profit.com.pk Thursday, 09 February, 2012

Basmati Growers Association warns quarters over decliningtrend Page 2

KARACHI

ISMAIL DILAWAR

I nTErnaTionaL monetary Fund(imF) holds State Bank of Pakistan(SBP) responsible for the persistenceof a double-digit inflation in Pakistansaying the current massive liquidity

injections by the central bank had inflation-ary impacts similar to that of the regulator’sdirect financing of the budget deficit.

“The switch to government borrow-ing from commercial banks has been sup-ported by large liquidity injections bySBP, a policy that has similar inflationaryeffects as direct central bank financing,”observed imF in its latest country reportfor Pakistan. State Bank, which is cur-rently pumping billions in the bankingsystem with Tuesday seeing an injectionof rs37 billion only contends that theseinjections were imperative to avoid a pos-sible “bank failure” in the country.

“From our perspective, if you don’t doit you have a possible bank failure,” saidGovernor SBP Yaseen anwar in a recentinterview with Profit. The governor said,“We have to maintain stability in the fi-nancial markets of all our banking sys-tems. Small banks having no deposit basewould suffer and will have a collapse.”

imF, however, dubs SBP lending tofinance fiscal deficits as a key driving forcebehind the high inflation levels in the lastfew years and calls for scaling back ofhuge money injections in the banking sys-

tem and stoppage of the cash-strappedgovernment’s budgetary borrowings.These steps, the international lendingagency said, would reduce inflation andincrease SBP’s policy credibility. “The au-thorities can help reduce the level andpersistence of inflation by credibly adopt-ing a less accommodative monetary policystance,” it said.

Before 2008, imF observed that 12-month Consumer Price index (CPi) infla-tion had averaged about 5.5 per cent formore than a decade. in 2008, global com-modity price shocked and a sharp depre-ciation of the rupee led to a spike ininflation, peaking at 25 per cent year-on-year in august 2008, which, although de-clining, remained much higher than in thepre-2008 period and higher than inneighboring countries.

it said that through domestic pricesubsidies, the global food and fuel priceshocks were reflected in larger fiscaldeficits. With external financial inflowsdwindling, these deficits were increas-ingly financed through SBP, which putupward pressure on prices through exces-sive growth in SBP net domestic assetsand exchange rate depreciation.

along with the inflation level,the persistence of inflation had in-creased since 2008, said the fund.

“While moderate in absoluteterms, persistence, which is es-sentially the correlation be-tween current and

lagged in-flation ishigher thanin the regionalpeers,” it said,adding the in-crease in persist-ence meant that itwould now take longerfor inflation in Pakistanto return to its equilibriumlevel after a common shockhits the economy. That, imFsaid, in turn implied that infla-tion and inflation expectationswere likely to respond more slug-gishly to policy changes. referring tosurvey data, imF said inflation expec-tations in Pakistan had continuously re-mained at around 15 per cent. “Persistencecould be due to engrained inflationary ex-pectations, institutional features, or CPicalculation problems,” it added.

Further, imF warned there wererisks to inflation, especially frompossible supply shocks, pass–through from exchange rate de-preciation, fiscal policy

and con-

tinued accommodative monetary policy.Proposing remedies, the internationalfunding institution said to slash thebackbreaking price-hike the Governmentof Pakistan would have to undertakecomprehensive fiscal reforms ensuringgreater independence for the centralbank. “Fiscal consolidation would free

monetary policy to pursue inflationobjectives,” it said adding that a

more independent State Bankwould be better able to resist

pressures to finance the gov-ernment deficit, either di-

rectly or indirectly. “andlower inflation would

help the poor,” it said.

IMF holds SBPresponsible for high inflation

ISLAMABAD

AMER SIAL

Chairman Securities and Ex-change Commission of Pakistan(SECP) muhammad ali said onWednesday that the Federal

Board of revenue (FBr) has fully en-dorsed all proposals of the commission onthe revamped Capital Gains Tax (CGT)regime for the stock market and there wasno possibility for using it for tax evasion ormoney whitening.

addressing a news conference, chair-man SECP said the revision in CGT regimewas accepted by FBr as it was finalised inconsultation with all the stakeholders. hesaid the scheme will help in documentationof the money invested in stock markets,which would help in stopping tax evasion.it would also help in capital formation forthe businesses. he said some of the proce-dural changes were being worked out alongwith up gradation of automation as newrules would be implemented from april 1,2012. Chairman SECP also announced thecommission plans to establish two morecommodity exchanges in the country topromote transparency and fair practices inthe commodity trade. he said commodityexchanges were needed to develop the fu-ture markets in country and it would bebeneficial for the growers and the con-sumers. he said SECP was studying regu-lations if regulated spot markets to trade inagriculture products could be established.he explained that currently, the commod-ity spot markets and wholesale marketswere established by the provinces, and

these markets lack regulatory framework toprotect the rights of growers. he said com-modity exchanges were at an evolutionstage and it would take time to make themwell regulated. however, he said there wasno plan to increase the number of stockmarkets. CGT: he said since 1974 till June 30,2010, CGT was exempted, even though therequirements for filing tax returns were inplace. however, these were neither fol-lowed by the participants of the capitalmarkets nor implemented by FBr. This re-sulted in a peculiar anomaly in the shapeof the investors making legitimate, but un-documented gains accrued through trans-actions in the capital markets during thisperiod. he said the new CGT regime wouldhelp document it for the first time. Chair-man SECP said measures have been takento address issues and there would be com-plete due diligence of the investors as al-ready SECP has tightened procedures.ruling out any chance of misuse of thescheme for whitening of illegal money, hesaid a minimum holding period was underconsideration. all transactions recorded bythe national clearing agency would helpstop tax evasion and tax avoidance.

CGT would be applicable only on profitmade against the earlier practice of deduc-tion in both cases of profit or loss. CGT ratehas been frozen at 10 per cent on holdingperiod of up to 6 months and 8 per cent onperiod less than 1 year till 2014. it will helpbring investors back to the market. he saidbefore imposition of CGT, tax collectionfrom stock market was rs5 billion perannum which drastically declined to rs400

million in the last fiscal year.he said any income earned through

criminal activities was punishable underlaw including anti money Laundry (amL)act. SECP proposal was made in view ofthe Know-Your-Customer (KYC)/Cus-tomer-Due-Diligence (CDD) require-ments being expanded for stock exchangebrokers. These requirements aim to determoney launderers and terrorist financiersfrom using the non-bank financial systemfor illicit purposes. Under these require-ments, the brokers are to adopt reasonablemeasures to establish the source of wealthand funds for high risk customers. Fur-thermore, the scope of the scheme shallnot give any exemption from the applica-tion of FaTF recommendations.

Source of income exemption will onlybe available for funds which remain in-vested for a certain period. This will onlybring money from investors who are famil-iar with the capital markets and willing totake the price risk as share prices can godown substantially. in addition to theholding period, weighted average of fundswould be used. in this regard, discussionswill be held with FBr to finalise the modal-ities. SECP had also proposed that CGTrate be frozen at the current rate applicablefor ease of calculation and to bring back theinvestor confidence in the market. To sim-plify and ensure timely deposit of tax rev-enue, a centralised collection mechanismat nCCPL was recommended. PMEX: Chairman SECP said globallycommodities markets are one of the fastestgrowing segments of the overall capitalmarket and the value traded on commod-

ity exchanges is multiple of value traded onstock exchanges. The significance of thecommodity exchange becomes even morevital in a primarily agricultural country likePakistan. Enhanced activity in this marketcan benefit the whole agriculture valuechain from farmers to policy makers. acomparison with international markets de-picts that the Pakistani commodity markethas still to go a long way in evolving andcontributing towards the overall economicobjectives. The traded value of the ex-change-traded futures contracts was amere $8.8 billion in Pakistan as comparedto $2.9 trillion in india, $239 billion inTurkey and $5.3 trillion in China for theyear end 2011. This clearly shows the lim-ited penetration and outreach of the com-modities market in Pakistan despite theimmense potential.DEbT MarkETs: about debt markets,he said SBP and SECP must join efforts tocreate a vibrant debt market in Pakistan.SECP had proposed that a joint committeebe formed consisting of officials from SBPand SECP to work in close coordinationwith the objectives to carry out a holisticreview of the debt market, identify prob-lems and initiatives required at strategicand operational levels, formulate longterm and short term roadmap for devel-opment of market and provide focal pointfor close coordination with the stakehold-ers to ensure smooth implementation ofthe measures taken.

With reference to further developingthe debt markets, a meeting of the domesticCredit rating agencies (Cras) was held atSECP, which was attended by a represen-

tative from SBP. in the meeting it was de-cided that a committee comprising officialsof SECP, SBP and Cras shall be consti-tuted to look into the existing regulatoryframework for Cras in line with the inter-national best practices; the existing regula-tory framework for Cras and their code ofconduct; capital structure of Cras andtheir listing on the stock exchanges; and es-tablishing a Bond Pricing agency (BPa).

he said a bond valuation agency,was also under consideration. it will actas an independent entity with the role toprovide fair valuations of debt securitiesissued by governments and corporationsbased on comprehensive data collection,validation, pricing, and dissemination tothe stakeholders.InsuranCE sECTor: regarding thedevelopments in the insurance sector, hesaid SECP has approved the draft Takafulrules. Takaful, the islamic alternative totraditional insurance is a scheme based onthe principles of mutual assistance incompliance with the provisions of thesharia and which provides for mutual fi-nancial aid and assistance to the partici-pants in case of occurrence of certaincontingencies and whereby the partici-pants mutually agree to contribute to thecommon fund for that purpose.TakEovEr rEGulaTIons: Withregard to the Takeover Laws, he said SECPhad organised a roundtable meeting rep-resentatives of the corporate sector onproposed amendments to the 2008Takeover regulations. a final roundtablewith the stakeholders is to be held inKarachi to finalise the matter.

No tax avoidance, no money whitening under new CGT rules: Chairman SECP

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news02Thursday, 09 February, 2012

LCCI warns FBR over plastic compound smuggling laHorE: Lahore Chamber of Commerce and industry hasurged Federal Board of revenue to help stop smuggling ofplastic moulding compound from iran by land route as thegovernment will suffer a huge loss of rs25 billion annually ifthe practice goes on unchecked. LCCi President irfan QaiserSheikh was talking to a delegation of plastic importers andtraders association led by chairman of the association Sheikhmohammad ayub here on Wednesday. LCCi President, afterhaving an hour-long meeting with the delegation, said that it isvery surprising that on the one hand the FBr authorities wereplaying arm-twisting with the exiting tax payers by issuingSros like 821(i) 2011 while on the other hand the menace ofsmuggling is fast spreading its tentacles under their watch andat the cost exchequer. irfan Qaiser Sheikh said authoritiesconcerned should immediately ban import of polyethene andpolyproplene from iran via land route from any border ofPakistan as at present these products are available in the localmarket at rs20 per kg below the imported price that is verydamaging for the local businessmen. STAFF REPORT

‘Banks trading at book value in Pakistan’karaCHI: Despite impressive earnings growth, thecountry’s banks underperformed KSE 100 index by 16 percent in 2011, viewed the analysts at Topline researchWednesday. Thus, while Pakistan banking sector is nowtrading close to book value ( 50 per cent discount to 5 –yearaverage P/BV of 2.0x), the sector is also trading at a deeperdiscount of 33 per cent when compared to market which isnow trading at 1.5x on book value( KSE100 average P/BV of2.2 in last 5 years). “our sample includes 5 banks (nBP, UBL,mCB, BaFL and hBL) which represent 67 per cent of marketcapitalisation and contribute more than 55 per cent of thetotal industry deposits,” said Farhan mahmood. The analystsaid global financial instability, slowdown in local economyand higher interest rates created doubts in the minds ofinvestors to take exposure in banking sector as these factorsmay lead to higher non performing loans. STAFF REPORT

SBP wants quarterly un-audited CARs report karaCHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has advised allmicrofinance Banks (mFBs) to report their quarterly un-audited Capital adequacy returns to its BankingSurveillance Department as per the reporting formatprescribed in annexure-a of Prudential regulation no. 4for microfinance Banks within 18 working days of the endof each calendar quarter. First such statement for thequarter ended December 2011 should be sent by 29thFebruary, 2012, says BSD Circular Letter no. 02 of 2012issued to the presidents/chief of all mFBs. mFBs are alsorequired to submit the annual audited Capital adequacyreturns within three months of the end of each calendaryear, the circular letter added. STAFF REPORT

Pakistan, Mexico mull to strengthen trade tiesIslaMabaD: mexico is keen to expand its trade andinvestment relations with Pakistan, considering it animportant market for various products. This was stated byPakistan’s honorary Consul in mexico mark mcGuiness,during a meeting with President of islamabad Chamber ofCommerce and industry (iCCi), Yassar Sakhi Butt.ambassador of Pakistan in mexico Lt Gen (r), masoodaslam also accompanied him. honorary Consul informedmore than 80 per cent of mexican trade was with USa asevident of last year’s trade figures of $400 billion. he saidmutual efforts to strengthen bilateral relations andcooperation in diverse fields should be made to enhance thevolume of bilateral trade between the two countries Duringthe meeting, ambassador of Pakistan noted that it wasessential that private sectors of both the countries shouldinteract more frequently. he said there was tremendousuntapped potential in both the markets. STAFF REPORT

Govt gives priority to pollution free environmentlaHorE: Special assistant to Chief minister Punjab forFood and Environment, muhammad mansha Ullah Butthas said the government attaches top priority to providesuitable and friendly atmosphere to the people of alldistricts. he disclosed this during a briefing by theenvironment department, here on Wednesday. SecretaryEnvironment Punjab Sajjad Salim hotiyana and otherofficers were also present on this occasion. he said publicawareness campaigns are need of the hour to put an end tothe environmental pollution. Cm’s special assistantdirected the officers concerned to launch a campaignagainst smoke emitting vehicles and took stern action sothat neat, clean and pollution free environment could beensured for the people. STAFF REPORT

KCCI launches cancer awareness campaignkaraCHI: Karachi Chamber of Commerce andindustry (KCCi), President, mian abrar ahmad,launched the cancer awareness and prevention of cancerin children campaign in the national institute of Childhealth, here on Wednesday. Speaking on the occasion,mian abrar ahmad highlighted that KCCi has embarkedupon the programme to connect the academia withcorporate sector and to turn this vision into action.Efforts are underway to establish a state-of-the-artuniversity of KCCi. STAFF REPORT

LAHORE

STAFF REPORTER

BaSmaTi Growers associa-tion (BGa) has warned of de-clining trend in output ofextra long grain and aromatic

basmati rice if quarters concerned failedto take drastic measures for introduc-tion of high yielding varieties, minimis-ing post-harvest losses, focusing onvalue addition as well as removing hur-dles in its trademark registration.

at present production level, Pak-istan’s basmati export potential stands at$4 billion, while we hardly touch one bil-lion dollar mark, said hamid malhi Pres-ident BGa, while talking to members ofagriculture Journalist association (aJa)at Lahore Chamber of Commerce andindustry (LCCi) on Wednesday. amongothers, munawar hasan, President aJa,Sibghat Ullah Vice President, ranaFawad Secretary General, Farooq Bajwaand amin Chatha spoke on the occasion.instead of increasing output of basmatirice, malhi said, its production has seenstagnation for last several years due tomultiple factors and it is feared that itwould start reducing gradually if correc-tive measures are not taken. he addedthat stagnant prices since 2008 have alsoresulted in low interest of farmers in itscultivation. he expressed fear thatdownward trend was also feared in2012-13. BGa president said basmatirice is part and parcel of our heritage andhas a potential to become a high valueasset for the national economy. how-ever, he lamented, we did nothing foradding value to this produce with a viewto harnessing its optimal utilisation.

Being third biggest rice exporter, heobserved, we in fact under-utilising ouroverall Basmati rice sector as productionranges between 2-2.6 million tons andwe export around one million tons. in

comparison, he added, there has beenconsiderable increase in india’s produc-tion and export lately. he said extra longgrain super basmati was the only avail-able variety that has been introducedsince 1996. he said no other new highyielding extra long grain variety of bas-mati could be introduced by publicsector institutions. Super basmatirice is being cultivated at over 95per cent area and this varietycould be susceptible to dis-eases and pest attack. hesaid major threats in thisregard to basmati cropwere bacterial leafblight, aphids, stemborer leaf folder andpaddy blast. Com-paring produce ofindia and Pakistan,malhi said basmatigrowing areas inPunjab comprised of15 districts where 90per cent basmati wasproduced. in contrast,he added, only fourper cent basmati isproduced in india(Punjab) and rest is pro-duced in what he calledthe non-basmati areas.regarding export front, hetermed bulk sales as one ofthe biggest hurdles in aug-menting export volume, say-ing retail marketing should begiven priority by giving incentivesfor developing brands basmati. hesaid registration of geographical indi-cation of basmati should also be pushedbesides its trademark registration. hesaid Pakistan should enhance trade tieswith india, but basmati exports shouldnot be allowed as they would be againstthe interest of Pakistan.

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

ThE cost of Somali Piracyto the world economy hasbeen increased to around$7 billion in 2011 due to

the increasing threats to shipmentsof goods by Somali pirates.

approximately 80 per cent of allcosts are borne by the shipping in-dustry, while governments accountfor 20 per cent of the expendituresassociated with countering piracyattacks. The estimated economiccost of piracy was between $6.6 and$6.9 billion in 2011.

according to a report of oceansBeyond Piracy released on Wednes-day, in 2011, 31 ransoms were paid

to Somali pirates, totaling around$160 million. The average ransomwas approximately $5 million, upfrom around $4 million in 2010.While 2011 saw a lower success ratefor Somali pirates, the increasedprice of ransoms meant that piratesreceived greater revenue for fewerhijackings. according to the report,mV Suez crew, in which many cap-tives from both Pakistan and indiawere held hostage by Somali pirates,was released after the payment of$2.1 million in 13 June 2011. Thesailors who were captured on boardof mV Suez were released by the pi-rates after paying a huge ransom byPakistani human rights activist,ansar Burney.

in 2011, Somali pirates at-

tacked 237 ships, and successfullyhijacked 281. Piracy impacts multi-ple stakeholders, none more sothan the seafarers attacked, heldhostage, or killed. Specificallyanalysing the economic impact ofSomali piracy, the fresh reportof oceans Beyond Piracy assessesnine different direct cost factorsspecifically focused on the eco-nomic impact of Somali piracy.anna Bowden, the report’s authorexplained that “over the past yearwe have had substantial coopera-tion from maritime stakeholderswhich has helped to ensure that thefigures are as reliable as possible.”

The breakdown of the most no-table costs includes $2.7 billion infuel costs associated with increased

speeds of vessels transiting throughhigh risk areas, $1.3 billion for mili-tary operations, and $1.1 billion forsecurity equipment and armedguards. additionally, $635 million isattributed to insurance, $486 to$680 million is spent on re-routingvessels along the western coast ofindia, and $195 million is the esti-mated cost for increased labor costsand danger pay for seafarers.

The vast majority (99 per cent)of the billions spent are attached torecurring costs associated with theprotection of vessels - costs whichmust be repeated each year. This fig-ure is in sharp contrast to the $38million spent for prosecution, im-prisonment, and building regionaland Somali capacity to fight piracy.

laHorE: Prime minister Taskforce on Energy, ChairmanGohar Ejaz, has indicated that industrialists are willing onequity sharing for energy related projects to overcome theenergy crisis in the country. addressing a news conferenceat all Pakistan Textile mills association (aPTma) officehere on Wednesday, he presented five recommendations tothe media before his formal briefing to the federal cabinetnext week. he said the country’s law allowed third partyinvestment and industrialists were ready to sacrifice theirresources. he pointed out that around 1,000 mmCFDadditional gas could generated in the system if thegovernment acted upon the taskforce recommendations inits true spirit. Ejaz said LnG import would cost some $200million and the industry was ready to share 26 per centequity with the government, suggesting that thegovernment should allocate funds from rs40 billioninvestment development surcharge, already collected by thegovernment from industry. STAFF REPORT

karaCHI: Unilateral Tariff Concession to Pakistan given by Euro-pean Union (EU) while securing a waiver of World Trade organisa-tion (WTo) rules is going to be oxygen for Pakistani textile exports,already going down for the last couple of months. The country’s tex-tile exports which have already been decreased by 3.79 per cent dur-ing the first seven months of the current financial due to thereduction in cotton price in international market and severe energycrisis in the country, could regain their movement if the EU facilitywas availed at a maximum level. This was said by Ziad Bashir, Chair-man Landhi association of Trade and industry (LaTi), while appre-ciating the approval of EU’s waiver request in WTo on customduties for 75 items, mostly textile related, from Pakistan to help thecountry recover from 2010 floods. it is worth mentioning here thatEU had offered this one-time facility to Pakistan and approachedWTo in october 2010 to seek a waiver on trade preferences to is-lamabad on these products amounting to almost 900 million eurosin import value, or 27 per cent of imports from Pakistan for a two-year period from January 2012 to December 2013. STAFF REPORT

Basmati Growers Association warnsquarters over declining trend

‘Industrialists willing on equitysharing for energy related projects’

‘EU trade package an oxygen for textile exports’

Somali Piracy impact on global economy nears $7 billion in 2011

Pakistan tolook into USAIDeconomic dispatch model

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

PaKiSTan has assuredthe United States agencyfor international Devel-

opment (USaiD) that it willlook into its proposed EconomicDispatch model (EDm) to re-solve various issues of the powersector. a USaiD team led byadvisor Technical, Bob Collinsgave a presentation on EDm tothe ministry of water and poweron Wednesday in order to im-prove the power sector. ministerfor Water and Power Syednaveed Qamar also attendedthe briefing. The main focus ofthe presentation was power sys-tem analysis, economic dispatchand fuel requirements, genera-tion mix and financial impact ofdispatch model and other re-lated issues. it is important tomention that the governmenthas managed to carry out theloss mapping exercise in gener-ation and distribution compa-nies with the assistance ofUSaiD. many of the recom-mendations of the agency are al-ready under implementation toimprove the power system. Theminister said the ministry wouldfurther study the proposedmodel as EDm will help to re-solve various issues of powersector. he briefed USaiD teamthat efforts were being made toimprove the power sector by re-ducing line losses and gap be-tween demand and supply. Thereforms in the power sector,outsourcing of public sectorplants, construction of megadams and hydel projects, meas-ures to change the energy mixfor cheaper energy, ending ofcircular debt, reduction in linelosses and recovery of outstand-ing dues are were also discussedas the major policy parametersof the government to improvethe sector.

Khattak made provincial coordinatorIslaMabaD: Thegovernment on Wednesdaytransferred Deputy Secretaryministry of Petroleum ShabbirKhan Khattak as provincialcoordinator for naDra’sCitizen DamagesCompensation Programme.he is a grade 19 officer of thesecretariat group. STAFF REPORT

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news

Thursday, 09 February, 2012

03

CORPORATE CORNERNestlé Pakistan shows sustainablegrowth, announces annual resultslaHorE : nestlé Pakistan announced top linegrowth of 26per cent for the year ending 31stDecember 2011 at the meeting of the Board ofDirectors of the Company held in Lahore today.The company’s net profit closed at rs4.668 Billionfor the year ending 31st December 2011registering an increase of 13.5 per cent ascompared to the corresponding period last year.Keeping in view the good financial performance ofthe company, in addition to the interim dividendsof rs25 per share paid during the year, the Boardof Directors has recommended paying a final cashdividend of rs40 per share. PRESS RELEASE

PTCL doubles upVfone package offerIslaMabaD: Pakistan TelecommunicationCompany Limited (PTCL) has launched anexciting Vfone ‘Double Balance’ offer for itscustomers to recharge their Vfone accounts andget an additional free balance equal to the loadamount. applicable for Win subscribers, theVfone Double Balance offer allows thosecustomers who have not recharged their accountssince august 31, 2011 to re-load and get anadditional free balance equal to the load amountabsolutely free. not just that, Vfone customers canuse the free balance acquired through this offerfor on-net calling, internet and SmS to on-net andoff-net networks for 30 days. PRESS RELEASE

Credit ratings of Standard CharteredLeasing Limited upgradedkaraCHI: Pakistan Credit rating agency(PaCra) has upgraded the long-term and short-term ratings of Standard Chartered Leasing

Limited (SCLL) to “aa” (Double a), and “a1+” (aone Plus) respectively. [Previous: aa-/a1+]. Theratings reflect SCLL’s strong association withStandard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Limited(SCBPL), the majority shareholder in thecompany. over the years the integration betweenthe parent and the company has furtherstrengthened, capitalising on the strong franchiseof SCBPL. PRESS RELEASE

DG Quality AssuranceHEC visits GIFT universitylaHorE: GiFT University Gujranwala had thehonor to welcome ms Zia Batool, Director GeneralQuality assurance and Statistics of higherEducation Commission Pakistan (hEC). She wasaccompanied with Deputy Director Qualityassurance mr nasir Shah and mr munir ahmad.The purpose of this visit was to develop betterunderstanding and coordination between GiFTUniversity and Quality assurance agency (Qaa).GiFT University is fully committed to impartingquality education. The management understandsthat offering quality education is not a destinationit’s a journey which involves continuousimprovement in the quality parameters. The focusof the visit, therefore, was seeking the guidance andadvice of Qaa for further enhancing the standardsof education at GiFT. PRESS RELEASE

President ABF worried overSBP report on banking practiceslaHorE: President american Business Forum(aBF) Salim Ghauri has expressed deep concernsover State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) latest reportregarding practice of scheduled banks massivelyinvesting in government papers, including 82 percent of entire treasury bills and 89 per cent of islamicSukuk bonds. he said the banking sector in Pakistanis reluctant in extending loans to private sector,

adding further pressure on economy in a situationwhen both inflationary pressure coupled with fiscaland trade deficits was dampening economic growthof the country. he said the imF has indicated in itslatest report that the fiscal deficit is likely to be 7 percent of GDP during current fiscal. inflation would beclimbing up further with printing of more money bythe government to meet the fiscal gap, he added. Thebanks, on the other hand, are investing hugely intothe purchase of treasury bills without any check andbounds, he deplored. PRESS RELEASE

NBP starts branchmanagement trainingkaraCHI: President and CEo nBP Qamarhussain has earlier set ambitious plans oftransforming national Bank of Pakistan as aCustomer Focused Bank through focusing onintangibles such as improving human capital. Forthe achievement of the same goal, he set up ahuman resource Training and optimisation groupled by Dr mirza abrar Baig which recently starteda three weeks “Effective Branch managementTraining Programme” for the branch managersand operations manager starting from today. Thetraining sessions are currently being held at PearlContinental hotel, Karachi. PRESS RELEASE

UBL fund launches tele-transact servicekaraCHI: UBL Fund managers, one of theleading asset management companies in Pakistanannounced the launch of its latest value addedservice for clients calledUBL Funds “Tele-Transact”. This service will allow UBL Fundsclients to place transactions in their investmentaccount by simply calling the company’s toll-freenumber. While similar services are offered byBanks under the ambit of “Phone Banking”, this isthe first time such a facility has been introducedin the mutual funds industry by any assetmanagement Company. PRESS RELEASE

KARACHI: The Grandeur art gallery held privatecollection of famous artists at its premises. PictureShows Grandeur CEO Neshmia Ahmed, Jimmy Engineer,and Yasmeen Haider with artists. PRESS RELEASE

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

aLL Pakistan CnGassociation has se-lected 137 CnG sta-tion across thecountry to start im-

plementing the CnG safety exer-cise which will make binding onall vehicles to get rFiD chipbased stickers to get CnG refill-ing at the stations.

an official source said thisinformation was provided at themeeting of the ministerial CnGsafety task force on Wednes-day. The meeting was chairedby Joint Secretary adminministry of Petroleum hamidasghar Khan was held to re-view progress of therecommendations ofthe oil and Gas reg-ulatory authority(oGra) regardingsafety of CnG cylin-ders and kits. The meet-ing was attended by seniorofficers of oGra, hydrocar-bon Development institute ofPakistan (hDiP) and Chair-man all Pakistan CnG associa-tion (aPCnGa).

aPCnGa informed that 137CnG stations have been pin-pointed for establishment ofCnG safety monitoring regime inthe first phase and a list of thesestations has been forwarded tooGra for clearance. moreover,computerised monitoring equip-ment has been provided by aPC-nGa to hDiP and oGra. Themeeting was informed that train-ing sessions by expert engineersfor CnG station personnel havebeen completed by hDiP in is-

lamabad head office, Karachi,Lahore, Peshawar, and Quettaregional offices.

Criteria for vehicular moni-toring and recommendations re-garding placement of CnGcylinders in public service andprivate vehicles have been pre-pared by hDiP and would beshared with oGra andaPCnGa before sub-mission to min-istry ofP e t r o l e u m .For

commercial pas-senger vehicles, oGrahas recommended that onlytwo CnG cylinders be allowed inLight Transport Vehicles (LTV)and a maximum of four cylin-ders in heavy Transport Vehi-cles (hTV) while as only one

CnG cylinders be fitted in pri-vate vehicles.

The task force authorizedhDiP to finalise location of CnGCylinders in public service vehi-cles after carrying out technical

study.

hDiP informed that technicalscreening of proposals for selec-tion of third party monitoringlaboratories would be completedin one week. The members em-phasized that uniform standardsfor manpower and monitoringfees would be maintained across

the country and recommen-dations finalized by the

task force would bepresented to Eco-

nomic Coordina-tion Committee

(ECC) for ap-proval.

APCNGA gives list ofstations to start checking

LAHORE: Prof. Dr AQ Saleem, Yousuf Khan, AbdulJabbar Kazi, Nusrat Mirza, M Arif Dossal, MadihaSaleem and Khalid Wahab in a workshop conductedby the Commecs Institute of Business and EmergingSciences. PRESS RELEASE

RAWALPINDI: Quratulain Baloch performing at Pearl-Continental Rawalpindi. PRESS RELEASE

India Show Exhibitionbeing put up on 11 Feb

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

F EDEraL minister for Commerce makhdoom aminFahim, accompanied by Lahore Chamber of Commerceand industry (LCCi) President irfan Qaiser Sheikh will

inaugurate a three-day india Show Exhibition on 11th ofFebruary at 10:30 am at the Lahore Expo Centre. Federation ofindian Chambers of Commerce and industries (FiCCi) incollaboration with the indian ministry of commerce andindustries; supported by commerce ministry of Pakistan andLCCi, is organising this exhibition to raise awareness of indianproducts in Pakistan from 11-13 February, 2012. LCCi is mainlyarranging an inter-active session of the businessmen ofPakistan and india. a high-powered indian CEos delegationled by FiCCi President, r V Kanoria will accompany indiancommerce industry and Textile minister, anand Sharma,during his visit to Pakistan. The indian minister will be thechief guest at the closing ceremony of india Show Exhibition.irfan Qaiser Sheikh said the expo would help jack-up volume ofbilateral trade between Pakistan and india, as presently amajor portion of trade between the two countries in being donethrough third country. LCCi always wants trade with borderingcountries for being more efficient in terms of cost and logistics,he added. more than 50 prominent indian companies willexhibit their products spread around 110 stalls in hall no. 2 ofLahore Expo Centre. Products will range from manufacturing,services, chemicals, engineering, textiles and apparels,consumer durables, gems and jewellery, cosmetics,handicrafts, auto components, healthcare, etc. Three hours ineach of the days will remain open for general visitors while themorning hours will remain dedicated to business visitors.Business-to-business meetings during the days of theexhibition are being organised by TDaP in collaboration withLCCi. one time permission has been granted by Governmentof Pakistan to exhibit indian goods and services beyond thepositive list and counter sale of products. indian CEosdelegation will comprise of more than 100 business delegates,accompanying the indian minister from wide cross section ofindian corporate sector, will have business meetings at Lahore,Karachi and islamabad. indian commerce and industryminister will be visiting Pakistan to accelerate the positivemovements. FiCCi hopes that the much awaited decision tomove towards a negative list approach for trade with india willbe announced soon. This will be a precursor to granting mFnstatus to india. at present, a large volume of goods are beingtraded through informal channels via third countries. ThemFn status is likely to facilitate direct trade, and benefit boththe producers and consumers. FiCCi has always been at theforefront of improving bilateral economic ties with Pakistanand SaarC region as a whole. FiCCi strongly feels that thecurrent environment is filled with positivism and we muststrive to seize this opportunity.

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