Pages: 7 Tuesday, 13 December, 2011profit.com.pk

Pakistan, ADB to sign MoU onBhasha Dam today Page 8

ISLAMABAD

MIAN ABRAR

AFTer knowing that despite federal cabinet’sorders to accelerate work on Nandipur PowerProject, the machinery of the project was stilllying at Karachi Port, Prime minister Syed

Yusuf raza Gilani directed the authorities that imme-diate steps should be taken to release Nandipur PowerProject machinery to make the project operational byearly next year, Profit has learnt.

Prime minister Gilani passed these directions dur-ing a briefing by ministry of Water and Power onNeelum Jhelum Hydropower Project here at Primeminister’s House which was attended by minister forWater and Power Naveed Qamar, minister for KashmirAffairs and Gilgit-Baltistan manzoor Ahmad Wattoo,Secretary Finance, Secretary ministry of Water andPower, Secretary economic Affairs Division and othersenior officials of the relevant ministries.

A source told that during a meeting, it was in-formed that the machinery was yet to be installed onthe project site as the same had not been released byfederal government authorities from Karachi port.

The 450 megawatts project has been delayed for thepast two years as the project was to be made opera-tional in Punjab. earlier, it had been reported that lawministry did not wet the project due to legal hazards fortwo years and later the matter was also raised in the na-tional assembly by an opposition mNA Khwaja mo-hammed Asif. The meeting also approvedreconstitution of board of directors by inducting rele-vant stakeholders. Ceo of Neelum Jhelum HydropowerProject said that after winning the arbitration case,work had been resumed in full swing and hopefullywould be complete in 2016 with generation capacity of960 mW. Ceo also said the earthquake of 2005 led to

modification in the design of the project to make itearthquake-proof. The alteration in the design causedsubstantial increase in cost, because it entailed massiveadditional civil works. The management of the projectalso briefed about the funding plan and identified prob-lems which they said would be resolved with ease.

Chairman WAPDA said it was easy to take up Tar-bela extension Power Project because the tunnel to beused for extension project was constructed during1970s. He further said World Bank had shown consid-erable interest in the Dassu Dam project which wouldproduce 4300 mW electricity after completion.

munda Dam Project on Swat river, the chairmansaid, would be an excellent project because it wouldnot only produce electricity but also save large areasof Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa from floods because thesewere caused by Swat river and not by Kabul river.Chairman said work on Boonji Dam had to be re-viewed in view of one study that revealed that fault-lines were in close proximity of the dam site.Chairman urged upon completion of Kacchi Canalproject because its completion within next eightmonths would provide water to the barren land ofDera Bugti, Balochistan. Prime minister also appre-ciated ministries of Water and Power, Finance, Petro-leum, WAPDA and others for doing excellent workduring this season as people of the country and indus-trial sector had to face minimum possible load shed-ding. Prime minister said timely action of federalministries had frustrated the designs of political op-ponents who were planning to cash in on possible un-rest due to shortage of energy during the season.Prime minister further directed ministries to takemeasures well in advance to minimise impact of canalclosures by bridging the possible power gap by in-creasing Thermal Power Generation.

Prime minister said his government had added

3500 mW in National Grid during its tenure, so far,which was an impressive performance by any stretch ofthe imagination. Prime minister further said that dem-ocratic government had also provided electricity tothousands of villages in the country during the period.

In view of the very good response from the privatesector in the power sector as highlighted by ChairmanWAPDA, Prime minister approved the one-window op-eration in order to facilitate potential investors whowere interested in investing in Pakistan due to brightprospects in this sector.

Prime minister also urged ministry of informationand ministry of water and power to project government’ssuccessful efforts in undertaking the short, medium andlong-term projects to overcome energy shortage in thecountry. The credit should be earned by showcasing per-formance in this sector, Prime minister said.

Prime minister said credit goes to the democraticgovernment for launching work on Diamer BhashaDam, which was approved by Council of Common In-terests through a consensus decision, unlike KalabaghDam, which has fallen victim to political controversies.

Prime minister expressed the resolve of his govern-ment to take up decisions in successive cabinet meet-ings about Public Sector enterprises which had beenmaking a big hole in the pocket of public exchequer formany years. The matter of circular debt will be takenupfront so that people do not confront unscheduledload-shedding. Prime minister said that important andimmediate decisions would be taken regarding LNG toovercome shortage of electricity in the country becausethe entire import of LNG would be used for producing2200 mW electricity.

earlier, Chief executive officer of Kohala Hy-dropower Project said in his briefing that work on theproject was progressing well and about 28 per centwork of the project had already been completed.

ISLAMABAD

JALALUDDIN RUMI

THe Pakistan railways (Pr) willhave to end its operations andbecome a chapter of history ifthe government fails to curtail

the losses that touched a record high ofrs45 billion in the current fiscal, despiters25 billion subsidy.

The National Assembly StandingCommittee on railways while expressingits displeasure over transfer of Chairmanrailways; warned the government to sup-port the cash strapped entity throughtimely release of funds and the issuing ofthe notification of railway Board; thatcould not be formed since January 2010.

In the NA meeting chaired by Chair-

man Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, the committeedirected minister for railways, GhulamAhmad Bilour, to finalise the policy andthe mechanism for the evacuation of2143.29 Acre encroached railway landand submit the report to the NA com-mittee in the next meeting scheduledmid January 2012. The committeeasked the ministry officials to draw themechanism to stop the expansion ofrailway land encroached by people ofKatchi Abadis.

The railway minister expressed hisdisagreement over the committee sugges-tion that government should appoint theSecretary, Chairman railways, Gm rail-ways, and other key officials over BS-20for at least three years as consecutivetransfers on key posts were affecting the

performance of railways. Bilour whileshowing his reservation over the sugges-tion said that it would be difficult for himto establish a working relationship withofficials over whom he does not have theauthority to transfer or replace.

The NA committee asked the govern-ment to announce and form the railwayexecutive Committee and railway Boardthat could evaluate the performance ofthe officials and assign them targets to re-form the loss making entity.

The committee was told that out of atotal 494 locomotives; sixty per centwere over age. Committee was told that277 locomotives are over 33 years oldwhile only 122 locomotives were in-cluded in the railway fleet in the last 17years. The railway officials said that the

average age of a locomotive according tointernational standards is 20 years whilePakistan railways is still operating 53year old locomotives. The railway offi-cials briefed the committee that 100 lo-comotives would be repaired throughpublic-private partnership; 96 locomo-tives would be repaired through rs6.1commercial loan while 46 locomotiveswill be repaired by railway cash revenueafter which 349 operational locomotiveswould join the railway fleet.

minister railways said that due toPublic Procurement regulatory authority(PPrA), the ministry is facing delay in theprocurement of locomotives for the lasttwo years. The NA committee directedthe regularisation of 4385 railway work-ers and TLA employment mechanism

within a month’s time. The committeeasked the secretary railways to conduct aforensic audit for fixation of a clear cutresponsibility of negligence, incompe-tence in case contaminated oil is used inrailway engines. The locomotive oilshould be changed with fresh oil after 120thousand km while in Pakistan railwaylocomotives oil was not even changedafter 275 thousand km that led to break-age of locomotives.

The committee Chairman SardarAyaz Sadiq while giving his comments inthe meeting said that delay in the releaseof funds by the finance division wouldlead railways to the brink of collapse. Thecommittee appreciated the retrieval of492 Acre railway land by the railway po-lice in the last one and a half year.

Railways on the verge of collapse, committee toldg Losses exceed Rs45 billion in current fiscal year g Sixty per cent locomotives over age g Pakistan still operating 53 year old engines

Gilani orders

immediate

releaseg 450 megawatts project has been delayed for past two years g Meeting approves reconstitution of board of directors g WorldBank shows interest in Dassu Dam project g Kacchi Canal projectto provide water to barren land of Dera Bugti in Balochistan

Dr Pervaiz Abbasappointed newchairman GwadarPort Authority

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

Former Joint Secretary of ministry ofPorts and Shipping Dr Pervaiz Abbasis going to be made the chairman of

Gwadar Port Authority, while outgoingchairperson of Karachi Port Trust (KPT)Nasreen Haque is likely to be made thechairperson of National InsuranceCorporation (NIC). Profit learnt that DrPervaiz Abbas was working in the ministry ofports and shipping as Joint Secretary beforebeing transferred to another department, andnow he has been recalled for taking charge ofGPA chairmanship. GPA Chairman AslamHayat, who was made Chairman KPT recentlyin lieu of Nasreen Haque, is going to takecharge of the port very soon; though Karachiport has not received the notification yet inthis regard. Nasreen Haque, who has strongconnections in the power corridor and wasmade the chairperson KPT in the presentgovernment, is likely to take charge of anotherimportant organisation NIC soon, sourcesadded. However, appointment of AslamHayat, who was working as Chairman GPA, asChairman KPT has raised serious concerns ashe has to appear in the hearing at SupremeCourt regarding the apex court’s suo motuaction for handing over Gwadar Port to Portof Singapore Authority (PSA) under anagreement by the government. Aslam Hayatis the signatory of the agreement, sourcesadded. Since Aslam Hayat does not have anyport development and managementexperience, he is apparently a bad choice forthis very important position of the biggest portof the country and might not fulfill theresponsibility quite well, sources added. oneof the biggest issues he is going to face is deepwater project of KPT, on which the port hasspent $1 billion from own funds but theproject is far behind its schedule as it wassupposed to become operational in June2009. And four berths of the project weresupposed to be made operational byDecember 2010. Similarly, the port has tomake an act of the project without which it isnot clear whether this Deep Water Port wouldbe part of KPT or an independent entity. ‘Andif this is to be made part of KPT, this will facea disastrous problem namely Karachi DockLabour Board that in turn would make thisproject a pain. Therefore, deep watercontainer port has to be made an independententity through devising its act,’ experts believe.

NaNdipur power project machiNery

Decisions determinesuccess Page 2Banking on the bigger bully Page 3

Layout Profit 7 pages_Layout 1 12/13/2011 12:21 AM Page 1

02Tuesday, 13 December, 2011

debate

Decisions determine successDuRDAnA nAjAM

THe Wall Street sit in is a war againsteconomic hegemony that has left manypenniless because someone out therehas made money from few “creative

ideas” in a highly deregulated financial atmos-phere. From the fall of Berlin wall; the symbol ofcommunism, to the weakening of Wall Street ; thesymbol of capitalism, the signals have been clear– economics could haunt the government in waysthat it could even find itself running out of time.The so called Arab Spring is a testimony to it. Theinstitution of economics cannot be left onunchecked innovations, any move on the likes ofderivates or speculative market, could pull off theranks one has achieved in no times. economics isa serious matter. The tendency of economics, toraise income disparity among people, if left tochance, is manifold and that is where the inter-vening invisible hand of government plays its roleto define the limits. every economy has its reces-sionary or inflationary periods, or itcould be dysfunctional at the worstof its time. This tweaking could bemanaged through right and refor-matory policies to keep the boatafloat or to let productivity take the raps.There is no reason for Pakistan not to actually

swim through the choppy economic waters, oncereformatory fixes are applied to it. If Pakistancould jump the fences and manage to delivernearly three per cent growth under sever circum-stances dotted with two massive floods, hostiledomestic security environment, political insta-bility and uncertainty and host of other prob-lems, it could do even better if the government’sinterest in growth and development could be en-hanced on serious notes. The case could be madethat it is the directionless, thoughtless, haphaz-ard or in some cases no economic policies of thegovernment that has createdthe mess we have to livewith today. A reform in“decision making”could alter the equa-tion of developmen-tal approach of thisgovernment and oncethat is done problemswould begin falling like

nine pins.

Production is a game of choices and decision making. This world is by default built onthe theory of comparative advantage. even human beings are designed on the sameformula. The essence of democracy lies living with differences and the essence of eco-nomic growth lies in understanding the difference that could allow one to leap aheadin a competitive environment. It is this door that we have not opened fully; perhaps wehave yet to know what we are good at and what we are not good at. However, the deci-sion to tap on our resources is in waiting. The desire to unfold the myth of un-tapped country is the call of the day. Today the industries of Pakistan have runout of gas, the question is that has Pakistan run out of gas as well? It has not.When musharaf decided to put every industry and the energy sector of Pak-istan on gas, and when his regime, and the one that followed it, went ondispensing senseless number of permits for putting up CNG stationsacross the length and breadth of Pakistan the fault lied in decisionmaking. The fault lied in policy formulation and its pursuance. Lastbut not the least the fault lied with the authority commanding theregime that lacked vision, and the spirit of planning. Had thedepleting energy been replaced by new discoveries, or by al-ternative energy measures, we might not be having the mas-sive trade imbalance that we are put to face today.

The recent economic scoreboard has posted 19 per cent in-crease in our import bills and 13 per cent decrease in ex-port, leaving us with 58.3 per cent trade imbalance. Theimport bill owes its bloat to oil products and power ma-chineries, on the export front we lost in the textile sector.Analysts said the demand of Pakistan’s products particu-larly textile, cotton, and leather have been losing their de-mand in foreign markets specifically in the US and eU.

one can blame the financial crises in US and eU forthis slide but one cannot forgive the economic managersand policy makers of their short-sightedness. Govern-ments have to choose between spending and not spending.If Pakistan government has chosen to spend on its sick in-dustries to the tune of 1 trillion rupees in three years, andhad not bothered to revive the energy sector that hascaused lost markets and lost opportunities to its industri-alists and employees both, it is called bad politics on wrongeconomic terms. These are policy issues and can best besolved only if the policy framework is turned straight.

What is that one thing, Pakistan should do, tolift itself off its socio-economic crisis? make theright decisions! This would be the answer of anyobserving mind. To elaborate further, one wouldsay that there is hardly any reason why Pakistancould not progress, only if it learns to make rightdecisions. What does it mean to make right de-cision and what does it take to make right deci-sion? These questions nag an ordinary mindmore so after knowing that the implementationof only two words could change the fate of thiscountry. Decision making is a policy issue.

Nothing on the government agenda moves un-less a note is generated. From the origination ofthe note to its implementation, there could beany amount of discussions and deliberations,eventually setting the pitch for a set of people tomake a choice; to adopt or to drop the orderoriginated in the note. An issue with serious im-plications would kick off debates involving any-one who could matter or could be affected by thepolicy decision. Policy development is actuallyat the heart of decision making that sets thestage for takeoff on the right speed and altitude.

DeCiSion MAKinG iS A PoLiC y iSSue

Decisions emanate from policy and wheneverthere is no policy, be it a memo, a whitepaper ora policy paper, there would be cases lined up insupreme court seeking justice for a country thathas lost its tax payers hard earned money tousurpers. During the hearing of rental PowerPlants case (rPPs) the Chief Justice of PakistanIftikhar mohammad Chaudhry, onlyto emphasise the importance of

policy making, kept asking for the policy onrPPs. Surprisingly there was none. The decisionto buy rPPs was taken behind closed doors; adecision that needed no note, no deliberationsno questioning and no policy. Who is the ac-cused? Is it the federation that blundered? Thedebris of rPP stinks of the embezzled money tothe tune of billions of rupees that sunk the coun-try deeper into financial as well as moral dark-ness. Had right minds been applied to makeright decisions perhaps this notorious deal ofrPPs would never have seen the light of the day.

PoLiC y MAtteRS

No doubt the history of Pak-istan is loaded with examplesof policy failures. on matters

where policies have beenmade they too have seenstagnation and worst de-lays in implementations.What use does a policy

possess if its implementa-tion is half hearted or if it fails to de-liver the kind of result it plans to do?Though the reasons for the deteriorat-

ing foreign and domestic investment inPakistan are numerous, one that stands out tohaunt is the complacency of the political leadershipin compromising policies for political expeditions.

The show is not over yet, with the revival of a consul-tation process and changing the paradigm from disposal of files tothe disposal of work, situation can be averted. The Wall Street sit inis against “greed” something, that could ruin even the best of policesas we are sure of America having one; it is this wall of greed that

needs to be torn down for a successful socio-economic journey in Pak-istan sixty four years of calling is perhaps enough to take the shot...at least now.

The writer is currently doing Executive MA in Governance and Public Policy,from FC College, Lahore. She can be reached at durdananajam456@hotmail.com

DiSiLLuSioneD LeADeRShiP

BAD PoLitiCS on WRonGeConoMiC teRMS

64 yeARS ARe enouGhto tAKe the

Shot

SADIA ZAfAR BAIg

THere has been a lot of outcry inthe media that the current gov-ernment and ministry of powerhave done nothing to overcome

electricity shortage. Though, the countryfaced load shedding for few days in themonth of october but it was overcome in-stantly and since then no load shedding iscarried out for the domestic sector whilethe duration of load shedding for the in-dustrial sector also reduced sharply.

I am not saying that everything is goingvery good in the ministry of power but atleast it should be given credit for things it hasinitiated or completed in the recent years.The power sector was totally ignored in theprevious government’s era and even the con-stant requests for providing funds were nottaken seriously. The energy demand withpassage of every day increased. Interestingly,the home appliances import was relaxed

during 2003-2007 and power demand in-creased more than 15 per cent every year andputting extra load on power demand. How-ever, then-government did not take any se-rious steps to cope with the emerging energydemands. As soon the current governmenttook charge in 2008, the country was facinghuge load shedding and the industrial sectorwas in deep energy crisis. Looking at theneed of the energy, the current democraticgovernment gave importance to energy sec-tor and not only initiated different projectsbut also improved the transmission anddespatch system. The government has takenshort-term and long-term measures to over-come energy crisis and added around3,000mW electricity in the national grid butat the same time the energy demand also in-creased at the same ratio.

In long-term projects one of the biggestdams in the country’s history i.e. Diamer-Bhasha dam has been initiated and import-ing electricity from Central Asian countries

is underway. In short-term projects, the gov-ernment adopted energy conservation pol-icy, which remained very useful to overcomepower shortage. It was hard efforts of min-istry of power that hydel generation in 2010-11 increased as compare to 2009-10. In2010-11, the hydel generation remained31.45 billion units whereas in 2009-10, it was27.61 billion units thus an increase of 3.84billion units was observed.

Diamer-Bhasha dam was one of the im-portant projects for producing energy, as withits completion the country would get4,500mW electricity and at the same time thelife of Tarbela Dam would increase by 35years. on the despatch and transmission sec-tor, the National Transmission and DespatchCompany (NTDC) is working on differentprojects and all of them would enhance thecurrent distribution system. The new grid sta-tions would be installed under these projects.The 500KV grid stations were upgraded andnew grid stations of 220KV were set up. Sim-

ilarly, new transmission lines are laid and allthese steps would reduce line losses and im-prove electricity distribution of the country.NTDC has arranged finance from differentsources including donor agencies i.e. AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB), Japan Interna-tional Cooperation Agency (JICA). The donoragencies have shown their satisfaction in theprojects and it reflects the commitment of thegovernment departments for serving people.

In the ongoing projects NTDC willwork on transmission arrangements forpower dispersal of Ghazi Brotha; muzaffar-garh-Gatti 500 KV transmission line;upgradation of NPCC Islamabad; 500/220KV inter connection facility in Karachi; new500KV grid station at Sahiwal along with220KV system expansion; new 220 KV gridstation at Khuzdar and Dadu; 220KV gridstation Ghazi road, Lahore with 220KVline and extension of 8 new 220KV grid sta-tions of NTDC system.

Pakistan Power electric Company

(PePCo) initiated energy conservation plan,which also saved around 700mW. Underthis plan, people are educated to turn off allextra lights, use energy savers and put thethermostats of their air conditioners on 26degree. All of these messages to the massesare giving positive results.

These steps have been taken by the gov-ernment and now as a responsible citizen; weshould also come foreword and play our duerole. We should not just criticize the govern-ment but think that how can we play our role.Housewives can play an important role inthis regard. I think if we identify our individ-ual responsibilities then this power crisiscould be overcome. The protests and burninggovernment property is not solution. Thepower crisis is not a local problem rather it isa regional issue. our neighbouring countryIndia is facing more than 50,000mW ofshortfall and long hours of load shedding isseen. India would take not less than 12 yearsto overcome its power crisis but the situationin Pakistan is different, as we have the capac-ity to overcome energy crisis in a few years.

The writer is employee ofNTDC/PEPCO

‘Not everything’ wrong in power sector

Layout Profit 7 pages_Layout 1 12/13/2011 12:21 AM Page 2

Here we go again. In a seemingly arbi-trary move, so claimed in the name ofpromoting capital market development,the regulator has put forward a proposalcalling for enhanced minimum Capital

requirement (mCr) for brokerage houses. From a marketparticipant perspective, this new regime has come at atime where the economic situation is not favorable, capitalmarkets are lacking interest, and several businesses areclosing down due. In my mind, the new regime has, in-stead of helping in improving the situation, has facilitated

the fall. Sorry sir, the timinghas been severely off on thisone.

For those not familiarwith this term, minimumCapital requirement (mCr)is a regulatory requirementwhich is required to be heldfor a certain level of assets.

Banks are not unfamiliar with this as regulations in thisregard have been in place since 2005. Now it seems thatregulators want brokerage firms to get used to the idea aswell. Initially proposing rs400m capital requirement foreligibility of brokerage license, raising it exponentiallyand suddenly from the current rs20m, has scared bro-kers and investors alike. And so it should. The conceptpaper proposes that a minimum of rs400m should bekept in paid-up capital at all times for any broker whowishes to indulge in trading and clearing activities. In atime where business is already really hard to come by, thisis another burden – and a serious one threatening goingconcern status – added to an already long list of depres-sive issues faced by brokers.

There is effectively a one-point rationale for imposingthis requirement: to protect brokers’ clients in case theformer is declared bankrupt or defaults. The concept be-hind this is that brokers, like banks having a substantialcapital base, would be in a position to absorb losses incase they occur, thus protecting their client/depositorbase. However, does this take into account the number ofbrokers which will be forced into default because of thisrequirement? Why would management want to over-in-

vest in a business which is already lacking attractivenesswhen they know a portion of the capital is going to belying idle given the liquidity crunch in the market? Whyis it that a set quantum of capital requirement is foundonly in Pakistan, where under the Basel II accord, eachinstitution is allowed to set its own capital according tothe riskiness of its own assets? This move lacks economicjustification, is prone to compliance issues, and is accom-panied by a severe case of bad timing.

Basel II mentions Capital Adequacy ratio (CAr) at8 per cent of the financial institution’s capital to its risk-weighted assets. It makes sense in so much that it ensuresa certain level of shareholder money is always at stake inthe business so that the management does not take totallyundue risks, at least theoretically. In reality, the globalevents seen recently may have proved that this is notenough for institutions to make irrational and absurd de-cisions, but those have been due to a myriad of other rea-sons beyond the scope of my writing here. There is nomention of minimum amounts of paid-up capital whichare a must for a company to operate, like we have in Pak-istan. Does it actually help? Learning from banks, almosthalf of them are in violation of their mCrs. In such times,it has forced them to get sold or merge, thereby increasingconcentration in the banking industry. How has less com-petition in any industry ever been helpful to the con-sumer? It wouldn’t come as a surprise if the same isobserved in brokerages.

The important difference that needs to be made is be-tween Capital Adequacy and minimum Capital; they aretwo distinct concepts often confused together. Having aminimum capital requirement does not enhance an in-stitution’s risk absorption capability. This is because thatmoney is not available to absorb losses and only the cap-ital which is above the minimum specified amount canabsorb loss. minimum capital does not take into accountthe distinct need of individual houses as well as the risksthey take which are unique to themselves. Capital ade-quacy on the other hand tells you if a bank has the speci-fied amount of capital given the risks it has exposure to.Practically, it is only this which can provide confidence toan investor while minimum capital just puts pressure onthe viability of business, results in over-capitalisation insome cases, hence is an inefficient regulation.

Ironically, the regulator itself recognizes that mCrdoes not substitute other means of addressing risk, suchas strengthening risk management, applying internal lim-its, strengthening the level of provisions and reserves, andimproving internal controls. maybe, no definitely, theseare the areas where regulation is required.

The writer is a financial analystand freelance journalist

FINANCIAL markets anticipatinga rupee fall to 92 against the dol-lar by Jun ’12 does not bode wellfor the economy as a whole, es-pecially our export structure is

no way strong enough to leverage the weak-ness for revenue gains. It is an apt descrip-tion of our current financial situation –deficits bloating out of control, investorsfleeing, revenue inflow not nearly goodenough and high unemployment combiningwith low growth and high inflation to deepenthe current bout with stagflation. If theseprojections fail to shake our able fiscal andmonetary managers, then the middle andlower income groups can just forget aboutsubsistence and survival getting any easieruntil, at least, a change of administration inIslamabad.

There are a couple of interesting featuresabout the rupee losing value so aggressively.The Pakistani currency has largely lostagainst the dollar when the reserve currencyis itself under immense downward pressure.Its recent gains have owed more to safe-

haven trading as investors sought refugefrom the euro’s dramatic unwinding. For therupee-dollar exchange to have sunk to itslowest in the present environment speaks ofinherent weaknesses in the local economy.Yet this phenomenon is not singular to Pak-istan. After years of trumpeting India’s BrICrise, mumbai’s Dalal Street seems beset bymany similar problems, including an aggres-sive investor outflow and a frightening paceof rupee depreciation, threatening collapseof New Delhi’s investment economy model.

It seems Southeast Asia must also rein-vent itself, just like much of the world hasdone in the aftermath of the monstrous col-lapse of ’08. Fortunately, Pakistan wasspared much of the collateral damage, beingpoorly linked with the international econ-omy. Yet unfortunately, we created pitfalls ofour own, ensuring we didn’t remain un-scathed when all else were suffering. Thereis still time to recollect, and the rupee warn-ing is perhaps the last before collapse be-comes inevitable.

Rupee sounds alarm bells

Is enhanced MinimumCapital Requirementthe right move?

Capital quantumrequirements

Aahyan Mumtaz

E D I T O R I A L

Banking on the bigger bully

BeING a vulnerable littlekid, wedged in the intri-cacies of school life, isno mean task. From thepocket money mugs to

the lunchbox grabbers, there is a widearray of bullies that you encounter ona daily basis. You want to stand upagainst the unwarranted status quo,but your bony excuse for an anatomydoesn’t allow your innermost desiresto materialise. So, during every recessyou dutifully acquiesce to the de-

mands of that fat final year bully whoweighs quadruple as much as you doand towers twice as high. even thoughit’s none of his business, but onceyou’re told that he doesn’t like youtaking gym lessons from that blokefrom the west, that’s the curtain callon your nascent friendship. And ofcourse your knees begin to tremblewhenever he articulates ‘that’ rhetoric,“You’re either with me or against me”– that’s when you realise that it is dif-ficult to stand up against someoneagainst whom you’d need to stand upon a stool just to look directly in theeye. However, there’s a kid in the classnext door who has the aforementionedbully in his pocket. He’s a bully in hisown right; but his browbeating is notthe ‘in your face’ or ‘twisting your arm’kind – he dragoons with the where-withal in his wallet not via the fat inhis thighs. And now, with you desper-ate for the gym lessons to improve

your physique, hobnobbing with thislittle tycoon seems the logical thing todo; especially since the fat bully con-tinues to cross all limits in throwinghis weight around.

The Iran-Pakistan (IP) pipeline hasbeen under the shroud of US bullyingfor ages. US has been trying to coercePakistan into shelving the project,owing to the scores of problems that ithas on the Iranian front. Neverthelesswith nearly 5,000 mW of power short-age in Pakistan, an affordable source ofnatural gas to bolster the power gener-ation is the unmistakable need of thehour. And now with NATo’s airstrikesadding fuel to the fire, the news that thegovernment is likely to appoint a Chi-nese bank lead consortium as the finan-cial advisor for the $1.2 billion worthIran-Pakistan gas pipeline means onlyone thing: we’re banking on the biggerbully. With the Chinese consortiumwe’d be sure of warding off the unwar-

ranted Americanpressure that standsbetween us and thesolution to our powerpredicament. And thisisn’t merely a case ofhobnobbing with a magnate; a seg-mented approach towards the projectensures that both the parties – Pakistanand China – are now responsible for theconstruction, operation and transporta-tion networking of the pipeline in theirassigned territories. Hence in this littleschool life analogy; not only are we ask-ing that affluent kid to join our gymclasses and hence keeping the bullythreat at bay, he’d also be in charge ofensuring that we put enough muscleweight on by supervising an allocatedweight training routine.

Iran-Pakistan pipeline project istouted to bring in 750 mmcfd of gas flowby 2014. With the power shortage beingprognosticated to rise up to 11,000 mW

in the coming yearsand the estimated gapbetween demand andsupply forecasted toincrease from 1.6 bcfd,as things stand, to over

2.5 bcfd in 2014-15; the IP pipeline ismore than a glimmer of hope. Couplethe aforementioned daunting numberswith the escalating price of fuel alterna-tives like furnace oil, LNG and coal, andthe gas obtained through the IP pipelinebecomes a veritable bargain. All in all,we need a lot of bulking up to do andpounds of muscle to gain before we caneven think about standing up to any bul-lying on our own. The boy from gym hasbeen a nuisance for the fat bully and thelittle tycoon has been downright intim-idating; about time we took a leaf out oftheir books.

The writer is Sub-Editor, Profit. He canbe reached at khulduneshahid@gmail.com

Kunwar Khuldune Shahid

For comments, queries and contributions, write to:

email: profit@pakistantoday.com.pk Ph: 042-36298305-10 fax: 042-36298302 Website: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

BABuR SAGhiRCreative Head

hAMMAD RAZALayout Designer

ShAhAB JAfRyBusiness Editor

ALi RiZviNews Editor

MuneeB eJAZLayout Designer

Tu e s d a y, 1 3 D e c e m b e r, 2 0 1 1

Pakistan is relying onChina to ward off USpressure over the Iran-Pakistan pipeline

KunWAR KhuLDune ShAhiDSub-Editor

MAheen SyeDSub-Editor

Mobilink’s spending

mobilink spends billions on advertisement.It’s just that their advertisement is on a dif-ferent tone, a corporate tone. I believewhen it comes to perceptions people viewthemselves as serious business minded in-dividuals who actually want to dress andact like the models in the mobilink ads. TheUfone ads are a good laugh but no onewants to be one of the models they use, likehow many of us would want to fall for the‘teri mehrbani’ girl or the guy who getskicked out by his wife all the time. Thepiece is masterfully written and the writerdeserves a lot of praise for generating sparkand entertainment in financial pages – anact many fail to pull off.

SAMeeA ZAfAR

LAhORE

Advertisements

With these advertisements, Ufone tar-gets the pre-paid customers; however,what they forget is that pre-paid cus-tomers are all about costs. As funny asthe TVC's are, advertisements might notnecessarily attract people towards buy-ing a cellular phone connection. more-over, the bulk of the pre paid customermight not even get the humor that theyput into their ads. While presenting thecase to the customer through a TVC, it’sthe simplicity that matters more keepingin mind the target market in Pakistan.Zong and their simplistic TVC's, haveearned them a position above Ufone inthe leadership position even though theyentered the game after Ufone.

M.PASHA

kARAchI

Layout Profit 7 pages_Layout 1 12/13/2011 12:21 AM Page 3

Tuesday,13 December,2011

04News

Country Manager etihad Airways, Amer Khan

With its important geographic location, a vastexpatriate population segment, and extensive socio-economic relations across the world, Pakistan presentssome fabulous opportunities for the airline industry

Fertiliser sector mutesoptimism, KSE ends flat

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

THe benchmark KSe-100 index closed flat(gaining 0.1 per cent)

after rallying as much as oneper cent earlier in the day. mar-ket opened on a positive noteon the back of strong regionalmarkets. However, profit tak-ing during the day stalled thepositive momentum somewhat.Volumes improved slightly as46 million shares were traded.eNGro closed four per centdown – a 32 month low –owing to gas curtailment issues.Furthermore mTL closed at itsupper limit amid rumours thatGST on tractors might be re-

moved.After an initial surge which

saw KSe-100 index climb 144points in intra-day trading, theindex quickly retreated andabandoned its gains to end upflat for the day. The morningburst of energy emanated fromfertiliser sector with rumours ofa urea price hike by engro,which were eventually deemedto be false causing the sectorstocks to end up in the red zoneby the end of trading.

The daily trading volumecame in at 45 million shareswith FFC and LoTPTA perchedon top of the leader board.LoTPTA enjoyed a positivetrading session as it gained fourper cent over its last closing

price as international PTA-PXmargins have begun improvingsince the beginning of themonth, when they slumped toannual low. With the quartercoming towards an end, wemay see savvy investors loadingtheir Christmas baskets with

their favorite bargain equities,which appear plentiful at thispoint due to recent beat downtaken by the market as a whole,said Ali Hussain, Senior Invest-ment Analyst at HmFS.

KSe 100 index closed at11477.12 levels with the gain of

12.51 points, while KSe 30 indexlost 56.32 points to close at10598.16 levels. All Share indexclosed at 7942.03 levels aftergaining 5.24 points. Total 107scrips advanced 114 declinedand 88 remain unchanged out oftotal 309 scrips traded.

fauji fertiliser slumps underurea price drop, development cess KARACHI: Amid all the noise of possible reduction inurea prices and imposition of Gas InfrastructureDevelopment Cess (the cess), the stock of Fauji FertiliserCompany Limited (FFC) has lost its vigour by 17.9 percent, underperforming the benchmark index by 14.5 percent since start of November 2011. We are of the viewthat the market has overplayed the aforementionednegatives as positives like strong dividend yield, relativelylower risk of gas curtailment and upwards revision inurea price due to persistence gas curtailment are stillintact, said Syed Abid Ali at AHL. Imposition of cess anduncertainty regarding its pass through impact hasdownplayed on the stock price of FFC. After imposition ofcess, price of feed gas would take a leap of 194 per cent tors300/mmbtu. This would require a rs200 per bag priceincrease for FFC to keep margins intact. According toearnings sensitivity regarding cess pass through impacton the stock of FFC. If the company is unable to passthrough impact of rising cost due to cess, it is likely toerode its CY12 earnings by 14.2 per cent to rs23.7 pershare. We do not rule out the possibility of gradualincrease in the Urea prices to pass through of the impactof the cess. eNGro had to face a stern action by thegovernment, when they increased Urea prices by rs400per bag in one go, he added. STAFF REPORT

SBP licensesSilkbank for islamic bankingKARACHI: Silkbank Limited has been granted a licenseby the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to commence itsIslamic banking operations in Pakistan. It is a result ofstrong financial growth in their existing conventionalbanking system that they will venture in establishing adynamic Islamic banking system replete with cutting-edge products and services. expressing his views on thisdevelopment, executive Director of Silkbank, m Amannan, who himself is a seasoned Islamic banker, said“the Bank already has the finest and most talentedIslamic banking team in the country along with a state-of-the-art infrastructure, allowing it to deliver in theshortest possible time.” STAFF REPORT

KCCi demands inclusionof KeSC high ups in eCLKARACHI: Furious industrialists of Karachi have, inunison, demanded government to include names ofKarachi electric Supply Company’s high officials in exitControl List (eCL) to avoid fly of money, the company’smanagement clarified. Addressing a press conferenceafter a joint meeting of all trade associations of the cityand officials of Karachi Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (KCCI), mian Abrar President KCCI, hastermed existing management of the company as corrupt,blackmailers and against national interests. He said asindustrialists of the city have serious apprehensionsabout the management leaving the country and in turnleaving the company indebted by billions of rupees;government should immediately include company’s highups in eCL. GhULAM ABBAS

ECC allows 200,000 tonneurea import for Rabi crop

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

eCoNomIC Coordina-tion Committee (eCC)decided to allow im-port of 200,000tonnes of urea for

rabi crop of 2011-12 and consti-tuted two committees on the sum-maries moved by ministry ofindustries for removal of levy of 16per cent sales tax on agriculturetractors and purchase of 200,000tonnes of sugar from PakistanSugar mills Associations (PSmA).

The committee met under thechairmanship of Federal ministerfor Finance and economic AffairsDr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. eCC afterhaving detailed deliberations in thelight of the urea situation and the

supply of gas for its production tookthe decision of importing urea forrabi crop 2011-12.

It may be recalled that on asummary circulated by the ministryof industries earlier on 13th Sep-tember 2011, eCC had constituted acommittee under the chairmanshipof senior minister for industries.

The Committee will look intothe sugar situation in the coun-try; quantity of sugar from differ-ent mills and their respectiveprices, additional expenses as pertender terms, and ensure thatthere should is no violation ofPePrA condition in finalising thelifting of sugar from PSmA, andthe role of TCP.

Chairman eCC Dr Abdul HafeezShaikh opined that the rest of thesugar mills that are not participat-

ing in the tender should also be in-vited in it, so that there is no com-plain in future.

eCC also constituted a commit-tee on the proposal floated by theministry of industries in its sum-mary for the removal of 16 per centsales tax on agriculture tractors.The committee headed by ministerfor industries, secretaries revenue,finance, industries and advisor toPrime minister on agriculture willsubmit its report before the nexteCC hopefully, by this week.

The summary by the ministryof industries, pleading its casemaintained that increase in theprices of tractors has made it diffi-cult for the farmers to purchasenew tractors and convert tradi-tional farming into mechanicalfarming for higher yield, especially

when cost of other agriculture in-puts has gone up substantially.

Furthermore, Zarai TaraqiatiBank Limited (ZTBL) has also notbeen extending loans for purchaseof tractors since April 2010; creat-ing another impediment for thefarmers. The production of tractorssince march 2011 has also declineddrastically from over 72,000 unitsto around 20,000 units per annum.

Among others who attended themeeting included Chaudhry Pervaizelahi Senior minister for Industries,Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, minister forrailways, Ghous Bux mehar minis-ter for Privatisation, Anwar AliCheema ministrer of Production,Changez Khan Jamali minister forScience and Technology, and secre-taries of all the concerned ministriesand heads of corporations.

funD ReLeASe DeLAy

textile StandingCommittee expressesreservation

ISLAMABAD

JALALUDDIN RUMI

NATIoNAL Assembly StandingCommittee on textiles industryexpressed strong reservations

over delay of release of funds byfinance division to the ministry, withmembers of the committee stating thatit would hamper not only theimplementation process on TextilePolicy 2009-14 but also would alsodelay release of rs10.7 billion refundsto textile exporters already beingwithheld for the last two years. NAtextile Industry meeting held under thechairmanship of Haji muhammadAkram Ansari asked government toimmediately announce and directTrading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP)to procure one million cotton bailsfrom farmers in order to stop itsdeclining trend of cotton prices in thelocal market which has reduced tors2200 per bale. Committee membersexpressed their anger over continuousabsence of federal textile ministermakhdoom Shahabuddin and lack ofinterest in ministry affairs. Committeemember asked minister to raise theissue of dangerous trend in decline ofcotton prices in open market in thecabinet meeting. Committee memberAbdul rashid Godil while expressingdispleasure over non payment ofrefunds of textile exporters saidexporters don’t need government’sassistance in upgradation of machinerybut they want their refunds back. Hesaid ministry has demanded $200million from government forimplementation on projects undertextile policy while they don’t evenhave funds to pay refunds back toexporters. The primary target of textilepolicy was to double the rate of valuefrom the present $1000 per bale to$2000 per bale over next five years.Increased capacities required togenerate this level of output wereforecasted to call for an additionalinvestment of around $8 billion largelyto be undertaken by private sector. Itwas proposed in the policy thatgovernment should invest about 25 percent of total investment requirementover next five years. This comes to $2.5billion or around rs200 billion overfive years and rs40 billion annually.

Pakistan macro statistics:pointing towards headwinds

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

FeDerAL Bureau of Statis-tics (FBS) released coun-try’s trade prints for the

first five months of FY12. As per thedata released, Pakistan registeredan export growth of 7.64per centYoY to $9.38 billion in 5mFY12,while imports rose by a hefty 20.20per cent YoY to $18.45 billion.

resultantly, the trade deficitfor the period came in at $9.0 bil-lion, up 36.73 per cent YoY. Thesenumbers are likely to put morepressure on current account deficitwhich, in 4mFY12, was recorded at$1.55 billion. We expect the C/Adeficit to further widen by $500-800 million in November, saidmuzzammil Aslam at JS.

Furthermore, the country’s in-ability to attract financial accountflows - ranging from foreign in-vestments to debt related flowspaints a dull picture for the overallmacro situation. Given that ImFre-payments are to start in Febru-

ary 2012 - we expect it to put morepressure on the balance of pay-ments, he said, adding that thismay in turn create room for spec-ulators to manipulate local cur-rency, which has already lost fourper cent YTD to dollar.

After a brief spell of a surplusof one year, Pakistan’s external ac-count has reverted back to its usualdeficit track. The deficit is mainlyled by higher import bill, up by20.2 per cent during 5mFY12. Al-ready in 4mFY12, both petroleumproducts and crude oil registered ahefty growth of 46 per cent YoYand 76 per cent YoY, respectively.As a result, the share of oil importsrose to 41 per cent of the total im-port bill versus 33 per cent duringlast year. The rise in oil imports ismainly driven by higher interna-tional oil prices which registered anaverage growth of 38 per cent YoY.

Average oil prices in 4mFY12were reported at $107/bbl versus$77/bbl during corresponding pe-riod last year. This can be furthervalidated if one looks at oil market-

ing company industry sales datawhich shows a paltry three per centgrowth in overall volumetric sales.

FBS reported a contraction of10 per centYoY in exportstoS$1.55 billion in November.Decline in exports is primarilydriven by on going global debtcrisis coupled with decliningglobal commodity prices. How-ever, we believe the exportgrowth to revive in the months tofollow, as last month witnessedfewer working days than usualdue to the eid holidays. Goingforward, we expect Pakistan toreport $1.6 billion worth fewerexports in FY12 than last year.

The deteriorating external ac-count pressures have also startedto appear at local currency bonds.money supply (m2) for the firstfive months witnessed a meagergrowth of 1.32 per cent versus4.53 per cent in the same periodlast year. Net Foreign Asset(NFA) registered a contraction ofrs110bn compared to last year’ssurplus of rs69 billion.

Layout Profit 7 pages_Layout 1 12/13/2011 12:21 AM Page 4

05

Tuesday,13 December,2011

News

CORPORATE CORNERGetz Pharma becomes first Pakistanicompany to take part in global conference

LAHORE: The recently concluded World Congress forDiabetes held by the International Diabetes Federation atthe World Trade Centre in Dubai saw many global pharmacorporations, doctors, scientists, academics, nurses andprofessionals. Pakistan's leading brand generic,pharmaceutical company, Getz Pharma, became the firstPakistani company to participate in this conference on aglobal level. Getz Pharma is the largest exporter ofpharmaceuticals in Pakistan today. PRESS RELEASE

Boeing, etihad Airways announceorder for ten 787-9 dreamlinersLAHORE: Boeing and etihad Airways announced anorder for 10 Boeing 787-9 dreamliners and two Boeing777 freighters. Valued at a combined $2.8 billion atcurrent list prices, this order would make etihad theworld’s largest airline customer of the 787-9. etihad hasa total of 41 787s on order. The order also increasesetihad’s current Boeing 777 backlog to 12 airplanes,which includes 10 previously ordered 777-300ers(extended range). PRESS RELEASE

nhA executive board holds meeting

IsLAmAbAd: Chairman National Highway Authority,Syed muhammad Ali Gardezi, has said that financialdiscipline has brought about a healthy improvement inthe constructive affairs of the authority and to daters11.43 billion has been paid to the contractors. This haspaved way to gear up the pace of work on ongoingschemes. The executive board discussed various aspectsof typical cross section of Faisalabad-Gojra section ofFaisalabad-multan motorway (m-4), including wideningof shoulders, adding one complete lane and provision ofmedian in the centre. PRESS RELEASE

emirates launches in-flight Wi-fi facilityKARACHI: Customers on a growing number ofemirates A380s, can now surf, share, email, or tweettheir way across the emirates network, as the airlinelaunches Wi-fi internet connectivity with leadingindustry service provider, onAir. Customers can accessthe service of the Wi-Fi in the sky onboard their flightusing their Wi-fi enabled devices including smartphones,tablets and laptops. PRESS RELEASE

fRont RoW launches winter collectionLAHORE: FroNT roW, the men’s, ladies’ and kids’fashion garments specialist, has launched a winter 2011-2012 collection, in stores. The items of the new rangeinclude shirts, pants, uppers, trousers, jackets, handbags, jewellery, etc. FroNT roW, produces anddistributes clothing, accessories and related products foryoung people and their brand represents a casual lifestylethat is driven from a surfing heritage. PRESS RELEASE

Inflation, which rose at its fastest pace forone and half years in November to hit anannual rate of 9.5 per cent, is now thenumber one problem for Turkish economy

turkish Central Bank Governor, erdem Basci

kARAchI: Mr Masood hashmi of Orientm MccannErickson presenting S h hashmi Memorial Gold Medal toMohammad khurran. Ms Sabina Mohsin and Mr Talibkarim are also seen in the picture at the recently heldconvocation of IoBM. PRESS RELEASE

PIA’s business planand other fairy tales

PICASSO

‘merAY aziz humwatno’, rejoiceand makemerry. The printmedia informs

us that PIA has ‘unveiled’ a strategy torestructure the airline. We can be for-given for saying, ‘about time’, as we ea-

gerly

scan the columns of print to see thebright future which awaits us. Whatare the components of mr Ahmedmukhtar’s business plan? Does he re-ally have a plan for PIA’s business?Were we wrong in assuming that hisbusiness plans are aimed at enhancinghis personal fortunes only?

A leading english language news-paper reports, “According to the (busi-ness) plan, strengthening the culture ofethics and compliance was the key tosuccess to control costs and to improvethe financial health of the corporation”.

We couldn’t agree more. In otherwords, theft, nepotism, inefficiency anda lack of commitment and loyalty to theorganisation are the root causes of PIA’sills. Whether it is lucrative appointmentssuch as GSAs (General Sales Agents),contracts for purchase of spares, leasingof aircrafts etc., everyone; from the

Chairman at one end of the spec-trum to the lowest rung in-volved in pilferage of toiletriesand foodstuffs, seems to be

doing his bit to destroy theairline. But if mr Ahmed

mukhtar’s ‘plan’ isbuilt upon the

p i o u s

hope of suddenly injecting a ‘culture ofethics’, pray let us know how he will per-form this miracle. He could, of course,start with himself, which would be agood beginning. But what about the18000 PIA employees who have collec-tively done their bit to bring PIA to theverge of collapse.

exactly one year ago, a story aboutPIA appeared in these columns. It toldthe tale of a committee appointed by thethen PIA Chairman to propose the wayforward for PIA. The committee con-cluded that, in essence, PIA’s problemwas mismanagement and lack of profes-sionalism. The column concluded withthe words, “giving PIA the bailout it isseeking will be a criminal waste of publicmoney, particularly since nothing exceptthe fortunes of PIA’s top managementwill change. There is still time to pull outthe privatisation proposals from thearchives and do this nation a favourby taking a decision which will begood for the airline and good forthe travelling public”.

But let us go back to mrAhmed mukhtar’s businessplan. A second pillar is “to con-trol costs. “ We must look at

this noble resolve in thecontext of the rather in-convenient fact thatcosts as a percentage

of total revenue are onan increasing trendever since 2003and particularlyover the threeyears duringwhich mr.m u k h t a rhas beenl o r da n d

master of PIA. The third good resolu-tion has been described as “aggressivemarketing for revenue generationwhich will help double revenue gener-ation in five years.” Give me a breakChairman, we know all about PIA’s ag-gressive marketing. In any case, whyhave you chosen to desist from aggres-sive marketing since you took over asChairman in 2008?

The fact of the matter is that PIAjust cannot become viable if it continuesto remain in government control. It hasa history of pie-in-the-sky plans andpresentations to gullible governmentswhich only results in billions in taxpayer’s money being poured down thedrain. In other words, during the threeyears period of the present governmentand the present Chairman, PIA has lostmore than one billion US dollars. In theface of this stark reality, how does PIAexpect us to swallow their juvenile as-

surances that they can turn everythingaround in the next five years. If we fallfor this confidence trick, all that will

happen is that the Chairman and hismerry men will continue to have a

rollicking good time at the expenseof the airline for as long as they

last. Then they will make way forthe next bunch of conmen to

present another “ businessplan ” to secure a few good

years for themselves.

Erdogan – the Turkish phenomenonSyeD OMeR jAn

IT’S seldom that nations meet per-sonalities who are larger than lifeand influential to such an extent

that they leave an ever-lasting footprintfor generations to revere and remem-ber. It’s rare, but when it happens, it re-sults in such magic and transformationthat nations evolve and transcend be-yond comprehension. If I allow myimagination to back-track some of thenames that pop out of my mind are peo-ple like, Ghandi, Quaid e Azam and Nel-son mandela. Today, I would like todraw your attention to someone if notof similar stature yet, but no doubt, acontender on the road to similar lime-light. I am referring to erdogan, thecurrent Turkish Prime minister, whohas been in power for about 8 yearsnow. He is known as being a moderateIslamist and advocate of secular democ-racy who is slowly becoming the world’smost influential leaders.

It is not every day that politiciansare greeted in a reception reserved forrock stars and the Turkish leader is notat all alien to such standing ovations

and has been received by thousands offans cheering in the airport holdingaloft posters of their hero on multipleoccasions. erdogan was ranked themost admired world leader in a 2010poll of Arabs and many site him as thekind of leader they would like to haveinstead. He has greatly enhancedTurkey’s international reputation;reined in its once omnipotent military,pursued economic policies that havetrebled per capita income and un-leashed new entrepreneurship and hasfor the most part maintained a pro-west stance. erdogan and his justiceand development party, better knownby its acronym AKP has drawn supportfrom both the religious and conserva-tion classes and is regarded with sus-picion by secular absolutists. For ArabIslamists, Turkey’s success is proofthat they can modernize their coun-tries without breaking away from theirreligious moorings. erdogans messageto all brethren Arab states is to be goodmuslims, but make sure your constitu-tion is like, Turkey’s secular. “Do notfear secularism, because it does notmean being an enemy of religion.” er-

dogan wears a business suit, but heprays in the mosque.

In the eight years that erdogan hasbeen in power, Turkey’s per capita GDPhas grown nearly threefold, from $3,492to $10,079. The dramatic improvementin the lives of ordinary Turks is a majorreason his socially conservative, probusiness justice and development party,won its third general election in June, bya landslide. From the eyes of westernobservers, the rise of political Islam con-jures up visions of extremist, reactionarystates, like Iran and Iraq. But, Turkeyproved its critics wrong by not becominganother Iran. Also erdogan has pushedharder than his secular predecessors foran ultimate Western endorsement: ad-mission into the eU. Not just that, fromthe year 2002 to 2010, Turkey’s GDPgrew by a compounded rate of 4.8 percent, more than russia, Brazil andSouth Korea. In 2010, their GDP grewby 8.9 per cent and eU’s grew by 1.9 percent. Turkey today, has become theworld’s 17th largest economy, behindSpain and Canada. With time, erdoganhas grown more ambitious abroad, withUS support, he has sought to turn

Turkey into a moderator of other re-gional rifts, bringing Syria and Israel asclose as they have ever come to peacetalks. In the political arena, his nextchallenge is to rewrite the Turkish con-stitution. The fear in the air that he willdilute Turkey’s secularism has now beenreplaced with a growing concern that hewill push for executive power to be con-centrated in the office of the President,where Presidency in Turkey is an or-namental position. There are talks ofhim switching roles similar to themedvedev-Putin swap in moscow. Allthis is a true testament of how far er-dogan, the Islamist iconic hero, hascome that his critics no longer fearhim of turning Turkey into anotherIran, rather there is a euphoric ele-ment in the air of Turkey’s rise to acmeand erdogan’s critical role for almosta decade working towards its successday and night.

The writer is Texas A&MUniversity graduate who is currently

employed with Telenor in the Products- Commercial Division. He can be

reached at syed.jan@gmail.com

Layout Profit 7 pages_Layout 1 12/13/2011 12:21 AM Page 5

top 5 perFormers sector wiseSyMBoL oPen hiGh LoW CuRRent ChAnGe voLuMe SyMBoL oPen hiGh LoW CuRRent ChAnGe voLuMe

Food ProducersAdam Sugar 17.00 16.02 16.00 16.00 -1.00 7,138AL-Noor Suger Mills 52.34 54.95 52.80 52.80 0.46 1,902Chashma Sugar Mills 7.99 8.30 7.97 8.30 0.31 49,195Colony Sugar Mills 1.76 1.80 1.80 1.80 0.04 1Dewan Sugar 2.11 2.15 2.10 2.10 -0.01 296

Household GoodsDiamond Ind. 8.20 9.18 9.18 9.18 0.98 1Hala Enterprise 6.01 6.90 6.90 6.90 0.89 50Pak Elektron Ltd. 4.06 4.38 3.94 3.94 -0.12 389,302Singer Pakistan 14.07 15.06 13.07 15.06 0.99 501Tariq Glass Ind. 8.30 8.50 8.31 8.39 0.09 11,224

Personal Goods(Colony) Thal 1.40 1.40 1.11 1.40 0.00 8,000Ali Asghar Textile 0.55 0.46 0.41 0.41 -0.14 2,000Amtex Limited 1.30 1.33 1.20 1.23 -0.07 30,238Artistic Denim Mills 21.00 21.00 21.00 21.00 0.00 400Ashfaq Textile 8.96 9.00 8.11 9.00 0.04 550

Future ContractsAHCL-DEC 28.55 28.95 28.40 28.76 0.21 53,500ANL-DEC 3.34 3.60 3.35 3.35 0.01 82,500ATRL-DEC 115.75 117.30 113.00 113.50 -2.25 240,000BAFL-DEC 11.85 11.90 11.75 11.75 -0.10 26,500BAHL-DEC 29.02 29.00 29.00 29.00 -0.02 500

Pharma and Bio TechAbbott Laboratories 101.11 102.00 101.00 101.00 -0.11 227Ferozsons (Lab) Ltd. 74.10 76.80 75.50 75.50 1.40 21GlaxoSmithKline Pak. 66.12 66.25 65.11 65.12 -1.00 1,593Highnoon (Lab) 29.60 29.75 29.30 29.30 -0.30 1,151IBL HealthCare 12.60 12.99 12.60 12.99 0.39 1,014

Fixed Line TelecommunicationP.T.C.L.A 10.24 10.48 10.08 10.15 -0.09 1,783,870Pak Datacom Ltd 36.49 36.25 35.95 36.25 -0.24 2,075Telecard Limited 0.81 0.88 0.78 0.82 0.01 13,572Wateen Telecom Ltd 1.80 1.99 1.77 1.80 0.00 156,283WorldCall Telecom 1.00 1.04 0.91 0.93 -0.07 1,076,370

ElectricityAltern Energy 6.25 6.00 6.00 6.00 -0.25 1,186Genertech 0.37 0.42 0.31 0.31 -0.06 16,006Hub Power Co. 36.45 36.70 36.45 36.50 0.05 901,477Japan Power 0.60 0.70 0.57 0.60 0.00 36,483K.E.S.C. 1.56 1.68 1.50 1.57 0.01 488,458

BanksAllied Bank Ltd 58.53 59.49 58.50 59.00 0.47 16,287Askari Bank 10.01 10.39 10.15 10.27 0.26 122,208B.O.Punjab 5.33 5.47 5.25 5.31 -0.02 281,491Bank Al-Falah 11.75 11.99 11.56 11.80 0.05 1,265,356Bank AL-Habib 28.75 29.40 28.95 29.00 0.25 157,733

Non Life InsuranceAdamjee Ins 42.99 43.45 42.25 42.64 -0.35 8,309Ask.Gen.Insurance 8.50 8.79 7.87 7.87 -0.63 2,990Atlas Insurance 36.00 36.40 35.40 36.40 0.40 215Century Insurance 6.94 6.94 6.50 6.94 0.00 400Cres.Star Insurance 2.97 2.97 2.00 2.97 0.00 501

Life InsuranceAmerican Life 14.50 14.50 13.50 14.50 0.00 2East West Life Assur 1.40 2.34 1.40 1.40 0.00 1EFU Life Assur 65.53 68.80 65.53 65.53 0.00 157

Financial ServicesAMZ Ventures A 0.33 0.36 0.27 0.30 -0.03 35,272Arif Habib Investmen 16.31 16.43 15.50 16.43 0.12 402Arif Habib Ltd. 14.71 15.10 14.70 15.00 0.29 4,491Dawood Equities 0.82 1.00 0.80 0.80 -0.02 5,998F. Nat.Equities 2.54 2.87 2.35 2.70 0.16 31,436

Equity Investment Instruments1st.Fid.Leasing Mod 1.56 1.60 1.54 1.60 0.04 1,041AL-Noor Modar 3.99 4.10 4.10 4.10 0.11 5,000Elite Cap.Mod 2.20 2.20 2.20 2.20 0.00 22,335Equity Modaraba 0.85 1.33 0.87 1.25 0.40 25,109F. Dawood Mut.Fund 1.85 1.85 1.85 1.85 0.00 35,000

MiscellaneousCentury Paper 13.33 13.55 13.01 13.50 0.17 8,174Pak Paper Prod. 32.05 31.90 31.90 31.90 -0.15 3Security Paper 35.09 36.50 36.00 36.50 1.41 500P.N.S.C. 13.19 14.00 13.25 13.80 0.61 3,388Pak.Int.Con. SD 66.73 68.50 66.50 66.70 -0.03 213TRG Pakistan Ltd. 1.43 1.45 1.30 1.34 -0.09 558,470Murree Brewery 62.21 65.32 62.11 65.25 3.04 7,863Shezan Inter. 115.96 116.00 112.00 116.00 0.04 1,624Grays of Cambridge 23.50 23.50 23.50 23.50 0.00 10Pak Tobacco Co. 57.92 60.75 60.75 60.75 2.83 100Hum Network Ltd. 16.00 16.50 15.75 16.50 0.50 598Media Times Ltd 7.96 8.94 7.00 8.94 0.98 2P.I.A.C.(A) 1.93 2.06 1.92 1.93 0.00 16,524Sui North Gas 16.69 17.45 16.52 16.70 0.01 104,896Sui South Gas 18.54 18.90 17.54 17.54 -1.00 157,854American Life 15.75 14.76 14.75 14.75 -1.00 600EFU Life Assur 69.74 70.49 68.55 68.55 -1.19 595AKD Capital Ltd. 26.16 26.69 25.00 26.69 0.53 120Pace (Pak) Ltd. 1.55 1.58 1.43 1.50 -0.05 130,639Netsol Technologies 9.84 10.22 9.72 9.75 -0.09 102,203

SyMBoL oPen hiGh LoW CuRRent ChAnGe voLuMe

Oil and GasAttock Petroleum 411.29 419.00 410.55 412.00 0.71 36,564Attock Refinery 115.05 116.90 112.50 113.10 -1.95 463,796Burshane LPG 20.96 21.51 20.01 21.00 0.04 41Byco Petroleum 6.90 6.95 6.85 6.87 -0.03 113,350Mari Gas Co. 90.37 91.25 88.25 90.02 -0.35 16,930

ChemicalsAgritech Limited 16.99 17.50 17.50 17.50 0.51 500Arif Habib Co SD 28.54 28.85 28.25 28.40 -0.14 386,065Bawany Air Products 5.81 5.00 5.00 5.00 -0.81 3,000Clariant Pakistan 155.00 158.35 153.00 157.80 2.80 4,858Dawood Hercules 34.19 34.70 33.90 33.90 -0.29 37,823

Industrial metals and MiningCrescent Steel 19.31 20.00 19.00 19.79 0.48 615Dost Steels Ltd. 1.20 1.33 1.15 1.25 0.05 7,365Huffaz Seamless Pipe 8.40 8.50 8.35 8.35 -0.05 2,122Int. Ind.Ltd. 29.07 29.53 29.00 29.25 0.18 6,422Inter.Steel Ltd. 10.01 10.49 9.80 9.80 -0.21 2

Construction and MaterialsAl-Abbas Cement 2.11 2.30 2.00 2.30 0.19 370,668Attock Cement 51.93 52.79 50.06 51.65 -0.28 3,527Berger Paints 14.30 14.00 14.00 14.00 -0.30 95Cherat Cement 7.52 7.68 7.35 7.64 0.12 1,173D.G.K.Cement 20.22 20.53 20.11 20.30 0.08 1,564,009

General IndustrialsCherat Packaging 28.56 29.00 28.60 28.85 0.29 6,065ECOPACK Ltd 3.42 3.50 3.35 3.35 -0.07 8,506Ghani Glass Ltd 40.17 40.75 40.00 40.75 0.58 1,095MACPAC Films 7.70 7.70 7.60 7.70 0.00 890Packages Limited 85.83 89.51 86.10 86.10 0.27 2,553

Industrial EngineeringAdos Pakistan 5.25 5.99 5.30 5.30 0.05 105AL-Ghazi Tractors 174.55 183.27 177.99 183.06 8.51 5,018AL-Khair Gadoon 4.51 5.51 5.50 5.51 1.00 4,492Bolan Casting 28.50 28.01 28.00 28.01 -0.49 639Dewan Auto Engg 0.75 0.78 0.78 0.78 0.03 173

Automobile and PartsAtlas Battery Ltd. 167.13 169.00 166.60 167.00 -0.13 923Atlas Honda Ltd. 117.00 122.00 121.90 122.00 5.00 100Dewan Motors 2.13 2.20 2.10 2.20 0.07 602General Tyre 17.00 18.00 17.00 17.25 0.25 6,734Ghandhara Nissan 2.33 2.97 2.60 2.60 0.27 3,003

BeveragesMurree Brewery Co. 110.49 111.43 109.00 111.18 0.69 1,170Shezan Int’l 150.02 150.00 145.05 145.58 -4.44 203

mutual FuNds

fund offer Repurchase nAv

Alfalah GHP Cash Fund 501.2900 501.2900 501.2900 Askari Islamic Asset Allocation Fund 114.7196 111.8516 111.8516Askari Islamic Income Fund 103.6501 102.6136 102.6136 Askari Sovereign Cash Fund 100.6900 100.6900 100.6900 Atlas Income Fund 519.3500 514.2100 514.2100 Atlas Islamic Income Fund 519.0900 513.9500 513.9500Atlas Money Market Fund 516.9700 516.9700 516.9700 Atlas Stock Market Fund 453.1500 444.2600 444.2600 Crosby Dragon Fund 82.9800 81.3500 81.3500

fund offer Repurchase nAv

HBL Money Market Fund 100.2768 100.2768 100.2768 HBL Multi Asset Fund 87.0103 85.3042 85.3042 HBL Stock Fund 97.6745 95.2922 95.2922 IGI Income Fund 101.8987 100.8898 100.8898IGI Stock Fund 112.3545 109.6141 109.6141 JS Principal Secure Fund I 121.5000 111.5200 117.3900 JS Principal Secure Fund II 104.1200 96.5000 101.5800 KASB Cash Fund 0.0000 0.0000 100.1087

markets

Tuesday, 13 December, 2011

06

top 10 sectors

24% 01%Construction & Materials

Chemicals General Industrials

07%Electricity

02%03%

Fixed Line Telecommunication

01%Equity Investment Instruments

Financial Services

09%Banks35%Oil & Gas10%Personal Goods08%

International Oil PriceWTICrude Oil

$98.28

BrentCrude Oil

$107.07

STOCK MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

Index Change Volume Market ValueKSE-100 11477.12 +12.51 37,127,024 2,297,229,393LSE-25 2899.33 17.57 967,045 44,050,522ISE-10 2625 -3.55 14,900 1,663,490

Major Gainers

Company Open High Low Close Change TurnoverColgate Palmolive 605.74 635.98 623.00 630.64 24.90 275Millat Tractors Ltd. 371.29 389.85 370.00 388.12 16.83 25,837AL-Ghazi Tractors 174.55 183.27 177.99 183.25 8.70 5,018Unilever Pak Foods 1698.33 1745.00 1705.00 1709.33 11.00 24Atlas Honda Ltd. 117.00 122.00 121.90 117.00 0.00 100

Major Losers

UniLever Pak Ltd. 5434.80 5475.00 5381.00 5385.04 -49.76 8Siemens Pak 743.33 717.00 717.00 743.33 0.00 5Bata (Pak) Ltd. 778.74 780.00 740.00 778.74 0.00 31Nestle PakistanXD 2505.65 2540.00 2490.00 2516.52 10.87 11Fazal Textile 244.00 235.00 235.00 235.00 -9.00 19

Volume Leaders

Fauji FertilizerXD 158.83 164.00 156.01 157.69 -1.14 4,339,829Lotte PakPTA 9.18 9.65 9.30 9.56 0.38 3,575,655Azgard Nine 3.25 3.60 3.21 3.26 0.01 3,567,709Jah.Sidd. Co. 5.07 5.37 5.10 5.19 0.12 3,274,502National Bank 40.90 42.69 41.09 41.78 0.88 3,068,853

Bullion MarketPer Tola (PKR) Per 10 Gm (PKR) Per Ounce US$

Gold 24K 56,045.00 48,101.00 2,786.00Gold 22K 51,608.00 44,245.00 –Silver (Tezabi) 1,044.00 896.00 35.05Silver (Thobi) 1025.00 880.00 –

Interbank RatesUS Dollar 89.1434UK Pound 138.5734Japanese Yen 1.1451Euro 118.2309

Buy SellUS Dollar 88.50 89.30Euro 117.13 119.15Great Britain Pound 137.27 139.52Japanese Yen 1.1285 1.1437

Canadian Dollar 85.73 88.48Hong Kong Dollar 11.18 11.50UAE Dirham 23.97 24.29Saudi Riyal 23.49 23.77Australian Dollar 88.91 92.00

Layout Profit 7 pages_Layout 1 12/13/2011 12:22 AM Page 6

Tuesday,13 December,2011

News

Media owners are very risk averse.everyone is at a sustaining level.there is virtually no regulation fromPeMRA in terms of content, andwhether it is being legally aired

ISLAMABAD

ONLINE

THe government of Pakistan and AsianDevelopment Bank will exchangememorandum of Understanding (moU) Tuesday on Diamir Bhasha Dam which was a major development

for the project.This was said by Chairman WAPDA Shakil Durraniwho called on Prime minister Syed Yusuf razaGilani on monday.Chairman WAPDA informed that the ADB has alsohad agreed to become Financial Advisor for theBhasha Dam which augurs well for the Hydro-Power mega project. He said that no mega projectswere taken up during the last forty years.The chairman informed that the ground breakingceremony of the Project by the Prime minister inoctober this year along with its earlier approval bythe Council of Common Interests gave the requisiteconfidence to international financial institutionsthat there was no going back. He said that theproject would not only add 4500 mW of power tothe national grid but would also prove to be alifeline for the agriculture and industrial sectors.The Chairman was grateful to the Prime ministerfor his direction to the ministry of Finance torelease one hundred million dollars to NationalHighway Authority for the widening andimprovement of the KKH from Tha Kot to thesite of the Bhasha Dam. “It is of fundamentalimportance because in absence ofinfrastructure, the heavy machinery for theproject cannot be transported to the site,”the Chairman said. Bhasha Dam’scapacity of 8 mAF water and powergeneration capacity of 4500 mWwould help bring industrial andagriculture revolution in thecountry besides creatingthousands of jobopportunities. TheChairman said that theproject would recover the

entire cost within seven years. The Chairman saidthat the project would produce electricity worthtwo billion dollars annually besides creatingsufficient water storage capacity for the agricultureto irrigate 2 million acres of land in the country. Itis easy to imagine the boost the agriculture sectorwould get when two million acres of land would beirrigated, he stated. He further said thatDiamir BhashaDam would alsoincrease the lifeof Tarbela damfor another 35years becausethedownstreamsilting wouldbe reduced to aconsiderableextent.The

Chairman also informed the Prime minister thatthere was at present sufficient water in the waterreservoirs required for the power generation andfor irrigation purposes of rabi crops. At present,water reservoirs are filled with six million mAFwater, which is almost double the water availableduring the last ten years. In the last ten years water reservoirs stood at anaverage 3.5 million mAF which resulted in lesspower generation and water available forirrigation, adversely affecting the agriculture andindustrial sectors, Durrani said.

The Chairman also requested the Prime ministerto inaugurate the Khan Khawr HydropowerProject with 72 mW capacity, District Shangla,KPK, which is 265 Km from Islamabad on thesilk route.Jinnah Hydropower Project with the capacity of96 mW, district mianwali, is also complete and

ready for inauguration by the Prime minister,the Durrani said. The Project is

located on the right side ofJinnah Barrage on

Indus riverabout 5 Km

downstreamof Kalabagh.

Pakistan, ADB to sign MoUon Bhasha Dam today

07

SHAHAB jAfRy

SLoWING export growth, weakprivate credit off-take andrisks of higher inflation willfuel downside risks for the

Pakistani economy, according to in-vestment bank Standard Chartered’s‘Global Focus 2012 – Fragile West, re-silient east’ report. ECOnOmICs Of ELECtIOns: Thereport expects the run-up to the generalelection to be characterised by ‘populistmeasures’ aimed at supporting growth,even at the cost of essential measuresneeded to streamline the economy.

“reforms that are critical to reduc-ing the build-up of debt and containinginflation – including tax measures anda reduction in energy subsidies – willbe stalled or even scaled back in somecases”, the report notes, as the govern-ment is unlikely to forego “recordspending”. Therefore, the fiscal deficitis expected to show little respect forthe budgeted four per cent target, set-tling instead at around 6.5 per cent ofGDP in FY12.POLICy-ImPACt COntRAdIC-tIOns: The report seems to contradictitself, first expecting “combination of

higher government spending and ac-commodative monetary policy” to boostgrowth, then noting “heavy governmentborrowing from banks has crowded outprivate-sector credit”, implying declin-ing investment and hence growth. Sim-ilarly, it mentions “visibleimprovements in the security environ-ment” as supportive for the growth out-look, before mentioning “the country’suncertain political and security envi-ronment” along with the its energyparalysis, is deterring both foreign andlocal investment.

However, despite noting a “strongerPakistani rupee” in ’11, it expects infla-tion to “persist and rise in FY12”, mainlydue to rupee weakness and continuingmoney printing to meet the govern-ment’s deficits. It forecasts the rupee at94 to the US dollar by end-’12.RAtE-EAsIng At An End, fORnOw: Private credit growth slowed to1.6 per cent year-on-year (Nov ’11)against 5.5 per cent in 2010, despite the200bps rate cuts in H2-11, according tothe report. The main reason, of courses,is heavy government borrowing, an un-sustainable position pushing inflationhigher. The bank expects the rate-eas-ing to end for the time being, the SBP’s

Nov 9 decision to hold steady meansmarkets will now demand higher pre-miums to hold government paper.“This could force the government toprint money to finance its large deficits,fueling inflation”. Interestingly, identi-fying a trend that has so far escapedlocal analysts, StanChart expects thecentral bank to reverse its monetaryposture in the second quarter of nextyear. “We expect the SBP to keep rateson hold in Q1-12, and see a strong pos-sibility that rising inflation will force itto hike as early as Q2-12,” it notes.dIffICuLt yEAR: The outgoing yearhas been a particularly difficult one withregard to Pakistan-US relations, com-promising one of our most significantfund flows, and the bank expects the sit-uation to worsen before it gets any bet-ter. “US aid flows to the military remainsuspended, including $2 billion of pay-ments under the Coalition SupportFund. The disbursement of non-militaryaid, including the $7.5 billion pledgedunder the Kerry-Lugar Bill, has beenslow; only $179 million was released inFY11,” the report adds.

This means the government’s fiscalspace will remain restricted, strengthen-ing downside pressures for FY-12.

Red-tapism amajor hurdle inprivatisation

LAHORe

Nauman Tasleem

reD-TAPISm and lengthy processof Punjab Privatisation Board(PPB) are major obstacles inprivatising precious land of the

province, the sources told Profit.They said the board has evolved suchprocess, which instead of helping the buyersin private sector are creating problems forthem. But the policymakers of the provinceinstead of ratifying and improving theprocess are satisfied with it terming it a‘transparent’ system. The board hasmanaged to accumulate a few millionrupees in the recent years and in return haspaid hefty salaries to its office bearers. Theinvestors from private sector are leastinterested in buying the properties offeredby PPB, only because of the lengthy process.These investors said they could not boundtheir capital for long time, as aftersuccessful biding, it took at least six monthsfor the board to handover land to thesuccessful bidder. It takes approval of twocommittees and Punjab Chief ministerbefore the land is being handed over tosuccessful bidder. According to rules, PPBgives an advertisement in two prominentnational dailies telling about the location ofthe land, which is to be sold. Theadvertisement is repeated after one weekand then an open auction is held at givenplace. As soon as any buyer purchases land,he/she is asked to deposit the whole amountin one month. However, after depositing thewhole amount, it is not clear till when thepossession of land would be given to thesuccessful bidder. As after depositing thewhole amount, the case is referred to thecommittee of PPB, which constitutes 12members including PPB Chairman,Planning and Development Chairman, Bankof Punjab Chairman, Secretary PPB, Seniormember Board of revenue, Punjab FinanceSecretary, Industries Secretary, ColoniesSecretary and two members of PunjabAssembly. The auction case is presentedbefore this committee and after approvalthe case is referred to Cabinet Committeefor Privatisation. Sources said often thecommittee members of PPB do not comedue to their busy schedules and the case inlingered on. “In the recent one year, manycases were delayed because of lack ofinterest or overburden of these members,”said the sources. After approval by PPBcommittee, the case is sent to CabinetCommittee for Privatisation, which alsotakes time in passing the case. CabinetCommittee for Privatisation comprises ofChairman Sardar Zulfikar Khosa, mPAsrana Sanaullah Khan, Chaudhry AbdulGhafoor, mian mujtaba Shujaur rehman,Kamran michael, Chief Secretary andSenior member Board of revenue. “Seldomall the members are available for approvaland it takes around two or three months forgetting the documents signed from thecommittee,” said an official of PPB, whileseeking anonymity. He said after approvalfrom two committees, the case is presentedbefore Punjab Chief minister, who gives thefinal approval. He said the process isfollowed only to maintain transparency inthe process of privatisation. However, healso admitted that because of this lengthyprocess PPB is getting very less inquiries.“We have prime land in Lahore and otherdistricts for auction, but still investors arenot coming to buy it,” he added.

PM appoints PSo, uSfheads, extends dateto exchange Rs5 note

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

PrIme minister Syed Yusuf razaGilani has appointed NaeemYahya mir as managing Direc-

tor Pakistan State oil (PSo) and Ariaz Asher Siddiqui as Chief executiveofficer (Ceo), Universal Service Fund(USF) with immediate effect. NaeemYahya mir is an expert in refinery fa-cility planning and management, tech-nology support, marketing andprocess and problem solving. He hasa diverse experience of working in re-lated fields in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia,Far east, Pakistan, middle east andeuropean markets. riaz Asher Sid-diqui is an expert in business devel-opment, brand strategising andproject management. He is a telecomprofessional and has a vast experienceof business development, telecombrands and project management. Inanother decision, on the request ofthe general public and recommenda-tions from State Bank of Pakistan(SBP), Prime minister Syed Yusufraza Gilani has approved extensionin the date of exchange of rs5 (five)bank note by commercial banks for afurther period of one year up to 31stDecember, 2012.

Downside risks to remainhigh in ’12 – StanChart

g PPB creating problems forprivate sector

g investors disinterested in buying PPB offeredproperties

g Project to add 4500MW power to national grid g Bhasha Dam to help bring industrial and agriculture revolution

Chairman WaPDa Shakil Durrani

Ceo, oMD, Rizwan Merchant

Layout Profit 7 pages_Layout 1 12/13/2011 12:22 AM Page 7