Rs40bn crops go down the d-rain

 MIRPURKHAS: Chairman Farmers Organization Council (FOC) Sindh Javed Ahmed Junejo said agriculture of district Mirpurkhas has been destroyed during recent flood while farmers suffered Rs 40billion losses on this account.

This he said, while presiding over a meeting of FOC here on Saturday.

He further said that cotton crop over 105000 acres was destroyed. As the farmers had spent on an average Rs 30000 per acre the total amount is worked out at Rs 31billion.
He said that similarly growers had spent millions of rupees on cultivation of banana, sugarcane, onion, and tomato crops etc. in the district, which were also washed away.

On the other hand, he said that owing to inundation of farmlands and villages, farmers were staying along roads and relief camps.

He demanded of the government to drain out the stagnant rainwater from the villages and farms otherwise wheat crop could not be cultivated.

He also demanded of the government to immediately waive off agriculture loan of the growers and provide agriculture loan without interest. (APP)

FBS shakes up SPI touchstones

 ISLAMABAD: The Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) has changed the base period for monitoring of the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) besides making several other modifications in the index keeping in view the overall changes in incomes since 2000-2001-the earlier based period.

Till the week ended on September 15, the SPI was being computed on base period 2000-2001 which has been replaced with base 2007-2008=100, covering 17 urban centers and 53 essential items for all income groups and combined.

Similarly, the range of lowest income group has been increased from Rs.3,000 to Rs.8,000 besides making changes in the ranges of other income groups monitored for SPI.

Earlier, SPI was being computed on income groups ranging from Rs.3001-5000, Rs.5001-12000 and Rs.12000. But as per the new scale, the range of income groups has been increased and set as from Rs.8001-12,000, 12,001-18,000, 18001-35,000 and above Rs.35,000.

According to new scale three items including coarse latha, voil(printed) and electricity bulb have been removed from the list where as three things including energy saver, long cloth and georgette have been included in it.

Similarly, changes have been made in two items as wheat flour (average quality) has been replaced by wheat flour (bag) and gas charges (up to 3.3719 MMBTU) replaced with gas charges (upto 100 m3). (APP)

KSE stands fast during week

 KARACHI: Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) had a bullish week as its benchmark 100-Index crossed 12,600 points, Geo News reported Saturday.

Market managed a green opening on Monday, which stood somewhat strong through the week even in the face of rumours regarding a cut in the discount rate, but fell to the rising Pak-US tensions. As a result profit-booking ensued.

By the end of the week 100-Index had gained 254 points to close at 11, 607 points.

Average volume went up by 70 percent to stand at 700 million shares.

Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim turned out to be the most traded scrip.

KSE-30 Index before closing reached 11,096 points with a weekly gain of 179 points.

This rollercoaster ride is likely to last for some more sessions, analysts said

Pakistan Railways to rent Indian locomotives

 LAHORE: Pakistan Railways will rent engines from India, Geo News reported.

A meeting chaired by Railways minister Ghulam Bilour evaluated acquiring engines on rent from India. According to the Railways Ministry, the engines will be rented to increase performance and initially 50 engines will be acquired.

Europe shoots for a fortified crisis fund

 WASHINGTON: Europe is working to ramp up the firepower of its bailout fund, top officials said on Saturday, as the United States, China and other nations raised the alarm about its debt crisis hurting the world economy.

Financial markets plunged last week on fears that Greece's near-bankruptcy could spread to other euro zone countries, heaping pressure on European policymakers to prevent a repeat of the chaos that swept the world in 2007-2009.

The European Union's top economic official, Olli Rehn, said as soon as the region's governments confirm new powers for their 440-billion-euro fund, known as the EFSF, attention will turn to how to get more impact from the existing money.

"We need to find a mechanism where we can turn one euro in the EFSF into five, but there is no decision on how we could do that yet," another senior European official said on condition of anonymity.

The rescue fund would need to be at least 2 trillion euros to safeguard Italy and Spain if the crisis were to spread, financial analysts estimate.

The United States and other nations have urged Europe to leverage up the fund, possibly with support from the European Central Bank.

But officials from the ECB and from Germany, the region's paymaster, remained wary of using the central bank, which has a strict mandate to pursue low inflation.

"We should not think of leveraging a public pot of funds as a free lunch," said ECB Governing Council member Patrick Honohan.

Nonetheless, arming the euro zone with a bigger warchest to lend to governments or shore up banks was the focus of top finance officials from around the globe who met in Washington for semiannual meetings of the International Monetary Fund.

The sovereign debt crisis threatens to throw the euro zone into recession and has placed a troubling drag on an already slow U.S. economy. It could come to weigh on emerging economies too.

"Brazil's experience with past crises suggests you have to confront the problems in a fast, consistent manner," said Brazilian central bank chief Alexandre Tombini.

"The longer it takes, the higher the cost, the more contagion spreads. You have to act with overwhelming force."

The IMF's steering committee said in a statement that the euro zone was committed to whatever was needed to resolve the single currency bloc's crisis.

It warned that the global economy had "entered a dangerous phase, calling for exceptional vigilance, coordination and readiness to take bold action" to cope with Europe's financial stress and prevent it infecting others.

European officials were scrambling to put in place a comprehensive crisis-fighting plan by the time leaders from the Group of 20 nations meet in France in early November.

Greece is at the epicenter of the crisis but it has threatened to spread to several other euro zone countries. Italy, the third-biggest economy in the currency bloc, has also struggled to retain investor confidence, but Italian Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti said on Saturday its financial house was "in order."

Treasury chief Timothy Geithner, in his most explicit warnings to date, said the ECB should take a more central role in fighting the crisis. "The threat of cascading default, bank runs, and catastrophic risk must be taken off the table," he said.

CALMING NERVES

Investors took some comfort on Friday from signs of new resolve by European officials, after nearly two years of what many saw as half-hearted action.

"It is encouraging that ... European officials are signaling a better appreciation of the depth and potential consequences of the crisis," Mohamed el-Erian, co-chief investment officer of bond giant PIMCO, said on Saturday after further signals that Europe was bolstering its defenses.

"Now they need to translate this into decisive actions underpinned by a common vision of what they want the euro zone to look like in five years time."

Some policymakers now talk openly of a possible Greek default and the need to move much more aggressively to prepare for it.

"Decisions as to how to conclusively address the region's problems cannot wait until the crisis gets more severe," Geithner said.

His warning was echoed by China's central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, who urged quick action to bring greater financial stability to the Europe.

Canada's central bank governor, Mark Carney, told Canadian radio that the euro area's bailout fund should be more than doubled to "the neighborhood of a trillion euros."

BATTENING THE HATCHES

A default by Greece could cause a domino effect in other highly indebted euro zone countries, putting at risk European banks which hold their debt.

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said Athens was determined not to default and would stay in the euro zone.

"Greece will always be in the euro and Greece will never go bankrupt because this would be destructive for the euro zone and for many other countries beyond the euro zone," he said.
Athens is in tense talks with the IMF and European authorities to secure a new 8 billion-euro installment of its rescue package.

In return, it has pledged deep austerity measures but negotiators are frustrated at what they say is Greece's slow reform pace. A loan payment, however, is still expected to be made in October. The next installment is due in December.

Venizelos was quoted by two newspapers on Friday as saying an orderly default with a 50 percent "haircut" for bondholders was one way to resolve the heavily indebted euro zone nation's cash crunch. European banks have agreed to take a 21 percent loss on their Greek bonds in a restructuring deal.

To battle the crisis, Geithner called for more cooperation between European policymakers -- who set their own tax and fiscal policy -- and their central bank.

One option to increase the potency of the EFSF would be for the ECB to commit large amounts of funding, with the temporary bailout fund putting forward money to cover potential losses.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he was open to the idea of leveraging Europe's rescue fund but said that did not necessarily mean the ECB should provide the extra firepower.

In another sign of new thinking by Europe, Schaeuble said Germany backed bringing forward the launch of the euro zone's permanent rescue mechanism, which is currently scheduled for mid-2013. The new mechanism would give policymakers powers to impose losses on private bondholders in a default and could be leveraged more easily than the temporary version of the fund.

Germany, as the strongest economy in Europe, needs to play a central role in any effort to curb a debt crisis, but public opinion there has turned against further big bailouts for fellow euro zone countries. (Reuters)

Rupee weakens; o/n rates flat

 KARACHI: In the currency market, on Friday, rupee weakened to 87.57/64 to the dollar, compared with the previous day's close of 87.53/58 to the dollar, amid higher import payments.

The rupee hit a record low of 87.92 to the dollar last week and dealers expect the pressure to continue after reports Pakistan will not seek a new loan from the International Monetary Fund.

Increases in import payments and a negative economic outlook will also continue to keep the local unit under pressure, dealers say.

The IMF also projected Pakistan's GDP growth for 2011/12 fiscal year at 3.8 percent, compared with the government's target of 4.2 percent.

In the money market, overnight rates were flat at the top level of 13.40 percent, unchanged from the previous day's close, despite a reverse-repo in which the central bank bought back 267 billion rupees ($3.05 billion), against scheduled outflows of 210 billion rupees. (Reuters)

Asian markets slump for second day

 HONG KONG: Asian markets plummeted for a second straight day Friday and the dollar rose against regional units on growing fears that the global economy is on the verge of slipping back into recession.

Tokyo gave up 2.07 percent by the break, Seoul dived 4.35 percent, Hong Kong was 1.81 percent lower, Sydney lost 1.08 percent and Taiwan slumped 3.79 percent while Shanghai was 0.46 percent lower.

The Asian sell-off followed heavy losses in the United States and Europe, which were caused by the Federal Reserve's comments on Wednesday that the US economy faced "significant downside risks", with the economy struggling with slow growth, high unemployment and a depressed housing market.

The warning came after the Fed announced a $400 billion plan to boost the economy that would see it shift its shorter-term debt portfolio to longer-term bonds in a bid to lower long-term interest rates, a move that disappointed markets.

On Wall Street the Dow slumped 3.51 percent - marking its worst two-day fall since November 2008 - the S&P 500 sank 3.19 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 3.25 percent.

The Fed's forecast piled the pressure on already nervous investors, who were selling assets earlier in the week amid fears Greece is on the verge of default, which could spread to other economies and lead to another global financial crisis.

"The selloff in risk assets threatens to become disorderly," Tim Condon, economist at ING, told Dow Jones Newswires.

The dollar extended its rise against regional currencies as dealers shifted their attention away from risker assets.

The Australian dollar was at 98.31 US cents, from $1.0017 late Thursday. The Aussie hit a record high above $1.10 just two months ago.

The greenback, which in recent months was languishing near record lows against several Asian currencies, was up at Sg$1.3017 from Sg$1.2878, to 1,194.47 South Korean won from 1,179.57 and to Tw$30.61 from Tw$30.34.

The euro edged up to $1.3546, from $1.3464 late Thursday in New York, while it was also at 103.21 yen, from 102.64.

The dollar fetched 76.20 yen, from 76.25 yen.

On oil markets New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for November extended its losses, dropping $1.09 to $81.60 in morning Asian trade, and Brent North Sea crude for November tumbled 0.85 cents to $106.34.

Gold fetched $1,747.10 an ounce by 0200 GMT, down from the $1,765.40 it was at by 0900 GMT Thursday. (AFP)

Dollar keeps strength amid market panic

 SINGAPORE: The dollar extended gains Friday thanks to its reputation as a safe haven during crises, as turmoil sparked by fears of another recession churned global markets for a second day.

The euro recovered from 10-year lows but the global outlook remained bleak after the US central bank warned of significant risks to the world's biggest economy and as the eurozone struggled to prevent Greece's debt crisis from spiralling out of control.

Strikes swept across Greece on Thursday amid new budget cuts, with doubts growing that the government can implement new EU-IMF measures needed to secure funds and avert a debt default.

In morning Asian trade, the dollar was up at 76.2275 yen from 76.20 yen in late New York trade Thursday.

Japanese financial markets were closed for a public holiday.

The greenback also rose to Sg$1.3017 from Sg$1.2878, to 1,194.47 South Korean won from 1,179.57 and to Tw$30.6070 from Tw$30.34.

The commodities-linked Australian dollar was also trading sharply lower on Friday, falling to 97.88 US cents, well down on its close of 100.18 cents the day before.

Since breaching parity in October last year the currency has rallied consistently near or above the US$1.00 mark, hitting a record of US$1.1081 in July.

Asian shares were also tumbling Friday, mirroring falls in US and European stock markets.

"The dollar has already strengthened quite a fair bit, and the trend will continue for a while," said Simon Teo, a senior currency dealer at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

"Europe still has a lot of problems, pushing the euro currency lower. With the US dollar strengthening, it has a double effect on the euro."

The euro was trading at $1.3522 in morning trade, up from 1.3470 late Thursday in New York. It was changing hands at 103.0379 yen, after sinking to a 10-year low of 102.60 yen.

Singapore's DBS Bank said the world is looking for leadership from the ongoing International Monetary Fund-World Bank annual meetings in Washington which gathers the world's finance chiefs and central bank governors.

"Needless to say, market sentiment is at its most fragile since (the) Lehman crisis," DBS said, referring to the collapse in late 2008 of US investment bank Lehman Brothers, sparking a global financial crisis that lasted well into 2009.

"More than ever, markets now need to see global leaders holding each other's hands, and not pointing fingers at each other, to help restore stability to global financial markets and return the world to its recovery path." (AFP)

IMF sees Pakistan’s FY11 GDP at 3.8pc

 KARACHI: Pakistan’s GDP growth rate will hover around 3.8 and inflation about 12 percent, Geo News reported Thursday.

International Monetary Fund’s recently released (IMF) Annual Report 2011 says Pakistan’s economy is likely to grow at 3.8 percent.

Report adds that country may chase a growth target of 4.2 percent, which is 0.4 percent short of the target fixed.

Moreover, Pakistan’s Current Account Balance is seen going down by 1.7 percent.

Islamabad stocks shade green

 ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE-10) here on Monday witnessed bullish trend as the index closed at 2,477.36 with gain of 8.23 points as compared to previous day's trading.

A senior equity dealer told APP that the local equity markets remained range-bound but buying in
selected scrips led the rally of positive sentiments.

He said that circulating rumors to resolve circular debt by the end of September caused positive sentiments for investors to take positions Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL).

Analysts say bearish global markets and postponement of announcement of monetary policy till October were the main cause of low volume in the local markets.

He said that majority of the investors remained sidelined and some of these took positions in the selected scrips at lower of index and off-loaded the positions at higher-level index.

He said that PPL and Attock Petroleum remained favorites for local and foreign institutions.

Total traded shares were 70,005, which were up by 44,255 as compared to previous day's trading.

Out of 121 companies, the price of 48 was increased while the price of 73 decreased. (APP)

KSE calls it a green week

 KARACHI: Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) saw a bullish week with its benchmark 100-Index crossing 11,300 points mark, Geo News reported.

Analysts say, though, the topsy-turvy week ending September 16, 2011 did start on a negative note but attractive corporate results propped up the market in the coming weekdays.

KSE-100 Index gained 172 points to close at 11,353 points at the end of the week.

Moreover, during the week, KSE-30 Index gained 205 points to reach 10, 917 points before the closing bell on the rollover day.

Average trading volume swelled by 1.8 percent to 47 million shares.

Fauji Fetilizer Bin Qasim was the stock-under-spotlight for it changed most hands.

26 protesters killed in Yemen

Medics reported 26 dead and 500 wounded by live rounds, batons or after inhaling tear gas.

"Twenty six people were killed tonight," Tarek Nooman, a doctor in a field hospital in Sanaa's Change Square, epicentre of the anti-regime protests, told this news agency.

Mohammed al-Abani, a doctor running another field hospital, said 500 people were hurt.

Witnesses said security forces and armed civilians opened fire on tens of thousands of protesters who left Change Square, where they have camped since February demanding regime change, and marched towards the city centre. Water cannons and tear gas were also used, they added.

A medical official said that the injuries of 25 of those wounded by live rounds and shrapnel were critical. (AFP)

Oil down in Asian trade

SINGAPORE: Oil prices fell sharply in Asian trade Monday, with investors still worried over the debt crisis in the eurozone and the weak US economy. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, was down $1.18 to $86.78 a barrel in morning trade and Brent North Sea crude for November slipped 95 cents to $111.27 a barrel. "It's fresh economic jitters again because the market is focused once more on the sovereign debt problems in Europe," said Vandana Hari, the editorial director for Asia at energy information provider Platts. "The EU is imposing fresh conditions on Greece to adopt new austerity measures if it is to continue getting bailout funds," she told. Last week, eurozone finance ministers meeting in Poland, decided to delay until October a decision on eight billion euros ($11 billion) of bailout loans blocked until Greece persuades auditors it is on track to cut its deficit. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who attended the meeting, and his German counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble also disagreed over Europe's handling of the debt crisis. Any discord could affect attempts to mount coordinated action to deal with the crisis before it gets out of hand and batters the global financial system. Hari said investors were also setting their sights on an expected announcement by US President Barack Obama on spending cuts, which could crimp demand in the world's biggest oil consuming nation. President Barack Obama will Monday call for new deficit cuts of $3.0 trillion, US officials said in Washington. Other analysts said investors are also awaiting the results of a meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday of the US central bank's Federal Open Market Committee on interest rates. "The Fed is widely expected to discuss and announce further monetary policy measures," DBS Bank said in a market commentary. It added however that "it is very unlikely that this discussion ends with no action being taken". (AFP)