Economic and Business
Monday, May 28, 2012Monday, May 21, 2012
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Robust corporate profits, shy entrepreneurs
THE government’s meek efforts to spur investment have virtually fallen flat with reluctant investors deferring their plans for capital spending…
Macroeconomic targets elusive
WITH macroeconomic data for major part of the outgoing financial year now available, a number of grey areas surfacing out…
Constraints on Punjab’s industrial growth
ELECTRICITY shortages, macroeconomic and political instability, security conditions, inadequate facilities for transportation of goods to and from the Karachi port…
Troubled cotton sowing season
COTTON sowing in Punjab is in trouble, so are its seasonal prospects. Water has become a scarce commodity. Canal water…
Chilli crop faces water shortage
CHILLI crop which suffered 70 per cent loss during last year’s devastating floods in lower Sindh faces another setback this…
Dilapidated irrigation network in Sindh
WHILE agriculture has been devolved to the provinces following the passage of 18th amendment, irrigation department, according to farmers, lacks…
Farm mechanisation a low priority in KP
ACCORDING to the agriculture engineering department, issues in mechanisation of farm sector in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa range from small land holdings,…
Dilemma of the next budget
A CRITICAL analysis of the last three succeeding budgets shows that the gap between the government revenues and expenditures is…
World economies
Malaysia
MALAYSIA, a middle-income country, has transformed itself since the 1970s from a producer of raw materials into an emerging…
Stifling investment environment
THE private sector in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is pressing the government to accept its pre-budget demands for facilitating industrial investment and…
Development spending lag
HARDLY 29 per cent of funds allocated for Sindh’s annual development plan 2011-12 was utilised in first nine months.
However,…
Sharp hike in oil prices
JUST a day after low-key celebrations on completion of the third year of its second tenure — and importantly after…
Pakistan’s difficult external account situation
PAKISTAN’S external account situation continues to deteriorate. A serious crisis is not immediate but is very likely to occur down…
Ethanol rakes in foreign exchange
ETHANOL is now emerging as an important export item for the country’s sugar industry, drastically reducing its dependence on much…
Widening the tax net
GROWING poverty is directly linked to distortions in the tax system.
The government also recognises that the major challenges that…
Mixed economic trends
THE highest-ever output of cotton, a record rise of 28 per cent in production of rice, some activity in large-scale…
Coal gasification: PM’s intervention
WITH some Planning Commission members entering the fray over viability of Dr Samar Mubarakmand’s underground coal gasification project, its future…
Targeting inclusive development
UNDETERRED by the growing financial crunch that keeps development spending starved of funds, policymakers have set the Public Sector Development…
Harping on the old tune
MANY believe that the rhetoric of Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh about the upcoming budget to be “business friendly”…
Towards competitive exchange rates
THE rupee has partly recovered after a steep decline in value on repayment of a big installment of the IMF…
Commodity prices decline
TRADING activities in the wholesale commodity markets last week remained insipid leading to decline in prices. Traders cited low demand…
Investors cautious
THE Karachi stock market witnessed mixed investor sentiments during the outgoing week, as the benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 13,925…
Rupee under pressure
MOUNTING demand for dollar in the local currency market kept the rupee under pressure this week.
The rupee witnessed a…
Increase in bank deposits
IN the week ended May 18, 2012, deposits and other accounts of all scheduled banks increased and stood at Rs5975.181bn,…
Positive signals: a sigh of relief
THE troubled business community wants immediate opening of supply routes for NATO containers, fearing high economic and trade risks from…
The price of ‘generosity’
THE federal government has started to feel the pinch of the tilt in the 7th National Finance Commission Award towards…
Punjab’s lost growth momentum
PUNJAB’S regional economy has increased at a much slower pace than ‘the rest of Pakistan’ over last four financial years…
Adhoc-ism fails mango export project
PAKISTAN’S efforts to export mango to high-end markets seem to have gone sour. For the last three years, it has…
Combating water pollution
INCREASED use of irrigation water supplies and agro-chemicals, coupled with its irrational use, is causing significant water pollution problems.
Water…
Reduced cotton cultivation in Sindh
COTTON sowing, about to end in Sindh, has been affected by seed germination, water rotation programme and a drop in…
