Pages: 3 profit.com.pk

Raging bulls storm KSEwith 242 point gain Page 03

Thursday, 19 January, 2012

LAHORE

IMRAN ADNAN

O VER 70 per cent of steel manu-facturing units in Punjab haveannounced a complete shut-down for one month due to gascurtailment. the forced closure

of steel industry has swelled steel prod-ucts’ prices – including bars, angle andgirder – by Rs4,000 to Rs5,000 pertonne. speaking to Profit, Pakistan steelRerolling Mills association Chairman

Mian tariq Waheed underscored thatPunjab steel industry is traversing themost difficult times due to gas and elec-tricity curtailment. steel manufacturershad to close their production units to savefixed monthly electricity charges (MDi) of325 per kilowatt as steel manufacturingwas not economically viable without nat-ural gas supply, he maintained.

During the last 30 days, he pointedout that steel prices have risen by Rs4,000to Rs5,000 per tonne. Graded steel prod-ucts are being sold at Rs71,000 to

Rs72,000 per tonne, whereas local qualitysteel bars, angle iron and girder are avail-able at Rs66,000 to Rs67,000 per tonne.

Waheed further indicated that steelproduct prices should not swell duringcurrent circumstances as no major de-velopment project was underway in thecountry. But domestic steel manufactur-ers have to increase steel prices as theircost of production had been increase dueto gas curtailment, he further added.

He disclosed that due to suspensionof gas supply, steel industry had to

switch to coal, but black rock prices werealso witnessing a jump of Rs3,000 toRs7,000 per tonne and settled atRs15,000 to Rs20,000 per tonne. How-ever, even after price jump coal was noteasily available in the markets. PakistanRerolling Mills association formerChairman asmat Pervaiz Malik addedthat steel manufacturers had to put inextra efforts in arranging huge quantitiesof coal. He indicated that an averagesized steel furnace requires some 4-5tonnes of black rock daily, but no vendor

in the city could meet the increasing de-mand of steel industry.

Responding to a question, Malik saidfurnace oil was another alternate but itsprices has gone beyond Rs80,000 pertonne, while the same commodity wasbeing sold at Rs52,000 to Rs54,000 pertonne. He further revealed that somesmall furnaces were using already usedtyres with coal for melting process. How-ever, prices for used tyres are continuingto escalate and have reached Rs500 toRs750 per 40-kg.

Steel price jumps up by Rs5,000 per tonne

Pakistan, ADBsign $ 513 millionloan agreements

ISLAMABAD

AMER SIAL

Pakistan and the asian De-velopment Bank (aDB) onWednesday signed two loanagreements of $513 million,which will be utilised for the

construction of new khanki Barrage onthe Chenab River and for improvingpower transmission network in sindhand Balochistan.

the agreements were signed by aDB’sCountry Director Pakistan Werner Liepach,secretary Economic affairs Division, abdulWajid Rana and secretary irrigation Pun-jab irfan Elahi.

Country Director aDB Werner Liepachsaid the financing is provided for two of themost crucial sectors for Pakistan, the irri-gation and energy sector. “it is a good dayfor Pakistan as it is very rare that the banksign agreements worth half a billion dollarsfor project financing in a single day”, headded. Liepach said the total disbursementto Pakistan during the last calendar yearwas around $550 million but added it willincrease this year as the bank changed itsstrategy and now projects ready for execu-tion will be financed. “the agreementssigned today will have tangible benefit forthe people”, he said.

the soft loan of $ 270 million will be usedfor replacing the old khanki headworks builtin 1892. the deterioration of the headworkwas resulting in water leakages of 447 millioncubic meters each year due to the barrage’sshutter gates. Liepach said, the new barragewill reduce water leakages and lessen floodrisks in an irrigated agriculture area of 1.2

million hectares. sec-retary irrigation Punjab

irfan Elahi said the loan willbe utilised for building a new barrage

complex on the Chenab River, 275 metersdownstream of existing headworks, in-cluding main weir and under sluices, gatsand hoisting arrangement and operatingdeck and an access road bridge. the newbarrage will connect the Lower Chenabcanal with a new head regulator through alead channel, ensuring reliable flow ofwater and increasing flood bearing capac-ity of the structure. the project is expectedto be completed by June 30, 2016. theloan repayment period is 25 years with 1.2per cent interest rate.

He said, the loan given for khanki Bar-rage project is the second tranche of $900million multi-tranche finance facility ofaDB for the Punjab irrigated agricultureinvestment Programme that has a financ-ing facility of up to $9 billion. He said re-habilitation of three other barrages inPunjab will be carried out in future.

Other loan agreement of $243 millionwas the third tranche under $800 millionPower transmission Enhancement invest-ment Programme that includes expandingthe grid stations and laying new inter-provincial transmission lines to upgradethe national grid system.

secretary EaD said the loan will beused for a new 500 kV transmission lineof 600 km from Jamshoro Moro Daduand Rahim Yar khan, a new 500 kV gridstation at Moro and expansion of threeexisting 500 kV grid stations atJamshoro, Dadu and Rahim Yar khan.While a new 220 kV transmission line of125 km from Uch ii power plant to 220kV grid station at sibbi and connectionbetween Uch i and Uch ii power plantswill also be carried out. He said the loanwas under aDB’s OCR and will be liborbased. the project is expected to be com-pleted by December 31, 2015.

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news02Thursday, 19 January, 2012

RuBAB MAHBOOB

P akistan is facing the worstenergy crisis that has affectedall segments of society. thegap between electricity de-mand and supply is widening

with every passing day. Electricity de-mand touched the record of 20058 MWin last august in the country whereastotal installed capacity for power gener-ation is 21021 MW out of which 18987MW is dependable capacity. Butpresently dependable capacity is about13920 due to lack of water releases byiRsa to dams owing to canal closure.

Pakistan Electric Power Company

(PEPCO)/ntDCL has the responsibilityof electricity distribution to a total of19.3 million consumers across the coun-try. Ministry of Water and Power andPEPCO/ntDCL has chalked out a strat-egy to launch power generation projectswith local and foreign collaboration tomeet electricity demand. Hydel, apartfrom nuclear, Coal, solar Energy, ther-mal and iPPs are the major sources ofpower generation in Pakistan.

Presently, Hydel power plays an im-portant part in load management. thermaland other renewable energy sources aregenerating electricity in sufficient quantitybut due to different reasons like non-avail-ability of gas and furnace oil, canal closure

and technical problems the supply and de-mand gap has widened which has resultedin 10-12 hours of load management in ruraland urban areas of the country.

according to energy experts the elec-tricity demand is rising by 8-10 percentper annum. if this tendency continues, theelectricity demand would rise phenome-nally to 36,000 MW by the year 2015,54,000 MW by 2020 and 119,000 MW bythe year 2030. Hence, it is the need of thehour to take pragmatic measures not onlyby increasing power generation capacitybut also reduction of demand through en-ergy conservation. the change of attitudesand a change of life styles is needed at thenational level to conserve electricity whichwill help in reducing the present run-waydemand. Energy conservation is the onlyshort term measure which can fill the gapbetween demand and supply. We can savea lot of electricity through energy conser-

vation which must be taken immediatelyto cope with the shortage of electricitya. all unnecessary lights need to be

switched off and especially whileleaving the house.

b. Don’t use electricity unnecessarilyduring peak hours and makemaximum usage of sunlight.

c. Don’t put electronic appliances onstandby mode once not required.

d. install UPs of good quality which,will help to save 20-30 per centelectricity.

e. Washing Machines, Microwaves,iron, Heater and Geysers shouldnot be used during 6 pm to 9 pm.(Peak hours)

f. Replace all incandescent bulbs andtube lights with energy savers (CFLs).

g. Replace all insufficient irrigation/water supply motors and pumpswith efficient equipment.

h. Use good quality copper wire inhouses, shops, offices and factoriesetc it wills stop leakages andwastage of electricity.

i. Public awareness campaigns needto be run through electronic andprint media to educate the masses.Reduction of lights up to 50 per cent

in President and Prime Minister`s sec-retariat and houses of federal ministers,governors, chief ministers, all provincialministers and government offices will beof great help in the programme of en-ergy conservation.

the Govt needs to take strict meas-ures to enforce energy conservationsteps in true letter and spirit so that theenergy discipline is enhanced among theconsumers through awareness cam-paigns. as the energy experts say, “amega watt saved is always better than amegawatt produced”.

ENERGY CONSERVATION –NEED OF THE HOURg According to energy experts the electricitydemand is rising by 8-10 per cent per annum

700 containers of Indianonion face delay in clearance

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

aROUnD 700 onion con-tainers imported fromindia are facing acutedelay in clearance atkarachi Port due to the

newly introduced checking system caus-ing shortage of the commodity in thelocal market. shortage of onions in thecountry, after the damage of crops dur-ing the heavy rains and floods mainly insindh last year, has pushed the price ofthe highly consumed vegetable up by al-most 40 per cent.

as onion demand in the country, es-pecially in karachi, is largely being metthrough imports from the neighbouringcountry, the delayed clearance and

strict checking system at ports haveaugmented the domestic price of thevegetable, sources told Profit.

it is worth mentioning here that bothexports and imports were being clearedthrough the indigenously developed auto-mated customs clearance system - WebBased One Custom (WeBOC) – at variousports of the country; including Port Qasim,karachi and karachi Port.

Earlier, the fruit and vegetable ex-porters of the country had faced the samedelays in clearance of their assignmentsbesides braving the damages made totheir products during the process. Be-sides the jump in demand, the depend-ence on import from india has alsocaused the increase in price of the itemmultiplying the woes of already crisis andinflation hit masses.

to meet the escalating onion de-mand, importers are likely to continueimporting the item during next coupleof months as the domestic crop inBalochistan would be ready by april thismonth. although, according sources atthe city’s main vegetable wholesalemarket, onion was available at Rs25 toRs30 per kilogram the same item was

being sold at retail market at Rs45 toRs50 per kg with 40 to 50 per cent in-crease. Earlier onions at retail market,was available at Rs28 to Rs30 per kg.the shortage became more menacingafter the damage of the onion crop afterdevastative monsoon rains last year inmany parts of sindh including Matiari,Hyderabad, Hala, Mirpurkhas, Badin,tandoallayar, nasrpur, etc. sindh is abig producer of onions, which not only

provides the vegetable to the whole ofPunjab, but also exports the good qual-ity produce. the province also providesonions to other provinces from Octoberto March. However, according tosources, in spite of the floods, sufficientonion stocks were available in the coun-try but due to the lack of storage facilityand negligence on the part of concernedauthorities in government, there isonion shortage in the country.

g Increasing demandof commodity causes over40pc jump in prices

DAP prices tosettle between$680 & 690/t

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

DEsPitE prolonged winter gascurtailment, declininginternational DaP margins

and recent impact of feed stock prices,FFBL is trading at 2012 dividend yieldof 15 per cent. Moreover, the analystsat topline securities expect, despitehigher gas curtailment in 4Q2011,4Q2011, earnings to be around Rs3.1per share which would lead to 2011full year EPs to Rs10.8. Further, theysaid final cash dividend of Rs2.5-3 pershare taking full year dividend toaround Rs9-9.5 per share was alsobeing expected. “though internationalDaP prices (Us region) are tradingaround $580-600 per tonne (cfr), but,regional DaP prices (arabian Gulf)are still higher at $650-670 pertonne,” said Farhan Mahmood.Moreover, the analyst said, with lowerDaP inventory in local market due togas curtailment, recent DaP contractprices are being settled at $680-690per tonne (Fob). However, once DaPproduction resumes, we might seelocal DaP prices following theinternational trend and thus DaPprices are likely to fall to $630-640per tonne later in 2012. thus weexpect DaP margin which is currentlyaround $265 per tonne may fallgradually to $230 per tonne in 2012compared to average of $298 pertonne in 2011. With ongoing wintergas curtailment, both urea and DaPplants have been shut down for anannual turnaround (ata) for 40 days.Urea plant was shutdown in the lastweek of December 2011, while DaPplant went off in the second week ofJanuary 2012. Last year the plant alsowitnessed similar ata for 40 days.However, this time we believe,resumption of urea production mayget delayed till the first week ofMarch; even so, DaP production islikely to come early by the end ofFebruary 2012 as DaP requires lowerquantity of gas, it was added. For fullyear 2012, we expect gas curtailmentto FFBL will be around 38-40 percent, higher than fertiliser plants onMari network but lower than sui fedfertiliser plants. the analyst saidFFBL was expected to post full year2011 EPs of Rs10.8 (4Q2011 EPs ofRs3.1) compared to profit of Rs7 pershare in 2011 (4Q2010 EPs Rs3.9), upby massive 54 per cent. “We haveassumed 8-18 per cent lower sales inDecember compared to sales in themonth of november as gascurtailment remained on the higherside,” he said.

SBP enhances scopeof financing facility

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

statE Bank of Pakistan hasenhanced the scope of financingfacility for establishment of new

power projects using renewableenergy with a view to promoting theuse of renewable energy and meetingthe growing electricity demand of thecountry. it has now been decided thatbanks and DFis can also considerfinancing requests of the sponsors forsetting up power projects up-to amaximum capacity of 20MW in caseswhere only biomass is used asrenewable energy source, keeping inview the terms and conditions of thescheme for financing power plantsusing renewable energy, said a stateBank of Pakistan circular issued onWednesday. it may be recalled thatearlier under the scheme, which wasannounced by the central bank videsMEFD Circular no 19 on December01, 2009, the financing facilitywas allowed for establishmentof new power projects usingrenewable energy with a capacityof up-to 10 megawatts.

‘APTMA stands forfree market mechanism’

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

CHaiRMan all Pakistan tex-tile Mills association(aPtMa) Mohsin aziz said

Wednesday that aPtMa has alwaysstood for the Free Market Mecha-nism in the larger interest of coun-try's economy and it has neitherproposed ban on export of cotton orany imposition of export duty on it.Reacting to Pakistan Cotton Ginnersassociation (PCGa) criticism, azizdispelled the wrong impression beingspread by the PCGa through mediaand further assured that aPtMawould never be involved in armtwisting of its business partners.

according to him, aPtMa hasalways advocated for a free marketmechanism even when cottonprices were abnormally high to theextent that it was becoming ex-tremely hard to afford by the spin-ners. But still he said, they stood forthe market dynamics and never

supported imposition of any em-bargo on exports, he added. He fur-ther said the spinners sufferedagain heavily with heavy fall in cot-ton prices last year but the aPtMamembers maintained their invento-ries throughout the year until freshcrop arrived to the market.

He said certain elements amongthe ginners and hoarders remainedoverstocked with the idea of makinghuge profits out of expected shortageof cotton crop due to floods. accord-ing to him, the same lobby was nowpursuing the government for inter-vention in the name of farmers. theyare stuck up with abundant stocks onthe presumption that prices would goup due to floods, he added.

He said the aPtMa had estab-lished its stance with relevant factsand figures that any incentive in thename of farmers would actually ben-efit a few ginners and a group ofhoarders. therefore, the tCP inter-vention in the case was not suitableto the interest of neither the farmer

nor the country, he said.Mohsin said aPtMa appreciates

government for understanding itsstance and realising that interventionof any sort at this stage would be ben-efiting a few individuals. He said theexport market was open to everystakeholder and a total of 610,000bales have already been exported thisyear and sizeable orders are alreadypending which would be exported inthe preceding months. also, headded, the new York Future is on therise and export of cotton is alwayspossible if local buyers do not buy atthe prevailing international prices.

therefore, there is no justifica-tion in making false hue and cry, heasserted. He said aPtMa wouldstrongly oppose any proposal or con-sideration contrary to businessethics, leading to ban on exports ofcotton or imposition of duty on ex-ports. He said aPtMa would alwaysbe supportive to a fair price to thefarm partners in the larger interest ofthe country and its economy

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news

Thursday, 19 January, 2012

03CORPORATE CORNER

Organisation theorycenter launched at UMTLAHORE: the University of Management andtechnology, UMt, Lahore, invited educationists,researchers and organisational theory experts toparticipate in the launching ceremony of the Organizationtheory Center (OtC) at its campus. the OtC seeks thecreation of contextualised knowledge, its integration andunity with other organizational fields of knowledge. theevent was organized by Rana Zamin abbas, assistant Profand Editor, Organization theory Review (OtR). Farahnaz, assistant Prof, school of Professional advancement,hosted the ceremony which was attended by a largenumber of students, faculty members and organizationaltheory professionals. PRESS RELEASE

Zonal Managersconference of Utility Stores heldIsLAmAbAd: Zonal Managers Conference of Utilitystores Corporation of Pakistan was held in islamabadwhich continued for two days. senior management ofcorporation participated in the conference in additionto 10 zonal managers and Managing Director ofCorporation Maj. Gen. (R) Malik Muhammad Farooqpresided over the conference. its objective was toexamine the overall performance of corporation andtake concrete steps to further enhance its business andprofit ability. PRESS RELEASE

‘PTCL awards its Top Agentof Lahore Contact Center’LAHORE: in recognition of his outstanding efforts forprovision of customer care and outreach services byPakistan telecommunications Company Limited (PtCL),Mr. Waqas azeem (right) was given the “Best Performerof Lahore Contact Center award” at the annual GalaFunction and awards Ceremony held at the PtCLContact Center Lahore. PtCL advisory team MemberEtisalat, Mahmoud al Marzouqi (second left); EVPContact Centers, Junaid azim (center) and other officialsgraced the occasion to recognise the best performers ofthe Lahore Contact Center. as part of PtCL incentivePlan, this event is held annually in PtCL Contact Centerskarachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi to reward and recognizeemployees’ efforts to provide customer care. PtCLContact Center Lahore reaches out to customers spreadall over Pakistan, and has been awarded with isO9001:2008 certification. PRESS RELEASE

Philips Avent organising workshopKARAcHI: Philips avent, the leading manufacturer ofbaby and mother care products is organising anentertaining, learning and fun-filled work shop. thisevent will take place in the leading schools of the city.the objective behind this workshop is to createawareness regarding child’s health related problems andhelp to understand child’s psyche. syed arif Ul Hasan,Business Leader, Consumer Lifestyle, Philips Pakistanand Mohd imran, sole distributor of Philips aventPakistan (a i international), made an appearance, spenttime with the kids and took great interest in the ongoingactivities at the st Peter’s High school. PRESS RELEASE

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

C LaRitY on the political frontand possible settlement of polit-ical dispute between army and

Judiciary boosted investor confi-dence. Finally investors realised thepreceding year’s benchmark under-performance with a corporate earn-ings growth of 22 per cent whichmade majority of the stocks trading ata discount to their intrinsic valuation.

ksE-100 continued its upwardtrend during the new year andclosed up 2.1 per cent with vol-umes of 83 million. investors con-tinued their value buying aspolitical noise in the country set-tled down. this was further helpedby net foreign inflow seen in thepast few days. OGDC was again thestar performer as it closed the dayon its upper circuit on the rumoursof local as well as foreign buyinginterest in the script.

FFBL also closed on its uppercircuit as expectations of high cashpayout with the final result contin-ued in the market. in the comingdays, market will take its cue fromthe outcome of the prime minister’svisit to the supreme court and newflow regarding the CGt issue.Hopefully after tomorrow’s appear-ance by the prime minister in thesupreme court may settle a numberof political issues. the furious bullgripped the benchmark as bullish

sentiment blew up the index heavystocks especially OGDC.

improvement in volume depictsinvestor confidence while earningseason full of dividends can be con-sidered as a justifiable reason be-hind the uprising index.surprisingly the current accountturned into a surplus during De-cember providing a ray of hopewhen the rupee continues to depre-ciate based on expected external ac-count deficit. “We believetomorrow’s actions of the supremecourt when the prime minister ap-pears in front of judges may drivethe investor sentiment,” said Bilalasif at HMFs.

ksE-100 index closed at11547.71 levels with a gain of242.55 points, while ksE gained211.78 points to close at 10541.23levels. all share index closed at7998.08 levels after gaining162.10 points. total 158 scrips ad-vanced 69 declined and 116 re-main unchanged out of total 343scrips traded.

kARAchI: Pak Suzuki held a lucky draw for its motorcyclecustomers called, ‘Sawari Jeet ki’. On this occasionManaging Director Pak Suzuki hirofumi Nagao announcedthe names of the winning customers. Dealers of Pak SuzukiMotors also took part in this ceremony. PRESS RELEASE

kARAchI: A meeting of Board of Directors of Sindh Bank Ltd.was held at the head Office on January 18, 2012 in whichInstitute of corporate Governance gave a presentation for theorientation of Directors. L to R: Mr. Shamsuddin khan,company Secretary, Mr. M. Shahid Murtaza, Director, Mr.Muhammad Bilal Sheikh, President & cEO, Mr. RajaMuhammad Abbas, chairman, Mr. Wazir Ali khoja, Directorand Mr. Naveed kamran Baloch, Director. PRESS RELEASE

State Life achievesrecord premium business

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

statE life insuranceCorporation (sLiC)of Pakistan’s firstyear premium busi-ness in the year 2011

reached Rs12.01 billion, up fromRs9.629 Billion in 2010, showingan increase of 25.46 per cent.

also, the renewal premiumhas increased from Rs19.710 bil-lion in 2010 to Rs24.730 billionin 2011. thus, altogether (Pak-istan and Gulf Zone included)the total premium has increasedfrom Rs29.339 billion in 2010 toRs36.731 billion in 2011 showinga total increase of 25.2 per cent.

this was stated by shahidaziz siddiqui, chairman stateLife insurance Corporation ofPakistan, today during a pressbriefing at principal office of thecorporation. sharing details offirm investment portfolio ofsLiC; he said, investment in-come during the preceding yearstood at Rs27.459 billion which

has increased to Rs30.282 bil-lion in 2011, showing an in-crease of 10.28 per cent.

He further stated that thelife fund of state Life has in-creased from Rs230.42 billionin 2010 to Rs269 Billion in 2011.the number of individual lifepolicy holders has increasedfrom 3,317,192 in 2010 to3,700,000 in 2011. in the groupand pension sector, the numberof lives covered has increasedfrom 3.83 million to 5.93 mil-lion in 2011 resulting in an in-crease of income from Rs3.940billion to Rs4.97l billion in 2011;registering an enhancement of26.17 per cent.

Chairman sLiC also said thatstate Life was the emblem ofvigour and trustworthiness; “it isvisible that the PaCRa has main-tained the ‘aaa’ rating of sLiCfor the last three years”, he fur-ther added. By highlighting thefuture plans of sLiC, he statedthat recently state Life haslaunched the new policy by thename of ‘Committee Policy’. this

new policy is for the benefits ofcommon people, touted as beingwith very attractive returns.

talking about the businessin Gulf region, the chairmansaid the corporation was notonly targeting Pakistanis invarious countries of the regionbut the foreigners were alsobeing catered to. sLiC has alsoagreed terms with United BankLimited for introducing theBank insurance package. thecorporation has also ensuredthe beneficiaries of Benazir in-come support Programme(BisP) who would be given theinsurance of at Rs100,000each. He further said state Lifewas also introducing health in-surance for which the ministryof finance has already releasedRs35 million. the chairman in-formed that sLiC was expect-ing almost Rs1 billion revenuegenerations through use of 100per cent of the available spaceof its buildings as there were atleast 16 per cent of the spacesthat were unused.

Raging bulls storm KSE with 242 point gain

Punjab establishes150 childhoodeducation centers

Lahore

Staff Report

WitH the collaboration of Unagencies, Government ofPunjab has established 150

Childhood Education Centers andrehabilitated 1468 partially effectedschools in flood affected area ofPunjab. this was disclosed by DirectorGeneral Provincial DisasterManagement authority, khalid sherdilwhile presiding over a meeting inwhich rehabilitation efforts of Unagencies were viewed in details. khalidsherdil while addressing a meetingsaid that 1243 tonnes high EnergyBiscuits have been distributed forbetter growth of children in 1000schools of Muzaffargarh and Rajanpur.He said that with coordinated efforts234 child protection centers have beenestablished in flood affected area, inwhich 1,24,896 children have beenenrolled. DG PDMa told that 4089teachers and 6782 members of schoolmanagement committee have beenserved in flood affected area so thatbetter education and training to begiven to children. He said that Punjabgovernment and Un agencies haverehabilitated 89 water schemes andinstalled 50 tube wells whereas 675save drinking water storage tanks and3074 hand pumps installed there. Healso told that 13050 latrines have beenconstructed and 624 villages declaredopen defection free and 963843 peopleprovided sanitation free.

Punjab govt postslucrative numbers

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

aspokesman of Punjab governmenthas said that financial condition ofPunjab government is sound.

Government released development fundsto the tune of Rs125 billion in six monthsof current fiscal year. the spokesmanfurther stated that Punjab government hasbeen opening each month with a largecredit balance. Overdraft is accessedwithin legal limits due to late release offederal transfers but the same is returnedduring each month. He further said nonew loan has been taken from state Bankby Punjab government during last twoyears. Further, the earlier loan is beingrepaid according to agreement signed withstate Bank of Pakistan, he concluded.

AUTO PARTS ASSOCIATION HAILS GST CUTLAHORE: Chairman of auto Parts Manufacturers Exporters association tahir Javaid Malik haswelcomed the decision to cut General sales tax on tractors from 16 per cent to five per cent and said itwould give relief to tractor manufacturers, vendors and thousands of people attached with this industry. itwould also give much-needed boost to the agriculture sector, he added. in a press statement issued hereWednesday, tahir Javed Malik said reduction in general sales tax of tractors would remove difficultiesbeing faced by tractor manufacturers and vendors whileemployment of thousands workers would also besecured. He said government has taken a step inright direction as it would give boost to themoral of tractor manufacturers, vendors andother allied industries. He said thatavailability of tractors at cheaper priceswould also help increasethe production ofagriculture inthe country.STAFF REPORT

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