US
cannot abandon Pakistan relationship: Clinton
WASHINGTON: US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday the United States cannot
abandon Pakistan but that the South Asian nation must help solve Afghanistan's
difficulties or it will 'continue to be part of the problem.'
Answering questions after a speech sponsored by the Center for American Progress in Washington, Clinton said the United States had no choice but to work with Pakistan in trying to stabilize neighboring Afghanistan.
"This is a very difficult relationship but I believe strongly it is not one we can walk away from and expect that anything will turn out better," she said. "Pakistan has to be part of the solution or they will continue to be part of the problem," she added. "And therefore, as frustrating as it is, we just keep every day going at it and I think we make very slow, sometimes barely discernible progress, but we're moving in the right direction." (Reuters)
Answering questions after a speech sponsored by the Center for American Progress in Washington, Clinton said the United States had no choice but to work with Pakistan in trying to stabilize neighboring Afghanistan.
"This is a very difficult relationship but I believe strongly it is not one we can walk away from and expect that anything will turn out better," she said. "Pakistan has to be part of the solution or they will continue to be part of the problem," she added. "And therefore, as frustrating as it is, we just keep every day going at it and I think we make very slow, sometimes barely discernible progress, but we're moving in the right direction." (Reuters)
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Thu, 13 October 2011
Pakistan’s 3-mth fiscal deficit 1.1% of GDP
KARACHI: Pakistan’s fiscal deficit for the first three
months of fiscal year 2011-12 was 1.1 percent of gross domestic product, a
Finance Ministry official told Reuters on Wednesday.
This compared with a deficit of 1.6 percent of GDP in the same period last year. The target for fiscal deficit is 4 percent of GDP in the year ending June 30. “The deficit could go to 4.4 percent of GDP,” said the finance official. The government’s fiscal deficit widened to 6.6 percent of GDP for 2010-11, higher than the earlier estimates of 5.3 percent which was the target agreed by the International Monetary Fund as well. Massive energy subsidies are one of the reasons for the swelling deficit but Pakistan has so far shown little interest in cutting these as also demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In 2008, Pakistan and IMF agreed on a 3-year package loan for $11 billion. But the programme was halted in 2010 because of slow implementation of fiscal reforms, and only $8 billion had so far been disbursed. Islamabad has to start repaying the loan in early 2012 and that is when the pressure on foreign exchange reserves will increase, analysts say. Pakistan opted not to seek a new IMF programme or an extension. “The probability is that we won’t go to the Fund in this fiscal year as our external position is quite comfortable,” the finance official said. The current account deficit shrank to $189 million in the first two months of the fiscal year - July and August - from $1.016 billion a year earlier. Reuters
SECP penalises
non-compliant market participants
ISLAMABAD: In order to foster a transparent and efficient
securities market and to safeguard the investors’ interests, the Securities
Market Division of the Security and Exchange Commission Pakistan (SECP) took
enforcement actions and penalised the market participants for non-compliance
to the regulatory framework in September.
Three orders were passed against the beneficial owners and directors of the three listed companies under Section 224 (4) of the 1984 Companies Ordinance. In addition, 27 warning letters were issued to the directors and beneficial owners of 15 listed companies for non-compliance to Section 224 (2) of the Companies Ordinance. In another instance, an order was passed against a company (offeror) under Section 22 of the 1969 Securities and Exchange Ordinance, whereby a penalty of Rs 300,000 was imposed for non-implementation of SECP’s earlier orders issued under Section 18-A (for submitting fictitious and multiple applications in public offering). In addition, an order was issued against a brokerage house under Rule 8 of the Brokers and Agents Registration Rules, 2001. The SECP resolved six investor complaints pertaining to brokers and three complaints pertaining to listed companies during the month. Further, nine amendments were made and approved in the regulatory framework.
Pakistan may import 400,000T sugar next year
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan may import up to 400,000 tonnes of refined
sugar next year to bolster reserves despite expectations of a bumper crop,
officials of the Ministry of Industries said on Wednesday.
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), the highest economic decision-making body, is expected to discuss the stock position and prospects for the next crop in a meeting on Thursday, the officials said. “We have recommended to the ECC to make arrangements for importing 400,000 tonnes of refined sugar next year to maintain strategic reserves,” one official said on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to media. “It is now up to the committee to decide whether we need to import and when.” The government usually maintains reserves for supply to the state-run discount shops called utility stores to support low-income groups in case of a price rise. Pakistan is expecting a bumper crop of up to 4.5 million tonnes from the 2011-12 crop despite losses to the sugarcane crop by floods in the country’s south. Traders and officials said last month there was no need to import sugar. Output from the current crop is expected to start reaching stores by the end of November. “Though we are not expecting any shortages, reserves can help counter any manipulation by hoarders,” another official said. If decided, Pakistan would likely import the sweetener well ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, expected in the last week of July 2012, he said. Total stocks with the government and mills stood at 1.2 million tonnes on October 5, including more than 196,000 tonnes of imported sugar. Pakistan imported about 1.2 million tonnes of sugar last year after production fell to 3.1 million tonnes from the 2009-10 crop, when many farmers switched to more profitable crops such as cotton. The annual consumption is about 4.2 million tonnes.Pakistan produced 4.1 million tonnes of refined sugar in 2010/11 despite devastating floods in 2010. reuters
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