

Italy may invest in infrastructure
Thursday, February 04, 2010
By our correspondent
KARACHI: Pakistan with a population of over 160 million retains huge potential of economic growth like other fastest growing Asian countries and Italy can invest in areas of infrastructure, leather, marble and machinery in the country, said Sarah Rezoagli, Italian Embassy’s Deputy Head of Mission.
She was talking to media persons on Wednesday at the launching ceremony of ‘Ponte d’affari’, a monthly magazine of the...


PTCL announces Rs6.7bn PAT, no payout
Thursday, February 04, 2010
By our correspondence
KARACHI: The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) announced its financial results for the half year ended on December 31.
The company has announced a net profit of Rs5.354 billion and earning per share (EPS) of Rs1.05 compared to Rs5.314 billion and EPS of Rs1.04 recorded in the same period last year, showing an increase on 1percent.
During the period under review PTCL earned Rs6.7 billion profit...


Development projects in Faisalabad inaugurated
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
FAISALABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday inaugurated series of development projects in the country’s textile hub aimed at improving electricity transmission and distribution system.
Zardari inaugurated Gakkar Machi 500KV grid station and 500KV Muzaffargarh-Gatti transmission line completed at a cost of Rs450 million in two years. The projects will address demand of the people of Faisalabad and end years of power outages by providing reliable...


Foreign investment falls 40.6%
Saturday, January 16, 2010
KARACHI: Net foreign investment in Pakistan fell 40.6 per cent to $1.28 billion in the first six months of this fiscal year compared with $2.16 billion in the same period the previous year, the central bank said on Friday.
Out of total foreign investment, foreign direct investment fell 56.9 per cent to $1.01 billion in the first six months of the 2009/10 fiscal year, beginning on July 1, from $2.35 billion the previous year, the...


Karachi share market loses 18 points
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
By our correspondent
KARACHI: The Karachi stocks market, which is trying to consolidate near and around the immediate resistance level of 9,800 points ahead of the results season, fell modestly on active profit selling and due to absence of majority buyers at higher levels on Tuesday.
KSE 100-share index shed 18.64 points or 0.19 per cent and closed at 9,778.36 points. Its junior partner the 30-share index plunged 24.66 points or 0.24 per...


SBP sees GDP growth near 3.3 per cent
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
By Saad Hasan
KARACHI: Pakistan’s economic growth in ongoing fiscal 2009-10 is expected to remain close to the target of 3.3 per cent, more than last year’s 2pc, if the services sector grew strongly, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Tuesday.
The services sector, which includes wholesale and retail trade, transport, storage, communications, banking and finance, contributes over 50pc to the gross domestic product. It has seen a...


KSE gains 389 points on sustained positive momentum
Sunday, January 10, 2010
By Salman Siddiqui
KARACHI: The first week of the new year ended on a happy note at the Karachi bourse. Notable buying by banks, development financial institutions (DFIs) and overseas investors, mainly in energy stocks, helped the market gain over four per cent this week.
The KSE 100-share index posted an increase of 4.14 per cent or 389.29 points on weekly basis and closed at 9,776.21 points, a 12-week high. Parallel-running junior 30-index...


Insurance of burnt out Karachi markets negligible
Thursday, January 07, 2010
By Saad Hasan
KARACHI: The recent incident of arson, which gutted over 2,000 shops in Karachi and caused losses of billions of rupees to the traders, has highlighted the problem of low penetration of insurance in the country.
Lack of awareness, reluctance to pay risk premium, complicated insurance agreements and religious beliefs altogether discourage people from getting insurance cover, industry people told The News.
None of the...


FBR collects over Rs577bn revenues in first 6 months
Thursday, January 07, 2010
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue has collected revenues amounting to Rs577.337 billion during first-half of the current financial year, as against Rs553.833 billion collected during the same period of last year, showing an increase of 4.2 per cent.
The revenue collections in July-December included Rs208.594 billion as direct taxes and Rs368.743 billion as indirect taxes, Asrar Raouf, Spokesman for the FBR and Member Direct Tax policy, told APP...
