Business News
Tuesday, June 14, 2011 19:07
- Ship carrying 50,000 tonnes petrol to berth tomorrow: Dr Asim
Dr. Asim said the elements involved in creating artificial shortage of petrol would be dealt strictly. He added that special monitoring teams of OGRA and Petroleum Ministry were visiting the affected areas.
- Gas shortage mars urea production
- Oil down in Asian trade
- Euro falls against dollar amid Greece''s debt woes
- KSE-100 Index loses 24 points
The marker analysts foresee volatile sessions ahead.
- IPPs threaten to suspend 825MW power supply
The IPPs sent a letter on 13th May to the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Private) Limited (PEPCO) giving a 30-day deadline to clear Rs 16.5 billion dues.
- Petrol crisis persists in Punjab
- Euro down on Greek debt woes
- Asian shares mostly off after Wall St tumbles
- Oil mixed in Asian trade
4 million barrels per day in 2011, slightly lower than its previous forecast. However, it added, "A volatile oil market is making future oil demand estimates hard to manage." (AFP)
OKs defence bill, limits Pakistan aid,
House panel limits US aid
WASHINGTON: The House Appropriations Committee has approved a defence spending bill that imposes limits on US aid to Pakistan and creates a special bipartisan group to review the US role in Afghanistan.
The panel gave the go-ahead to the bill on a voice vote Tuesday. The legislation would provide dollar 530 billion for the Defence Department and dollar 119 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill is dollar 9 billion less than President Barack Obama requested.
The bill would withhold 75 per cent of the dollar 1.1 billion in US aid to Pakistan until the administration reports to Congress on how it would spend the money. Reflecting the frustration with Pakistan’s effort in battling terrorism, the committee adopted an amendment that gives Congress even more power to review the spending.
Robert Gates urges patience with Pakistan
WASHINGTON: The US is disappointed and suspicious that militants in Pakistan apparently were tipped off that American intelligence officials had discovered two of their suspected bomb-making facilities, Defense Secretary Robert Gates says.
But he stopped short of concluding that Pakistani officials leaked the information to the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani insurgents. And Gates said such incidents must not derail US relations with Islamabad.
A little over two weeks before ending his 4 1/2-year tenure as Pentagon chief, Gates sat down in his office Monday for an Associated Press interview that touched on a range of issues, including his expectation of a smooth handoff to his designated successor, current CIA Director Leon Panetta. Gates will retire June 30; Panetta’s Senate confirmation is expected shortly.
The Pakistan intelligence breach has only fueled unease in the US, where officials worry about links between the intelligence service there and some militant groups.
A US official said Monday that after telling Pakistani intelligence about the location of the two compounds, US drones and satellite feeds showed the militants clearing out the contents at both sites.
”We don’t know the specifics of what happened,” said Gates. ”There are suspicions and there are questions, but I think there was clearly disappointment on our part.”
As an act of faith to restore relations with Pakistan, US intelligence in recent weeks shared the location of two such compounds believed to contain bomb material held by the Haqqani network. But by the time Pakistani authorities reached the facilities, they had been vacated.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss classified matters, said the assumption was that the Pakistanis had tipped off the Haqqanis.
Trust has been in short supply in the US-Pakistani relationship, highlighted most dramatically by the US decision not to tell Islamabad in advance of the May 2 Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, out of fear that they might tip off the al-Qaida leader or his protectors.
Daniel Benjamin, the State Department’s counterterrorism coordinator, said Tuesday that bin Laden ”obviously” benefited from a support network inside Pakistan.
Asked whether it was time to take a harder line with Pakistan, Gates counseled patience and noted that the Pakistanis have not forgotten that the US abandoned them in the late 1980s after the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan.
”We need each other, and this relationship goes beyond Afghanistan,” he said. ”It has to do with regional stability, and I think we have to be realistic about Pakistani distrust … and their deep belief that when we’re done with al-Qaida that we’ll be gone, again.”
Despite recurring tensions between Washington and Islamabad, and questions by some in Congress about the wisdom of having spent billions of dollars on aiding Pakistan since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Gates said the effort has paid off.
5 CIA informants arrests by Pakistan: NYT
WASHINGTON: The ISI has arrested five CIA informants in Pakistan, including a Pakistan Army major, suspected of feeding information of Osama bin Laden to the CIA, said a report in the New York Times.
Pakistan’s detention of the five CIA informants, including the Army major who officials said copied the license plates of cars visiting Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad in the weeks before the raid, is the latest evidence of the fractured relationship between the United States and Pakistan. It comes at a time when the Obama administration is seeking Pakistan’s support in brokering an endgame in the war in neighboring Afghanistan.
At a closed briefing last week, members of the Senate Intelligence Committee asked Michael J. Morell, the deputy CIA director, to rate Pakistan’s cooperation with the United States on counterterrorism operations, on a scale of one to ten.
“Three,” Mr. Morell replied, according to officials familiar with the exchange.
Officials cautioned that Mr. Morell’s comments about Pakistani support was a snapshot of the current relationship, and did not represent the administration’s overall assessment.
“We have a strong relationship with our Pakistani counterparts and work through issues when they arise,” said Marie E. Harf, a CIA spokeswoman. “Director Panetta had productive meetings last week in Islamabad. It’s a crucial partnership, and we will continue to work together in the fight against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups who threaten our country and theirs.”
American officials said that the CIA director, Leon E. Panetta, raised the issue of the arrested informants when he traveled to Islamabad last week to meet with Pakistani military and intelligence officers.
Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, said in a brief telephone interview that the CIA and the Pakistani spy agency “are working out mutually agreeable terms for their cooperation in fighting the menace of terrorism. It is not appropriate for us to get into the details at this stage.”
Visit largest European investor in Pakistan
KARACHI: At $2 billion of investment Norway is one of the largest European investors in Pakistan's economy, said Ambassador of Norway Robert Kvile, during his visit to the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) in Karachi on Tuesday.
He held talks with Dawood Usman Jakhura, Usman Sheikh and Khalid Tawab, Vice Presidents FPCCI, and Shaikh Humayun Sayeed, former Vice President FPCCI & Chairman FPCCI Standing Committee on trade delegations.
Jakhura said most of Pakistan's trade with European states was being carried out with theEuropean Union (EU), and therefore trade with Norway remained unsatisfactorily low.
Kvile urged the business community to step up efforts for a positive image building of Pakistan.
He said foreign investors are deterred by the security situation and complicated regulatory requirements in Pakistan.
These concerns should be addressed urgently to draw greater foreign investment to Pakistan, he said.
He said the presence of 35,000 Pakistanis as Norway's largest non-European immigrant community was a resource for both countries and should be utilized effectively.
Sayeed assured Kvile his concerns on security situation and problems in legal framework faced by foreign investors will be forwarded by FPCCI to the relevant authorities.
He called for more frequent exchange of trade delegations between the two countries to enhance trade and hoped Norwegian firms would participate in the upcoming exhibitions being held in the European Economic Area (EEA) countries in the near future.
It was also agreed that Pakistan would soon hold a major trade event in collaboration with Oslo Chamber and Norwegian businesses in Norway.
Decline in FDI during July-May 30%
Foreign direct investment (FDI) dropped by 30 percent during eleven months (July-May) of current fiscal year, mainly due to lack of foreign investors' interest owing to adverse law and order situation. The State Bank of Pakistan on Tuesday said that FDI stood at $1.392 billion during eleven months of current fiscal year as compared to $1.98 billion of corresponding period of last fiscal year, depicting a decrease of $590 million.
However, another component of foreign investment-portfolio investment-posted an increase of 60 percent because of improvement in the country's equity market. The country's stock market fetched about $347.1 million portfolio investment during July-May period of fiscal year 2011 as compared to outflow of $133.7 million in the same period.
Similarly, net foreign investment, comprising foreign direct investment and portfolio investment, narrowed down by 5.8 percent during eleven months of fiscal year 2010-11. With the current decline, net inflows of foreign investment in Pakistan decreased to $1.739 billion in July-May of current fiscal year as compared to $1.847 billion in corresponding period of last fiscal year, depicting a decline of $108 million.
-- Total foreign private investment with privatisation posted a decline of 30 percent, to $1.76 billion, during the period under review as against $2.804 billion in corresponding period of fiscal year 2010.
Mohammed Saleem Mansoori
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