 and 90,000 tonnes of naphtha for second-half August delivery at premiums of about $15 to $16 a tonne to Japan quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis. This was nearly double what YNCC paid on June 26 for naphtha scheduled for first-half August delivery at a premium of about $8.50 a tonne.

July 15, 2014

Indonesia produced 213 million tonnes of coal in the first half of 2014, a government official said, up 7.6 percent from the same period last year despite a continuing decline in benchmark prices and efforts to limit output and control exports.

Southeast Asia's largest economy exported 158 million tonnes of the output, Gultom Guska, head of coal production and marketing supervision at the mining ministry, told Reuters via a text message late on Friday.

The exports were up from 148 million tonnes exported in the first half of 2013, he said, a 6.8 percent increase. Indonesia is the world's top exporter of thermal coal, much of which is used to fuel power stations in energy-hungry Asia. Earlier a mining ministry official had forecast thermal and coking coal output this year to remain flat at 421 million tonnes, with the government planning to limit production and tighten controls on exports.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014

To compensate for declining prices and fill contractual commitments, however, Indonesia's top six coal producers have targeted an average increase in production of 11.7 percent this year. Guska did not give a reason for the increase, but noted that Indonesia's benchmark HBA prices for coal with a calorific value of 6322 GAR (gross as received) hit $72.45 per tonne in July, $1.19 per tonne below the June HBA price.

The country's main coal industry association warned in June that if prices remained below $73 a tonne this year some firms would go out of business. Government plans to hike royalties could also eat into miners' revenues. Asia's benchmark weekly Newcastle index has fallen about 20 percent since the beginning of the year and currently sits at around $69.90 a tonne, its lowest in nearly five years.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Markets LSE gains 25.15 points

Monday, 14 July 2014 18:56

Posted by Imaduddin

LAHORE: Lahore Stock Exchange here Monday witnessed bullish trend by gaining 25.15 points, as the LSE Index-25 opened with 5443.63 points and closed at 5468.78 points.

The market's overall situation also corresponded to an upward trend as it remained at 957,200 shares to close against previous turnover of 234,100 shares, showing an upward move of 723,100 shares. While, out of the total 92 active scrips 25 moved up, 3 shed values and 64 remained equal.

The Major Gainers of the day were Pakistan State Oil Company Limited, Mari Petroleum Company and Engro Corporation Limited by recording increase in their per share value by Rs 15.35, Rs 11.57 and Rs 4.95 respectively.

Tri-Pack Films Limited, Pakistan International Airline Corporation and NIB Bank Limited lost their per share value by Rs 1.19, Re 0.03 and Re 0.02 respectively.

Top three Volume Leaders of the day included NIB Bank Limited with 389,000 shares, Silkbank Limited (Suadi) with 188,500 shares and Hascol Petroleum Limited with 139,000 shares.

Monday, 14 July 2014 16:27

Posted by Imaduddin

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) Monday witnessed bullish trend as the ISE-10 index was up by 53.69 points to close at 4542.32 points.

A total of 111,600 shares were traded, which showed a positive growth of 102,000 shares, when compared with previous day's trading of 9,600 shares.

Out of 131 companies, share prices of 100 companies recorded increase while those of 31 companies decreased in today's trading.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 The share price of Murree Brewery increased by Rs 30.92 while that of Pakistan Tobacco decreased by Rs 50 per share.

Hascol Petroleum, Bank of Punjab and Silkbank remained the top trading companies with 110,000, 1,000 and 500 shares respectively.

Monday, 14 July 2014 12:36

Posted by Parvez Jabri

KARACHI: The divisional and district administration Karachi has challaned 390 shopkeepers and fine of Rs.7,46,000 were imposed while 30 shopkeepers were arrested for continuous profiteering.

According to a statement issued here on Monday, during crackdown the administration fined 109 milk sellers, 15 food items grocers, 60 chicken sellers, 79 fruits sellers, 114 vegetables sellers, 12 flour sellers and a nimco seller.

The action against profiteers were taken in the areas including Saddar, Civil Line, SITE, Garden, Baldia, Ferozabad, Jamshed Quarters, Gulshan Iqbal, Gulzar Hijri, Liaquat Abad, Nazimabad, North Nazimabad, Orangi, Ibrahim Hyderi, Model Colony, Landhi, Korangi, Bin Qasim and New Karachi.

Commissioner Karachi Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui has said that the operation against profiteers will continue till the sale of essential items is not ensured according to officially approved price list.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 BR Research: All Coal projects: slow but progressing

July 15, 2014

BR Research

All the promises of load shedding eradication within six to twelve months have evaporated in heat while demand-supply gap is hovering around 4,000MW nowadays. The quick fix by Dar and company was the payment of Rs480 billion of circular debt right after the government came into power. That was done in haste, in order to pass on the financial buck on a financial year that belonged to the previous government and to reap some immediate load shedding relief.

One year down the road, circular debt has piled up gain to Rs300 billion. There is no surprise element in it as that is what has been happening for the past five years. This government has not yet been able to fix the distribution and transmission losses which is exhibiting PML-Ns administrative failure.

Alas, PML-N is appearing similar to the PPP in dealing with the electricity woes in the short- to medium-term. Public is outraged at longer hours of load shedding in a persistent hot and humid weather during the holy month of Ramazan.

But hold your horses before protesting too much; have a close look at the macro situation. There are projects based on imported coal advancing into next stage. Punjab government has issued letter of intent for seven power plants, of 660MW each, to make the total project capacity of 4,620MW. This is against the initial commitment of ten 660MW-power plants, after a Chinese company and a few local players have disappeared from the scene.

Tariffs have been issued by Nepra and based on that, LOI has been issued and now the government is in the process of acquiring land. If all goes well, it will take no less than 3.5-4 years from now for these projects to come online. This is against the governments initial commitment to commence production from these projects within first three years of its term. With one year gone, targets are going to be missed by at least two years.

First of all, like other political slogans, these timelines were not realistic as it takes 2.5-3 years for installation of plants and machinery. Prior to that, activities like preparing feasibility and hiring financial constants take about 1-1.25 years. Tariffs have to be announced and land has to be acquired.

Nepra has been was headless and its efforts were focused to cut to size the profits of existing IPPs whose returns were guaranteed and have sovereign cover on it as well. The reasons given at that time included were that these IPPs had over-invoiced their costs and hence their returns were inflated. All such issues have to be dealt at the time of approvals, but by no ways, government officials should have created controversies at the time of initiation of new projects.

But thats history. Nepras earlier-announced tariffs were fine with local players like Nishat and

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Kapco, but the Chinese had not accepted those tariffs after which revised tariffs had to be notified. Opposition benches in the parliament, especially PTI had raised their voices against the revised tariffs but on detailed scrutiny they found out that its not much different from earlier notification but a few assurances here and there to keep Chinese stay put.

Work is in progress on a number of imported coal-based projects around load centers in Punjab. These include two plants of 660MW each by Punjab government and Chinese counterpart while two plants are allocated to Nishat Group near Faisalabad. Plus, in Baloki near River Ravi, Chinese firms are working on two projects. Kapco has one in Sheikhupura. Land has been acquired and private companies are arranging financing and approvals for paying the land while government is already in the advanced stage.

Its imperative for Railways to upgrade its infrastructure concurrently to transport coal from port to plants. Railways can do this in a staged manner by doing the investment required for plants coming online earlier and the profits of transporting coal to them can be deployed to upgrade infrastructure for long-term. Railway Minister is all committed to do so and his coordination with power-generation companies is satisfactory.

The good thing is that since all the projects in Punjab are in load centers, there is no need to upgrade the transmission lines. But for coals-based plants on the port, they do need that infrastructure as Pakistans existing transmission system can only cater to 15,000MW. Plus, port infrastructure has to be built there in time.

The approval of additional 4,250MW coal-based power projects in a PPIB meeting held couple of weeks back requires much more work to reach the stage of above-mentioned Punjab-based projects as LOIs have not been issued yet. These include 660MW each by Hubco, Global Benefit Malaysia, Giga Energy and Younus brothers (Lucky Cement): While two 660MW are coming from Asia-Pak Hong Kong.

Hence, timeline for these projects are beyond four years. Nonetheless, a series of coal-based projects aiming to add 8,500MW in five years time. Plus, a few other projects are in pipeline, too. Till then, inhabitants of Pakistan have to face tough load shedding hours, and more importantly, industrial sector will be compromised by the shortfall. Pakistan charms Moodys

July 15, 2014

BR Research

Another feather in the cap for Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and his team! Moodys Investors Service yesterday up-graded Pakistans foreign currency government bond rating from

egative to stable, while the rating has been sustained at Caa1. Also, the governments issuer rating and senior unsecured rating have been affirmed at Caa1. That should cheer up Pakistans bond creditors.

The rating up-grade is backed by the ongoing progress on reforms under the IMF programme.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Moodys attributed improving external liquidity position and progress on structural reforms as the key grounds behind the improvement in outlook.

"Although the progress on economic front has been encouraging, I am positively surprised by Moodys remarks. Just focusing on economic numbers while keeping the political noise aside, the economy has definitely shown an uptick. Improvement in external account position, progress on privatisation plans, and focus on lower cost energy generation alternatives to curb energy crises, all demonstrate that reforms are under way," Junaid Iqbal, CEO of Elixir Securities, told BR Research when contacted following the news.

Moreover, by looking at the response received in recent secondary offerings of PPL and UBL, one can say that there is healthy demand for Pakistani papers in the global market, he added.

On top of that, with little options for Islamic instruments available globally, the governments plan to issue dollar-denominated Sukuk to global investors is set to be well-received by international markets. With this, the government can even plan to issue Sukuk at a relatively lower cost as global validity has once again revived investor confidence in Pakistan, according to sources.

From the context of stock market, the news came as a surprise for market pundits who stayed dull in the past few trading sessions owing to lack of positive triggers and uncertainties on the political front. The KSE-100 surged 387 points to close at 29,705 yesterday.

While all this is good news, Moodys has also raised some red flags, including "a stalling of the ongoing IMF program, deterioration in the external payments position or a worsening political environment..." - possible events which will be viewed as "credit negative". While the former two are less likely in the near future, the last factor--political instability--is a growing concern. The government must try to ease the situation to sustain the positive sentiment. Oops! He did it again

July 15, 2014

BR Research

Eye washing and number juggling seems to be the favourite pastimes of the government. From managing fiscal deficit numbers to GDP growth figures, the government is increasingly proving itself to be an untrustworthy entity.

The latest saga is the so-called ypo that the Ministry of Finance made in its Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) it submitted to the IMF. The MEFP said that GDP growth in FY14 stood at 3.3 percent, a number markedly lower than what the government had been otherwise advertising (4.1%) at every opportunity.

Its hard to believe that the government could manage to goof up on a matter of such great importance. And its not as if that this ypo existed in one of those exhaustive tables at the fag end of the MEFP. The sentence "We now expect that GDP will expand by about 3.3 percent in FY 2013/14, while in the next fiscal year, the expansion should accelerate to around 4 percent," is

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 written on the first page of the MEFP; indeed the very first paragraph.

And this is exactly why one is inclined not to believe that this was a typo. Sorry FinMin: in the backdrop of previous such instances of number jugglery, you are guilty of something fishy until proven innocent. Readers would recall how the first quarter FY14 GDP numbers of about five percent invited criticism from a host of independent economists. Later, the government had to accept its mistake and eventually corrected its position.

However, to be fair to the PML-N, one can say that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar doesn have a monopoly on number juggling. The politics of data have been going on since many a decades in Pakistan.

One recent example is from the Shaukat Aziz regime when governments poverty numbers were cooked up to show a miraculous amelioration in poverty headcount index from 34.5 percent in 2001-02 to 17.2 percent in 2007-08. The World Bank supported those numbers, since they funded that project. But the controversy eventually caught heat, compelling the then Chief Economist of Planning Commission Dr Pervez Tahir to resign in protest against number fudging.

The bottom line of this story is that data forms the building blocks of democracy. If democracy is about taking the society forward by means of discussions and negotiations and by being accountable, then it is the clear and transparent data that facilitates these discussions.

This country urgently needs a strong and autonomous statistics division--and in that vein, the umbilical cord between the finance ministry and the PBS has to be cut. The PBSs top slot has to be a tenured post, filled by a competent statistician, to allow the incumbent to work independently without fear or favour. But perhaps thats too much to ask from Le Accountant. Political capital slipping away

July 15, 2014

BR Research

Political capital is a rare commodity for any government. No matter how overwhelming at the start, it dissipates over time. In Nawaz Sharifs case, it is fizzling out rather quickly. His majoritarian government seems increasingly under duress, thanks to the ongoing summer of discord that has provoked a few critical missteps. There are signs that the PML-N may be in for a long, hot summer.

Shrewd governments try to push difficult reforms agenda earlier in their terms. Fresh mandate and goodwill help in countering populism as well as vested interests. Leaving tough decisions for later doesn help, for political capital essentially decreases with each passing day. By the mid- term, inertia kicks in and rarely anything consequential gets done. Thats the story in both mature and nascent democracies.

Has the PML-N lost the train? Reforms in key areas, like energy governance, civil services, and law enforcement are still "wanted" a year after the government took charge. Valuable time has been lost and still no concrete steps seem in place. Macroeconomic stability is a key

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 achievement, but that arguably has more to do with transactional band aids than policy.

Insiders suggest that the Prime Minister is unequivocally committed to fulfill the partys economic agenda, which includes privatisation of troubled public sector enterprises like the PIA, Pakistan Steel Mills, Discos and Gencos. But political headwinds suggest that the government is living on borrowed time. There are two observations here.

First, whatever political capital the government is left with is under dark clouds. PTI, the party that won the second-highest number of votes last year, has grown to be utterly dismissive of the Federal Governments "mandate". The party is reportedly preparing for a political showdown on August 14 in Islamabad. Then there are other parties on the fringe that have joined the chorus. This difficult, delegitimizing situation doesn exactly strengthen the governments resolve or ability to make tough reforms decisions.

Secondly, the main opposition party, the PPP is also waiting in the wings, but with a different plan. The Zardari-led party has not questioned the governments mandate like the rest of the opposition in order to avoid democracys collapse. But, it will surely use the situation to get its way. Among other things, it may throw a spanner in the works of the next phase of "hardcore" privatisation (PIA, PSM, Discos), which has now become the central plank of PML-Ns economic agenda.

But the sun has not set for this administration yet. It is not unusual for governments to redeem the lost political capital through extraordinary measures. If the PML-N government is able to pacify the protesting parties by finding an agreeable solution, the summer heat may eventually simmer down. The role of unrelated events, like the success of military operation and handling of IDPs rehabilitation, will also be important in this context.

Meanwhile, the spin masters can get to work and try to convince the public that Nawaz is winning. Didn Moodys just upgrade Pakistans rating outlook from

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Crime Records Lahore killings: chief minister's, others' phone numbers given to ISI

July 15, 2014

HAMID NAWAZ

A joint investigation team on Monday presented to a judicial tribunal the details of the cell phones under the use of Punjab Chief Minister, former law minister and 16 others concerned over the Lahore killings. The judge who conducted in-camera proceedings observed that necessary data of June 16 and 17, 2014 in respect of telephone numbers would be requisitioned from the relevant cell phone companies. The tribunal directed the companies to submit details before the tribunal by July 16.

The tribunal also delivered a list of cell phone numbers under use of these 18 persons for the purpose of an analysis to a Deputy Director of ISI, Asad Ali Khan. DSP/member joint investigation team Saif-ul-Murtaza, also produced the progress report of the JIT containing the details of the cell phone numbers under the use of 18 persons along with CDs.

During last proceedings, the judicial tribunal comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najfi had ordered the JIT to provide him the record of telephonic conversations between June 16 and 17 of Punjab CM, former law minister Rana Sanaullah, former principal secretary to CM Dr Toqeer Hussain Shah, home secretary Punjab, commissioner of Lahore division, CCPO Lahore, DCO Lahore, former DIG Operations Lahore Rana Abdul Jabbar, SP Operations Model Town division Tariq Aziz, SP Headquarters Lahore Maroof Safdar Wahla, SP Operations Saddar division Malik Awais, SP CIA Umar Virk, SP operations Iqbal Town division Farrukh Raza, SP Investigation Model Town division Mohammad Nadeem, SP Flying Squad Agha Mohammad Ramzan, SP Mujahid Squad Abdul Rehman Sherazi, and SP Security Lahore Salman Khan.

Altaf Hussain, Additional IG placed on record a report of SOPs of communication between the police command during the police operations like the one conducted against the PAT activists.

District & Sessions Judge Lahore presented a report along with the statements of four injured persons before the tribunal. The tribunal on the last hearing had appointed him local commission to record statements of the injured persons who are under treatment at the Jinnah Hospital. Saif- ul-Murtaza, also produced the progress report of the JIT containing details of the cell phones numbers under use of 18 persons along with CDs. SSP, Special Branch, Lahore submitted two CDs containing video recording of the operation. Masroor Alam, Director IB, Admin and Sajid Bilal, Director IB, Lahore appeared before the tribunal and placed on record a report of the incident.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Israeli aggression kills 5 in Gaza, toll exceeds 2012 war

July 15, 2014

The death toll from Israel's seven-day air campaign against Gaza rose to 184 on Monday, exceeding that of the last conflict in the besieged Palestinian territory, in 2012. Five Palestinians were killed in two separate air strikes late Monday, hiking the toll above the 177 people killed in the last major round of violence between Israel and its Islamist foe Hamas in November 2012.

Emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said the strikes killed three people in Rafah in the south of Gaza, including a young child, and two people in Khan Yunis, also in the south. A UN official said on Monday that more than a quarter of those killed in Gaza since the violence began last week were children.

Earlier, a strike in Gaza City killed a young man, and another Palestinian died of wounds sustained in an earlier raid. East of Khan Yunis, an Israeli missile struck a motorcycle, killing 17-year-old Ziyad al-Najjar, Qudra said. His death came shortly after another strike in the same area, which killed a 37-year-old. A 60-year-old man was killed in a raid on a house in Deir al- Balah in central Gaza, and two other people died in separate strikes elsewhere in the coastal enclave, Qudra said.

Earlier, a man and a woman wounded in air strikes on Sunday died of their injuries. In all, 14 people were killed on Monday, with the total number wounded in the conflict rising to 1,280. The Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) said on Sunday that more than three-quarters of the dead were civilians. The bloodiest day so far was Saturday when 56 people were killed. No Israelis have been killed. Four have been seriously wounded since the start of the operation. Israel began Operation Protective Edge before dawn on Tuesday in an attempt to halt cross-border rocket fire by militant groups.

By Obaid Abbasi

Published: July 15, 2014

RAWALPINDI:

Despite Inspector General of the Punjab Police (IGP) Mushtaq Sukhera’s strict orders to beef up security in the light of intelligence reports, the police were clueless after two prize bond dealers were robbed of Rs2.5 million by three armed robbers in broad daylight.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 One of the victims was also shot during the incident. The incident took place in the Cantonment Police Station area while police claimed they were on high alert.

Locals rushed Malik Jamshed, the injured victim, to DHQ hospital in a rickshaw, where doctors said he was out of danger.

According to sources, prize bond dealers Shabbir Hussain Shah and Jamshed were going to their shop near Sonehri Mosque in Sarafa Bazaar on a motorcycle after buying prize bonds worth Rs2.5 million from the State Bank of Pakistan when three robbers intercepted them near the Military Accounts building at around 3pm. The robbers held the two men on gunpoint and demanded the bag containing the prize bonds. “When Jamshed tried to offer resistance, a robber shot and injured him,” police sources said. Later, the robbers grabbed the bag and sped away, sources added. Shah and Jamshed are residents of Dhoke Khaba and Dhoke Ratta respectively.

The locals shifted injured to DHQ in a rickshaw. SHO Amir Khan, when contacted, confirmed the incident. He said that police lodged a case against unknown dacoits and started investigation. However, police could not arrest or trace the fleeing dacoits so far.

It is noted that the areas of PS Cantonment have apparently become a safe heaven for dacoits and car lifters as on July 7, robbers snatched Rs 1.6 million from Faisal Razaaq after injuring him after opening indiscriminate firing on him near Railway Station. Dozens of cars and motorcycles have also been picked away by car jackers. CPO was not available for his comments over surge in crime rate in Cannt area.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2014.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Protest: Minority, religious groups censure Israeli aggression

By News Desk

Published: July 15, 2014

Various political, religious and minority organisations have condemned Israeli aggression against Palestinians and have demanded an immediate end to atrocities in the Gaza strip.

World Minorities Alliance Convener J Salik on Monday protested against the Israeli attacks on Gaza with pouring ash on his head. Salik demanded that the international community, particularly the United Nations, play their role to halt the escalating crisis in Gaza.

“The Israel-Palestine war is not a religious conflict. The Christian community is with the Palestinians in their struggle for freedom,” Salik said.

He said the Israeli atrocities must not go unchecked, as it risks security of the wider region.

He said the Pope, Imam-e-Kaaba and the Archbishop of Canterbury should interfere to help stop the conflict.

Meanwhile, the Milli Yekjehti Council (MYJC) also announced to observe a day of condemnation against Israel on July 18 and Quds Day on the last Friday of Ramazan. The MYJC demanded that the government officially observe Quds Day in Pakistan.

MYJC Secretary General Liaquat Baloch and Senior Vice-President Allama Sajid Naqvi said at a press conference that leaders of the Pakistan Movement had backed the Palestinians’ right to an independent state.

The council said the government’s verbal condemnations of the Israeli aggression are not enough and demanded that Pakistan raise a strong voice against Israel at global forums. They said the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should play its role.

The MYJC demanded an immediate end to Israeli strikes in Gaza and a UN enquiry into the rights violations and war crimes committed by Israel.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) also condemned the Israeli aggression and termed it state terrorism. PTI Member National Assembly Asad Umar and PTI Islamabad President Aamir Mughal said the UN Security Council should intervene to avoid further conflict in Gaza.

They said over 170 Palestinians have died in the Israeli air strikes so far while hundreds are injured. Umar said the Arab countries should cut diplomatic ties with Israel.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2014.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Modaraba scams: NAB asks victims to file claims within two weeks

By Our Correspondent

Published: July 15, 2014

ISLAMABAD:

The National Accountability Bureau Rawalpindi office has asked people who fell victim to Modaraba and Musharika scams to submit their applications along with their copies of their CNICs and the Modaraba agreements within 15 days.

NAB has also published advertisements in the media seeking submission of complaints against the parties under investigation as part of the scam.

The parties include Bilal Khan Bangash, Masseha Forex, Matiur Rahman, Global Concern, Muhammad Ehsan, Hafiz Salahuddin, Ghulam Sadiq, Noman Qureshi, Abdullah and NE associates, Abdullah Khan Muhammad, Al-Shamim Enterprises, Malik Haroon Tabrez, Ghulam Haider, and Malik Naseer and Sons.

Other NAB regional offices will also accept complaints with the same supporting documents. The complaints will also help NAB ascertain the total volume of the largely paperless scam, sources said.

NAB is pursuing 81 of illegal modaraba businesses, with seven cases at investigation stage, 19 at the inquiry stage, five at the complaint verification stage, and 50 at the initial stage.

So far, there are total 36,462 individual affectees in these cases, the total volume of which has exceeded Rs22 billion. Only Rs1.21 billion have been recovered.

Accountability courts have frozen movable and immovable properties of the accused. Earlier, NAB has sought Interpol’s help in arresting the main accused.

NAB spokesperson Ramzan Sajid said NAB has arrested 12 persons including Mufti Ehsanul Haq, Mufti Ibrarul Haq, Mufti Hafiz Muhammad Nawaz, Moeen Aslam, Obaidullah, Mufti Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, Sajjad Ahmed, Asif Javed, Ghulam Ayubi, Muhammad Hussain, Hamid Nawaz and Muhammad Irfan.

He said that some of them were arrested from Lahore and some others from Sindh. NAB court Judge Muhammad Bashir on Monday also directed that references be filed against the arrested persons, some of whom have been in jail for the past 11 months.

In a meeting on Monday, NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry directed regional bureaus to gear up their efforts to pursue cases of people cheating public and recover the looted money from such swindlers.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 He also called upon the general public to be vigilant of such schemes and not fall prey to offers of unrealistic returns on investment.

Qamar Zaman Chaudhry has also directed the Awareness and Prevention Wing of the Bureau and Regional NABs to carryout awareness activities using different channels of communication to make the public aware of such fraudulent schemes and persuade them to invest in government-approved investment channels only.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2014. Catch and release: Escaped ‘kidnapper’ still on the lam

By Our Correspondent

Published: July 15, 2014

ISLAMABAD:

An under-trial prisoner accused of kidnapping people for ransom escaped from the district courts on Wednesday and has still not been found.

At the same time, a case has been filed against six policemen — Sub Inspector Naveed, Assistant Sub Inspector Javed, Constable Maskeen, Constable Sarmad, Constable Saleem and Constable Ghazanfar — for negligence leading to the escape.

Shahjehan of Malakand Agency escaped from F8 Kacheri, where he has to face charges along with nine co-accused persons. The group of 10 included two women, Saeeda Gull and her daughter Laila Gull.

The women would stand beside roads asking for a lift. If someone picked them up, the remaining team members followed them in another car. Later, they would stop the victim’s car by force and the kidnapers would shift the victim to a safe house.

The group usually held hostages in a rented house in Badia Mehra, Ittefaq Town. That house was being rented by Saeeda’s husband Parvez Khan and three armed men were always present to supervise the hostage. The group used the hostage’s phone to make ransom demands, with the calls originating from the Khyber Agency area. The minimum demand of the kidnapers was Rs50 million.

Margalla Police Station Investigation Officer Ishtiaq Shah told The Express Tribune that the police had formed three teams to arrest Shahjehan and had approached their counterparts in Swabi, Charsadda and Bajaur, but hthere had been no success thus far.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2014.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Fight to continue till last militant is eliminated

By The Newspaper's Correspondent

BANNU: Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has said that fight against terrorists will continue till elimination of the last militant in the country.

Addressing a tribal jirga of North Waziristan Agency here on Monday, he said that disaster in North Waziristan would be turned into an opportunity that would lay foundation for economic revolution in the tribal areas.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan also accompanied the Punjab chief minister during his visit to Bannu to meet internally displaced persons (IDPs) of North Waziristan Agency.

Mr Sharif said that after overcoming the issue of terrorism, IDPs would not only be rehabilitated but the Punjab government in collaboration with the federal government would also establish a state-of-the-art hospital, vocational centres and educational institutions in the area.

Shahbaz says hospital, vocational training centres and educational institutions will be set up in N Waziristan

He said that extremists and terrorists would not be provided space to exploit innocent people of North Waziristan.

On this occasion, Mr Sharif presented a cheque of Rs500 million to IDPs as financial assistance and announced that each displaced family would be provided with Rs7,000 per month. The assistance would continue till return of the displaced tribesmen to their native area, he added.

CM pledges all-out support to IDPs

The Punjab chief minister said that security forces and the people of Waziristan were fighting for the survival of the country. He said that militants had planned to make hostage the entire country that’s why the security forces launched a decisive action against them in North Waziristan Agency.

Mr Sharif also announced to donate one-day salary of the government employees of the Punjab as well as the members of the ruling party in provincial assembly to IDPs.

Speaking on the occasion, Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan said that the fate of the people of Fata was not destruction rather construction. The sacrifices of the tribal people and army would bear fruits, he said, adding that the rehabilitation process would never be left incomplete.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 The governor said that as per directives of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the federal government already released an amount of Rs8 billion to provide relief to IDPs of North Waziristan and facilitate them in minimising their difficulties.

Sardar Mahtab and Shahbaz Sharif distributed relief goods among the displaced people and gave away ration bags and cash to IDPs.

Maj Gen Akhtar, Adviser to Prime Minister Eng Amir Muqam, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister Shah Farman, Punjab Minister Rana Mashood, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz provincial president Pir Sabir Shah, chief secretaries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab and other senior officials were also present on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2014 Model Town probe: Tribunal gets recording of CM-others talks

By The Newspaper's Staff Reporter

LAHORE: A joint investigation team (JIT) probing the Model Town incident on Monday submitted to the single-judge tribunal the record of telephonic conversations held among the chief minister, the former law minister and 16 others before and during the day of the incident.

The tribunal further directed the investigation team to produce transcripts of the conversations by the next hearing.

Model Town inquiry: Tribunal asks for cell phone record

Justice Ali Baqar Najafi held tribunal’s proceedings in his chamber due to lawyers’ strike in solidarity with the people of Gaza, Palestine.

DSP Saiful Murtaza, a member of the JIT, appeared before the tribunal and placed on record the progress report containing details of the mobile phone numbers in use of 18 people along with CDs of the conversation. However, he undertook to place on record the remaining mobile phone numbers in use of the persons required by the tribunal he got hold of them.

Five policemen remanded in custody

The tribunal directed the investigation team member to produce the transcript of the telephonic conversations and also instructed cellular companies to submit the data of the numbers on the next hearing.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Additional IG Altaf Husain also presented a report of SOPs of communication between the police command during the police operations like the one conducted against Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers.

The Lahore district and sessions judge presented a report along with statements of the four injured persons before the tribunal. The tribunal, on the last hearing, had appointed him as local commission to record statements of the injured who were under treatment at Jinnah Hospital.

SSP Special Branch Muhammad Waqar Abbasi submitted two CDs, containing the footages made by the agency during the June 17 operation.

Intelligence Bureau Director Admin Masroor Alam and Director Lahore Sajid Bilal placed on record a report on the incident.

Inter-Services Intelligence Deputy Director Asad Ali Khan submitted a report and two CDs of the incident.

The tribunal adjourned further hearing until July 16.

Remand: An anti-terrorism court on Monday remanded five cops in police custody for their alleged involvement in the killing of Pakistan Awami Tehreek’s workers outside the residence of Dr Tahirul Qadri in Model Town.

Faisal Town police produced Sabzazar SHO Sheikh Amir Saleem, Elite Force Inspector Hafiz Athar, Head-Constable Naveed and two constables Kashif and Khurram before the court amid tight security.

The investigating officer told Presiding Judge Rai Ayub Marth that the weapons used by the cops during the shooting on the day of incident had been recovered. He said further custody was required for more investigation in the case.

The judge accepted the plea and granted five-day physical remand of the cops to police with a direction to complete investigation by the next hearing.

GULLU BUTT: The judge also extended physical remand of Gullu Butt in the case of smashing private vehicles outside Minhajul Quran Secretariat during an anti-encroachment operation carried out by the government.

The investigating officer told the court that the club used by the suspect for smashing the cars was recovered, however, a pistol used by him for aerial firing was yet to be seized.

He requested the court to extend physical remand of the suspect to complete the investigation.

Therefore, the judge extended the remand of Gullu Butt for five days.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2014

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Karachi: Suspected robber lynched in Orangi Town

By The Newspaper's Staff Reporter

Police said six bandits barged into the house of Tahir Hussain in Orangi Town’s Sector 11 ½ and started collecting valuables. However, they left the house when the family raised alarm alerting neighbours and area people.

The area people overpowered two of the fleeing bandits and beat them severely before handing them over to the police.

The Pakistan Bazaar police said that the suspects suffered serious injuries and were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where one of them, identified as Rashid Ahmed, died, while his accomplice, Hasan Salam, was admitted for treatment.

Man wounded in Lyari firing dies

A man who was wounded along with three others in an incident of firing in Lyari’s Kalri area late on Sunday night died at a hospital on Monday, police said.

They said that four men sustained bullet wounds and were taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi where Mohsin Khan, 32, died on Monday. Three others — Bilal, Idris and Junaid — were being treated at the hospital.

While SSP-City Sheraz Nazeer claimed that the incident appeared to be an outcome of infighting between two rival gangs in Lyari, Kalri police official said that they had no criminal record of the deceased or wounded.

Labourer found shot dead

A young labourer was found shot dead in Memon Goth on Monday, according to police.

They added that the body of 34-year-old Bashir Alam was found in an ice factory located in the same area in the morning.

The body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities. He sustained a single bullet wound in the chest.

Area SHO Rao Khalid said that the ice factory was closed and the victim lived there. The murder might be an outcome of some internal dispute, he said.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2014

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Evacuation of Mamond villages ordered

By Anwarullah Khan

KHAR: The political administration of Bajaur Agency has ordered people living in border areas of Mamond tehsil to evacuate their homes by Tuesday morning because of the possibility of a military operation in the region.

Local people told Dawn on Monday that the administration had asked residents of five border villages of Mamond to leave the area.

The order was announced through mosque loudspeakers by Levies personnel, a resident Dilwar Khan said.

Confirming the decision, an official told media personnel that people in Nakhatar, Ghakhai, Mula Killi, Gohati and Kitkoot of Mamond had been asked to leave their houses in view of the possibility of a military operation.

Jirga asks Afghan govt to stop militants’ infiltration

He said the decision was taken at a meeting of senior security officials and local administration. Security forces believed that elements responsible for the recent cross-border attacks were hiding in the area.

Meanwhile, a delegation of an alliance of Bajaur’s political parties held a meeting with the political agent and expressed concern over the decision and urged him to withdraw it.

ABDUCTED VOLUNTEER KILLED: Meanwhile, militants shot dead a kidnapped member of Mamond peace committee in Badan area on Monday.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2014

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Miscellaneous News Improvement: Moody’s revises outlook, Pakistan is now ‘stable’

By Kazim Alam

Published: July 15, 2014

KARACHI:

Despite the government’s cover-up of a controversial GDP growth rate for 2013-14, international credit rating agencies seem to be largely sold on Pakistan’s economy. Moody’s Investors Service revised the outlook on Pakistan’s foreign currency government bond rating to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’.

Moody’s decision to revise the outlook on Pakistan’s foreign currency rating is based on the “stabilisation in the country’s external liquidity position” supported by the government’s strong commitment to reforms under an on-going programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The continued implementation of structural reforms under the programme will ensure additional tranche disbursements, buffering Pakistan’s foreign reserves, it said.

Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) stood at $9,602 million on July 4 after increasing more than 50% in 2013-14.

A key factor behind Moody’s one-notch downgrade and outlook revision for Pakistan back in July 2012 was a deterioration in the external liquidity position due to a widening current-account deficit, large outflows from the financial account and a decline in international reserves to very low levels.

“This situation has reversed over the past year: the current-account deficit is modest, estimated at 1% of GDP for June 2014, while financial inflows have increased due to a $2 billion Eurobond sale earlier this year, privatisation proceeds, and multilateral and bilateral funding,” Moody’s said, adding that repayments to the IMF from the previously suspended programme are tapering off even as disbursements from the on-going programme continue.

Although Pakistan’s past record is weak with regard to previous programmes with the IMF, Moody’s says the country is making steady progress in meeting reform benchmarks under the current 36-month $6.8 billion Extended Fund Facility with the IMF. Noting that Pakistan has cleared three programme reviews and received $2.2 billion of financial assistance, it said the government has met 10 of 17 structural benchmarks, and “appears to be on track towards achieving the remainder”.

These goals include tax and energy sector reforms, as well as efforts to privatise state-owned enterprises. “Reform implementation may be challenging. Nonetheless, we think the authorities will persevere to achieve the overall intent of the package,” it said.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Warning of dangers that lie ahead, Moody’s said a stalling of the on-going IMF programme, deterioration in the external payments position, or a worsening political environment will be viewed as credit negative. In contrast, upward triggers to the rating stem from the successful completion of the IMF programme, further improvements in the external liquidity position, continued fiscal consolidation, and progress on structural reforms that will remove infrastructure impediments and supply-side bottlenecks. “Domestic political stability and steady relations with international donors would further support the rating,” it said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2014. Gems, jewellery: Company board lacks experienced professionals

By Farhan Zaheer

Published: July 15, 2014

KARACHI:

In stark contrast to the claims of promoting transparency and good governance, the government seems to be creating problems for the gems and jewellery industry in its day- to-day affairs.

In the first week of July, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) administration approved a 14-member board of the Pakistan Gems and Jewellery Development Company (PGJDC), a public limited company responsible for promoting and supporting the gems and jewellery industry, but the board lacked representation from the private sector.

Not only true representatives of the private sector were sidelined, politicians were unnecessarily included in the board, triggering fierce opposition. The board comprises three female PML-N members of parliament.

The composition of the board openly violates laws of the company, which clearly say that the company’s board must include chairmen of the All Pakistan Gems Merchant and Jewellery Association (APGMJA) and All Pakistan Commercial Exporters Association (APCEA) – the two leading private sector associations of the industry.

Habibur Rehman, chairman of APGMJA, a grouping of gems and jewellery makers, traders and exporters, told The Express Tribune that this government was following in the footsteps of the previous administration and was deliberately creating hurdles in the way of gems and jewellery industry.

“Lack of seriousness on the part of the government is evident from its actions. It is placing politicians and others who do not have any experience of the industry in the company’s board where gems and jewellery exporters are badly needed to step up exports of the country,” Rehman added.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Leading gems and jewellery exporters believe the presence of politicians will not serve the company well. Such state actions are detrimental to the industry, its growth and exports, they say.

The previous Pakistan Peoples Party-led coalition government had also brought politicians from the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) in the board, which set a bad precedent at a company that was supposed to be run by professionals.

“It is quite clear that the people who are at the helm of affairs do not want to run this company transparently,” Rehman said, while criticising the government’s decision to include politicians in the board.

APCEA Chairman Atif Rasheed commented that the illegal constitution of the company’s board was highly disturbing for the private sector. “We have decided to go to court to get our grievances addressed,” he said.

Rasheed believes that the politicians lacked the technical knowhow needed to promote the industry and they would only vitiate the working atmosphere and affect overall governance in the company.

“We repeatedly asked the government to equip the board with true stakeholders, but the authorities turned down all requests,” the industrialist added.

The chief executive of Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), which gives recommendations for PGJDC board members, was contacted several times for his comments, but he was not available.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2014. Mobilink to launch commercial 3G services on July 18

By Our Correspondent

Published: July 15, 2014

KARACHI: In a development that will make the country’s cellular mobile sector fully equipped with the next-generation mobile broadband, Mobilink announced to commercially launch its third-generation (3G) services from July 18.

The largest operator by subscriptions – the Pakistani subsidiary of VimpelCom – is the only operator with a 3G licence that has yet to launch its services commercially. The company, however, said it would be charging its customers for using its 3G services from July 18, according to a text message it sent to the customers.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Warid Telecom, the only operator that opted out of the April 23rd spectrum auction, has also notified its customers about the commercial launch of its Long Term Evolution or 4G services by the end of September.

With Mobilink and Warid launching their high-speed mobile internet services in July and September respectively, all five operators in the country will be offering their customer portable broadband.

Mobilink, along with Telenor, Ufone and Zong, participated in the April’s auction and acquired 10 megahertz of spectrum in the 3G band. The company, however, had been offering its 3G services for free since then – a special facility that the officials termed was part of its 20th anniversary celebrations.

A majority of Pakistan’s smartphone users – 62.5% to be exact – use the internet via Wifi mostly from home, while only a quarter of them use internet on their cellphones, according to a recent survey by the Dutch mobile app developer Grappetite – an indication that 3G is yet to reach its potential.

However, with all five operators offering high-speed mobile internet, this equation is likely to change in the next few months, according to industry sources.

With the recent introduction of third-generation (3G) mobile technology, the country’s broadband user base is expected to be somewhere between 25 to 45 million by 2020, according to Pakistan Startup report.

With its 180 million plus people – of whom 60% are between 15 and 45 years of age – Pakistan is the world’s sixth most populous country and one of the largest markets for telecom services. Despite a 16% internet penetration, about half of Pakistan’s 30 million internet users access internet through mobile phones – the country’s mobile penetration stands at 74% or 136.5 million subscriptions.

With most of its internet subscribers being active users of social media, the country is home to 14.4 million Facebook users (as of June 2014) – a number that’s likely to shoot up as more people access social media through their smartphones.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2014. On the surge: NBP jumps on the Islamic banking bandwagon

By Our Correspondent

Published: July 15, 2014

KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) President Syed Iqbal Ashraf has said the state-owned bank will open 175 Islamic branches in coming months besides establishing a wholly-owned Islamic banking subsidiary.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Inaugurating its 19th Islamic banking branch here on Monday along with State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Deputy Governor Saeed Ahmad, Ashraf said the NBP will open new Islamic banking branches and convert many others, which currently exist as conventional branches, into Shariah- compliant branches.

The Islamic banking branch network of the NBP exists under the branch name of ‘Aitemaad’.

Speaking on the occasion, SBP Deputy Governor Saeed Ahmad said Islamic banking is an emerging segment in Pakistan’s banking sector that needs to spread its wings and expand its services to agriculture, housing, small and medium-size enterprises and trade.

“Islamic banking needs work in untapped and unexplored markets that are not becoming part of the banking circle because of its non-Shariah products and services,” Ahmad added.

Deposits of the Islamic banking industry stood at Rs872 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2014, up 23.8% from March 2013. The market share of Islamic banking industry’s deposits in the overall banking industry stood at 10.7% in March, up 1% from the market share of 9.7% one year ago.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2014. Steel sector: Steel re-rolling mills fear unrest if power cuts persist

By Our Correspondent

Published: July 15, 2014

LAHORE:

The Pakistan Steel Re-Rolling Mills Association (PSRMA) has shown concern over suspension of power to the industry and feared massive layoffs and unrest if it is not restored immediately.

In a statement issued on Monday, PSRMA Chairman Asmat Pervaiz and Patron Chairman Hafiz Muhammad Akbar said that the Steel Re-Rolling industry in Punjab is passing through a crisis- like situation due to the unavailability of electricity and gas, which is a prime raw material.

They said that because of heavy taxation in the 2014-15 budget, the steel industry is already struggling for survival.

“The government will have to announce a special package to save the dying steel sector besides ensuring provision of regular supply of electricity,” said PSRMA.

“It is unfortunate that the steel industry in Punjab has no electricity and gas is being provided for one day a week, while situation in other parts of the country is quite different.”

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 The PSRMA pointed out that discrimination in electricity and gas supply to Punjab must be stopped and distribution must be in accordance with the size of industry and not according to the province.

“When the industry in Punjab is paying a considerable amount of revenue to the exchequer, its protection is also the responsibility of the Federal government.”

It is submitted that closure of power supply to the around 500 steel units in Punjab has also resulted in total closure of 28 dependent industries of the steel sector, to whom raw material is being provided by the Re-Rolling industry. These industries include agricultural implements, sewing machines, surgical instruments, tractor spares, power looms, electric fans and appliances, light engineering, housing and construction etc.

They added that closure of the industry due to suspension of electricity would deprive millions of workers of their jobs, creating unrest in the country. “It is very surprising that at one side the government is trying to create opportunities of employment and on the other hand adopting the policies which render unemployment for those who are on job,” they said. “This is treated as an anti-industry policy and is not in favour of the government itself.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2014. Export processing zones: Chief satisfied with Karachi unit’s performance

By Our Correspondent

Published: July 15, 2014

KARACHI: Export Processing Zones Authority Chairman Rabiya Javeri Agha has expressed satisfaction over consistent growth trends in exports recorded in the last seven months.

The Karachi Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) has achieved significant export success with an increase of 43% in June this year. Annual exports for 2013-14 were $363.13 million compared to $299.16 in 2012-13, reflecting an overall increase of 26%. Signs of healthy resurgence of KEPZ export activities are being noted and reflected in export growth which is pulling KEPZ out of its dormancy, added the statement. This achievement becomes all the more important if analysed in context of 5% export drop in 2011-2012 and 2% decline in 2012-13. European Union (EU) is the single largest export destination zone along with Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Reinvigoration of KEPZ industrial activities are attributed to improving its investment and business environment which include, consultations with Zone investors to resolve their immediate operational issues, facilitating sick units, and exercising regulatory controls on imports/export procedures.

EPZA chairman assigned the team to finalise a roadmap for future projects aimed at image building of EPZs and attracting investment in value-added industries. Many potential investors

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 have shown interest in putting up industries in KEPZ but plot possession by sick units is an issue. Facilitations including different revival packages and extended utilities will be offered to investors who commit to starting operations by agreed deadline. This strategy is expected to yield result within six months to one year.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2014. FCCI to explore business during Shanghai trip

By Imran Rana

Published: July 15, 2014

FAISALABAD: A 10-member Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) delegation proceeded to Shanghai for a 10-day business exploration trip to China.

Members of the delegation gathered at the FCCI office and discussed their itinerary and tour programme before their departure.

Addressing the members, FCCI Senior Vice President Riazul Haq and Vice President Chaudhary Muhammad Asghar said that China, being a tested friend, offers new opportunities.

“China has made tremendous progress due to its internal cohesion and economic policies,” said FCCI, adding that China has agreed in principle to invest $2 billion in Faisalabad. “This investment will open new avenues of economic cooperation and collaboration.”

It is now the duty of the business communities in the two countries to fully exploit the untapped economic potential by visiting each other and fostering business-to-business relations.

Haq said that the FCCI is aware of the importance of foreign tours and was facilitating its members to visit other countries and explore new markets for their exportable surplus. He said that it is FCCI’s third delegation that was going abroad this year. Earlier, two delegations had visited Brazil and Turkey. He hoped that this tour will also prove productive and will resultantly improve bilateral trade between Pakistan and China.

Khurram Shahzad, head of the FCCI delegation, said that this delegation will visit Beijing, Shanghai and Yiwu. The delegation will also hold meetings with members of the Yantai chamber to discuss possibilities of launching joint ventures.

He said that the businessmen belonging to textile, sweets and confectionery, agriculture and engineering and paper board sectors are a part of the delegation.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2014.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 European market: Bosan pleased with mangoes’ sale

By APP

Published: July 15, 2014

MULTAN:

Federal Minister for Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Bosan has said that Pakistani mangoes are being sold at good prices in Europe this year compared to the previous year.

Talking to media after the inauguration of Small Scale Hot Water Mango Treatment Unit – a machine, locally prepared for effective control of fruit flies in mangoes – he said the simple hot water mango treatment machine was manufactured at a cost of Rs150,000, under the Ministry of National Food Security and Research and Pakistan Research Council.

The government was planning to offer the machine to farmers on subsidised rates, he said.

He said that Pakistani mangoes were attracting higher prices due to their revised weights, adding that the country had an opportunity to earn massive amounts of foreign exchange through the export of mangoes.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2014. Pakistan Protection Act: ‘Act aims to contain militancy, extremism’

By News Desk

Published: July 15, 2014

Extraordinary circumstances warrant extraordinary measures and the recently enacted Pakistan Protection Act (PPA) is one such remedial measure to effectively cope with terrorism, militancy and growing insurgency.

Federal Judicial Academy Director General Dr Faqir Hussain said this while speaking on a topic titled “Testing vires of PPA on the touchstone of constitution” on the first day of a weeklong training course for prosecutors from across the country, here at the Federal Judicial Academy on Monday, said a press release.

Seventeen prosecutors were undergoing training on the “Role of prosecutors in quick disposal of cases”.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Shedding light on various aspects of the act, in his presentation, he said, “Since the country is now confronted with such an extraordinary situation, the government is compelled to take certain steps and measures which can improve the law and order situation, protect life and property and contain the spate of subversive and anti–state activities.”

He said, “It is indeed a harsh piece of legislation, but we are confronted with a situation which called for such a law. Even the most civilised and democratic countries have passed such laws in testing times. There are certain offensive provisions in the new act, but they could be reviewed to bring them in conformity with constitutional safeguards.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2014. Exhibition: Calligraphic exhibition kicks off at RAC

By News Desk

Published: July 15, 2014

Rawalpindi. The first-ever exhibition of senior calligrapher Jabir Hussain was organised by Rawalpindi Arts Council on Sunday. Member Punjab Assembly Raja Muhammad Hanif inaugurated the event. Syed Jabir Hussain a retired calligrapher from PTV, used Nastaleeq, Thuluth, Nasakh and freestyle as his tools. Jabir also uses bright watercolours in most of his calligraphies and often merges words into other words.

Member Punjab Assembly Raja Muhammad Hanif termed Jabir Hussain an asset for the country, while Waqar Ahmed praised the Rawalpindi Arts Council for arranging the exhibition.

The exhibition will run till July 19.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2014.

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014

OPEN MARKET FOREX RATES Updated at: 15/7/2014 7:04 AM (PST) Currency Buying Selling Australian Dollar 92.5 92.75 Bahrain Dinar 261.6 261.85 Canadian Dollar 92 92.25 China Yuan 15.8 15.95 Danish Krone 17.8 17.95 Euro 134.25 134.5 Hong Kong Dollar 12.55 12.7 Indian Rupee 1.6 1.65 Japanese Yen 0.97 0.98 Kuwaiti Dinar 349.75 350 Malaysian Ringgit 30.35 30.6 NewZealand $ 86.1 86.35 Norwegians Krone 16.3 16.45 Omani Riyal 256.45 256.7 Qatari Riyal 27 27.25 Saudi Riyal 26.25 26.5 Singapore Dollar 79.25 79.5 Swedish Korona 14.65 14.8 Swiss Franc 110.25 110.5 Thai Bhat 3 3.05 U.A.E Dirham 26.85 27.1 UK Pound Sterling 169 169.25 US Dollar 98.9 99.15

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014

INTER BANK RATES Updated at: 15/7/2014 7:04 AM (PST) Bank Buying Bank Selling Currency TT Clean TT & OD Australian Dollar 92.4 92.59

Canadian Dollar 91.57 91.76

Danish Krone 17.93 17.97

Euro 133.72 133.99

Hong Kong Dollar 12.68 12.71

Japanese Yen 0.9698 0.9718

Saudi Riyal 26.21 26.26

Singapore Dollar 79.2 79.36

Swedish Korona 14.47 14.5

Swiss Franc 110.12 110.35

U.A.E Dirham 26.76 26.82

UK Pound Sterling 168.23 168.57

US Dollar 98.3 98.5

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PLP NEWS ALERTS EMAIL No. 164-2014 Bullion Rates (Gold Prices) in Pakistan Rupee (PKR) As on Tue, Jul 15 2014, 02:15 GMT PKR PKR PKR Metal Symbol for 10 Gm for 1 Tola for 1 Ounce

Gold 24K XAU 41,545 48,407 129,223

Palladium XPD 27,700 32,275 86,157

Platinum XPT 47,472 55,313 147,657

Silver XAG 664 773 2,064

Gold Rates in other Major Currencies 1 Currency Symbol 10 Gm 1 Tola Ounce Australian

AUD 447 521 1,391 Dollar Canadian

CAD 451 525 1,402 Dollar

Euro EUR 309 360 960

Japanese

JPY 42,706 49,759 132,833 Yen U.A.E

AED 1,544 1,799 4,802 Dirham UK Pound

GBP 246 287 765 Sterling

US Dollar USD 420 490 1,307

* These rates are taken from International Market so there may be some fluctuation from Local Market.

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