Business News
Monday, June 20, 2011 09:04
- Euro eases amid uncertainty over Greek bailout
- Sui, Zamzama gas fields? faults removed
- KSE sheds 16 points this week
The market analysts are of the view that the trade sessions in the coming week might also witness fluctuations.
- Oil prices fall as Greek debt crisis weighs
- KESC, union talks end inconclusively
Later, the KESC spokesman hoped that all the stakeholders would try to reach a positive resolution of the issue rather than dragging it.
- KSE 100-index almost ends flat
In the currency market, the rupee weakened to 85.80/85 to the dollar, compared with Tuesday''s close of 85.75/79, following a rise in import payments. The rupee hit a record low of 86.50 last month, but dealers said the local unit may be stable in the coming days because of increased remittances from Pakistanis working abroad. (Reuters)
- Decrease in subsidies not to impact poor: Hafeez Shaikh
- Asian shares mixed amid euro fears
- Euro holds firm ahead of German-French summit
- Oil up in Asia on positive US data
US cautioned to take Pakistan along on talks with Taliban
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan cautioned the United States on Monday that its peace talks with the Taliban might not make headway without clarity on ‘reconcilables’ and without taking Islamabad and Kabul on board about dialogue with the Afghan insurgency leadership.
US Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Frank Ruggiero in his meetings at the Foreign Office was rather curtly told that American unwillingness to share information on the talks was against the spirit of rebuilding modicum of trust after a spate of bruising incidents beginning with the May 2 Abbottabad raid on Osama bin Laden compound.
In a statement on Mr Ruggiero’s meetings, the Foreign Office said: “The importance of clarity and strategic coherence as well as transparency to facilitate the Afghan people and the Afghan government in the process for peace and reconciliation” was underscored.
Mid-ranking US State Department and CIA officials have met Taliban representatives led by Tayyab Agha, a personal aide of Mullah Omar, at least thrice since January 2011 – once in Qatar and twice in Germany.
On Saturday, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates stated officially about direct talks with Taliban representatives, but the confirmation came only after President Karzai had publicly spoken about the meetings.
Secretary Gates claimed the interactions were at preliminary stage that were not likely to progress till winter, probably around the time when the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan is held in December, but observers say the official American acceptance of being in talks with the Taliban was in itself significant and denoted they were hopeful about the outcome.
Although Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has acknowledged Pakistan’s legitimate concerns about reconciliation in Afghanistan and the criticality of its involvement in the process, diplomatic sources regret that the US was not ready to take Pakistan along.
Responding to the criticism he confronted at the Foreign Office, Mr Ruggiero was quoted in the Foreign Office media statement as having reiterated the importance the Obama administration attached to the ‘Core Group’ comprising Afghanistan, Pakistan and the US “in the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process of reconciliation and peace”.
The core group is meeting again in Afghanistan on June 28 – the third time in a series of meetings that started a day after Osama bin Laden was killed in the Abbottabad raid. Alongside the trilateral mechanism, Pakistan and Afghanistan have set up a joint commission on peace and reconciliation which recently held its inaugural session in Islamabad and its second tier comprising officials would be meeting soon to discuss modalities for cooperation.
Pakistani officials sounded critical over lack of clarity about who the US considered as reconcilable. “On one hand they are talking to Mullah Omar’s aide, but on the other the Taliban leader is on the list of the five men that they (the Americans) want to be taken out,” an official, asking not to be named, said, adding that Pakistan would also like to hear if there could be any space in the political dialogue for the Haqqani network, whose operational commander Sirajuddin Haqqani is also on the list of five most wanted terrorists.
A US official, speaking about Mr Ruggiero’s meetings, said a whole range of issues in relations between the US and Pakistan, including Afghan peace and reconciliation, was discussed.
Exports record 28pc growth
KARACHI, June 20: Exports recorded a growth of 28 per cent at $22.422 billion during first eleven months (July-May) of the current fiscal over last year when exports stood at $17.509 billion.
According to official figures whereas textile sector achieved a remarkable growth of 34.20 per cent in exports during the period the food sector also showed a record growth of 31.95 per cent.
The rising trend in commodity prices the world over has been the main factor, which helped to surpass the government fixed export target of $19.8 billion.
The higher exports at $22.4 billion during the period under review as against $17.5 billion of last fiscal was mainly owing to surge in commodity prices the world over and in case of Pakistan both textiles and food items were major driving force behind higher exports.
The Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) disclosed that during July-May period textile exports stood at $12.488 billion as against $9.305 billion recorded last year thereby showing a robust growth of 34.20 per cent.
Similarly, food sector exports stood at $3.958 billion compared to $2.999 billion achieved during July-May of last fiscal.
The knitwear, the largest export sector amongst the textiles, recorded a growth of 30.04 per cent in exports at $2.074 billion during July-May over the same period last year at $1.595 billion.
The readymade garments export also made a growth of 38.26 per cent at $1.573 billion, the fabric (cotton cloth) exports grew by 40.59 per cent at $2.317.
The bedwear exports during July-May stood at $1.881 billion compared to $1.586 billion last fiscal.
Amongst food group the highest growth of 28.59 per cent was recorded in fish and fish preparations at $268 million, and fruits fetched $262 million showing a growth of 16.55 per cent, over last fiscal.
Vegetable exports surged by 87.01 per cent during the period at $206 million against $110 million earlier.
However, rice exports made a nominal fall of 0.69 per cent at $1.969 billion from $1.983 billion of last fiscal.
Pakistan Apparel Forum chairman Jawed Bilwani said presently, all countries having agro-based industry were achieving higher growth in exports and if this opportunity is availed, Pakistan could also benefit immensely.
Mr Bilwani said that the huge amount of duties and taxes worth Rs1 billion belonging to export trade stuck up with the government prevented even higher growth in exports.
He said that currently, around Rs18 billion of exporters were held back by the government towards local levies.
The exemption from local levies expires on June 30, whereas textile policy is valid up to 2014, which indicates a major flaw in the government policy.
Rs515 million missing from interior ministry accounts
ISLAMABAD, June 20: Government auditors have found more than half a billion rupees missing from the accounts of the interior ministry. The money received by the ministry against the issuance of arms licences should have been deposited in the national exchequer, Dawn has learnt on authority.
The interior ministry could not reconcile receipts of Rs515 million by its arms division with audit officials during an inquiry by a departmental level accounts committee.
The issue is likely to be taken up by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly.
“We are just talking about the money the ministry is supposed to have received against the issuance of arms licences for both prohibited and non-prohibited bores over the past two to three years,” an official of the Auditor General Office told Dawn. Referring to a scandal which shook the interior ministry in 2009-10, the official said that thousands of arms licences of prohibited bore, including sub-machine guns, had been issued in an irregular manner and in violation of rules, causing huge losses to the national exchequer.
An inquiry was ordered by the prime minister and the Federal Investigation Agency had in July 2009 discovered that fake bank receipts, forged signatures and fictitious stamps had been used by several middle-ranking and junior officers of the ministry to issue the licences.
In its report, the FIA had also said that part of the official record was found missing, making it impossible for investigators to determine how many such licences had been issued and to whom. The senior auditor said the latest scandal corroborated the fact that a large number of arms licences had been issued in violation of rules that needed to be taken up by the PAC.
The FIA report said the interior ministry had issued 28,527 licences of prohibited bore weapons from March 28, 2008, to June 26, 2009, and 6,000 of them had been approved by then minister of state for interior, Tasneem Qureshi.
In a major breach of official procedure, a server provided by the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to check the identity of applicants had been replaced by one sent by a private vendor.
The FIA report said the ministry officials had not maintained the record in order to conceal the number of licences issued and the identity of those who had acquired prohibited lethal arms.
Pages from the Arms Endorsement Register were also removed and the investigators found it difficult to ascertain how many applications had been processed without approval by the competent authority.
Under the law, only the prime minister has the authority to issue licences of prohibited bore weapons, but he delegated the power to the then minister of state in April 2009.
After receiving complaints from various quarters, including parliamentarians, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ordered the interior ministry on June 26, 2009, to stop issuing permits and asked the National Assembly`s standing committee on interior to look into the matter.
The committee, headed by Abdul Qadir Patel of the PPP, in its findings put the blame on three sections officers of the ministry. Cases have been registered against them.
Mohammed Saleem Mansoori
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