Pakistan Economy - News & Updates - Archive

[Neo]

All set to achieve economic stability: report

LONDON (May 22 2007): The economic growth of Pakistan has been described as one of the world's most dramatic turnaround stories, says a report in May's issue of The Banker, a leading magazine in the global financial industry. In his article on Pakistan, writer Jules Stewart says Pakistan looks set to achieve economic stability, a goal many thought impossible.

Pakistan, he wrote, was a verge on default in 1999 when President General Pervez Musharraf came into power. His Finance Minister and now Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz put in place an urgent package of macro-economic reforms aimed at stabilising economy.

At that time, Pakistan was facing an external debt of $37 billion, coupled with huge fiscal and current account deficits. Tax revenue was almost non-existent, exports were stagnated and foreign exchange reserves had shrunk to a dangerously low level.

The stabilisation plan put in place was highlighted by exchange rate liberalisation and the strengthening of foreign reserves, which now stand at over $13 billion compared with $1 billion when the programme was launched. In this period, domestic debt as a percentage of GDP has been managed down to half the 1999 level.

Although, according to Stewart Pakistan has not been able to completely eliminate the imbalances in its economy but a leading banker Farrukh Khan of BMA Capital has spoken about strong foreign direct investment inflows, along with remittances and the ability to borrow in international markets.

However, the writer has noted long term, imports and exports need to come into balance. According to Khan, domestic demand has been the engine of growth. Between 20 million and 30 million people now earn $8000 to $10,000 a year, making the current rate of growth sustainable.

He also says the general election later this year does not pose a threat to the reform process. The present government has been most aggressive in taking the reforms forward. Those living below poverty level account for 25 percent of the population compared with 33 percent a few years ago.

Standard Chartered was the latest of the big ticket acquirers, having recently paid nearly $500 million for Union Bank, one of the most dynamic players in Pakistan's banking sector. More take-overs are in the pipeline.

The article has quoted another leading banker Reza-ur-Rahim of J.P. Morgan as saying that law and order scarce has been blown out of proportion.' We need to portray the softer side of Pakistan because the actual situation is quite different in what people see on their television screens.

A lot is going well in Pakistan. FDI is up, privatisation is moving ahead, the deficit is under control, poverty is reducing and the government is not letting the upcoming elections dictate their policy decisions." The government, says Stewart is now pushing for the second generation of reforms, a task being handled by Ashfaque Khan, Director-General of the government's debt office who is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the new Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Act, which binds current and future governments to abide by prudent economic policies.

Khan says that once the current high demand for imported capital goods has been satisfied, the current account deficit will decline to normal levels. In his interview with Governor, State Bank of Pakistan, Shamshad Akhtar, she says financial reform needs a progressive mindset, which the present government has provided. Akhtar pointed out that the SBP monetary policy looks at the dual objectives of promoting growth while maintaining price stability.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=567233&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

US company brings latest construction technology

LAHORE (May 22 2007): Vermeer, one of the largest US machinery manufacturing companies, has planned to open its office in Lahore to cater to the needs of Pakistan's construction sector and to introduce the latest construction technology for laying underground utility pipes.

This was revealed by Navneet Mathur, Managing Executive of a Sharjah-based marketing company "Rehan International" the exclusive dealer of Vermeer for Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan while talking to LCCI President Shahid Hassan Sheikh here at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday.

Navneet disclosed that Vermeer had invented a number of modern construction machines, which were being used by the developed world for quality construction with a considerable saving of time and cost. Such technologies will help Pakistan to a great extent especially after the quake tragedy, which had destroyed a lot human habitat in northern parts of the country.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=567266&currPageNo=2&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

'Strikes cause irreparable loss to economy'

LAHORE (May 21 2007): The Founders Chairman Dr Khalid Javed Chaudhry has said that strikes, public meetings and protest processions are causing irreparable loss to the economy besides rendering unemployment in the country, therefore, the government should take into consideration this serious matter.

He made these remarks while talking to traders of different markets and members of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) at a meeting here. Haji Muhammad Asif, Munir Ahmad Khan, Asif Rehan Dar, Muhammad Hashim and Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry also addressed the meeting.

According to an estimate on May 12, the countrywide strike cost country's economy Rs 10 billion loss, he added. Whose loss is it, he questioned.

Haji Muhammad Asif said that the loss sustained by traders community due to loadshedding will have serious repercussion on economy in the time to come. Chaudhry Manzoor Tahir said: "Maintaining law and order in the country is our collective responsibility and we should supplement government's efforts in this regard.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=567610&currPageNo=2&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

'Pakistan may import power from Kyrgyzstan': works on new Kyrgz embassy starts

ISLAMABAD (May 22 2007): Work on new building of embassy of Kyrgz Republic was inaugurated jointly by Federal Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Ali Jatoi and visiting Deputy Foreign Minister of the Kyrgz Republic Kadyrbek Sarbaev on Sunday with cutting the ribbon.

The Federal Minister for Water and Power, Liaquat Ali Jatoi speaking on the occasion extended congratulations to the embassy, on behalf of President General Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and people of Pakistan. He said the start of the construction of new embassy building of Kyrgz Republic in Islamabad is a major move to promote trade and transit ties with Kyrgyzstan.

He said, "We need to enhance our trade and commercial ties and it can easily be done through improving the communication linkages between our two countries. The minister said Pakistan is also studying whether it could import electricity from this mountainous republic. He said if it is feasible, there is no doubt that Pakistan would like to import electricity from Kyrgyzstan.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=567258&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

Unemployment on rise, says ADB

By Sher Baz Khan

ISLAMABAD, May 21: Unemployment in the country has been higher during the last two years than the first eight years of the last decade, reveals a study conducted by the Asian Development Bank.

The unemployment situation has deteriorated for youth in Balochistan since 1999-2000. Young people in Balochistan are twice as likely to be unemployed than their counterparts in Punjab.

The youth employment situation in NWFP is not good either.

“These provinces need serious policy interventions to reduce the relative disadvantages in employment opportunities for the youth,” states the bank’s latest report on demographic transition, education and youth unemployment in Pakistan between 1990 and 2006.

Unemployment in Sindh and Balochistan increased during 2001-02 and 2003-04 and the number of jobless people in NWFP more than doubled during 1990-91.

The study reveals that overall unemployment rate in the country declined from 8.3 per cent in 2001-02 to 7.7 per cent in 2003-04. Despite this reduction, the overall unemployment rate in the last two years was higher than the unemployment rates observed during 1990-98.

The highest level of unemployment - 12.9 per cent - was found in NWFP in 2003-04, while the lowest level was in Sindh at 6 per cent. In Punjab and Balochistan, 7 and 8 per cent of the labour force respectively was unemployed during this period.

Punjab has not witnessed any major changes in the level of unemployment over the last one and a half decade.

However, the study shows that Balochistan has suffered a lot when unemployment increased to 8 per cent in 2003-04 that is less than two per cent of the 1990-91 level.

In Sindh, the unemployment level remained low – around three per cent – but jumped to five per cent in 2001-02 and six per cent in 2003-04.

A province-wise analysis shows that Balochistan and the NWFP have recently been left behind in providing employment opportunities to jobless people, particularly to urban males in small and medium towns.

“The benefits of the recent economic growth are, therefore, not evenly distributed in terms of generating employment opportunities,” the report said.

The gender gap of more than 50 per cent in Pakistan’s Labour Force Participation Rate is much higher than the average gap of 35 per cent in South Asia that demonstrates how successful we have been in empowering women economically.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/05/22/top8.htm

 

[Neo]

Pakistan to export 1.3 mln tonnes of wheat

By Reuters
Tuesday May 22, 2007
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan will go ahead with its plans to export 1.3 million tonnes of wheat this season despite a surge in domestic prices, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

"The amount of wheat allowed for export will be sold abroad. There will be no change," Mohammad Ismail Qureshi, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, told Reuters, referring to the 1.3 million tonnes.

"We have done enough procurement and domestic prices can be controlled with that if required," he said.

But Qureshi added the government would have to decide about additional wheat exports.

The government last month allowed exports of 500,000 tonnes of wheat in the hope of making inroads into the lucrative Indian market.

The decision came after reports that the country's wheat harvest for the current 2006/07 crop year would cross the target of 22.5 million tonnes.

The government previously also allowed exports of 800,000 tonnes of wheat by private traders and also removed a 15 percent duty on exports.

Agriculture ministry officials expect more than 23 million tonnes of wheat to be produced in the 2006/07 crop year while the domestic requirement is 21 million tonnes.

Pakistani traders have already sold about 150,000 tonnes of the amount earmarked for export to Southeast Asian countries for May and June shipments, according to industry officials.

The deals were finalised at about $230-$240 a tonne, including cost and freight, for shipment in containers. Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia have bought the bulk of the cargoes, traders said.

Traders said Pakistani exporters were also looking for buyers in India and the Middle East.

Last month, Pakistani exporters finalised deals to sell up to 25,000 tonnes of wheat to India, the first such deal in memory between the neighbours.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/070522/137/6g3gx.html

 

[Neo]

Pakistan's oil imports to hit $8.8b record in 2008

MENAFN - 22/05/2007

(MENAFN) An official at Pakistan's Petroleum Ministry said that the country's oil imports are expected to hit a record of $8.8 billion next year, up 11.7 percent from this year's figure of $7.88 billion, Khaleej Times reported.

The official attributed the increase in the imports bill, which surpassed the country's consumption increase, to soaring oil prices which are expected to further rise by 8.5 percent during next year to an average of $70 per barrel, compared to the current average of $70 per barrel.

In 2008, he added, Pakistan's petroleum sector will be the single largest segment taking major part of foreign exchange reserves. For the current year, the government had estimated around $7.678 billion oil imports in the budget of 2006- 07, which has now been revised upward to $7.877 billion because of higher international oil prices and more than projected fuel oil consumption arising out of electricity crisis.

On the other hand, the government expects that local crude oil production will remain static at 5.6 million tons next year, accounting for only 3.9 percent of country's total crude requirements

http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093153992

 

[Neo]

Pakistan's Azgard Nine to issue $260 mln bond

KARACHI, May 22 (Reuters) - Pakistani denim maker Azgard Nine said on Tuesday to it plans to issue bonds worth up to $260 million in the international capital market.
"Depending on the market conditions when the bonds are taken to the market, we expect the tenor of the bonds to be between seven and 10 years," the company said in a statement to the Karachi Stock Exchange.

According to banking sources, Azgard Nine has already awarded the mandate to manage the dollar-denominated bond to Citigroup .

The company did not say when it plans to issue the bonds, but the sources said it will take place in end-August or early September.

Last month, United Bank Ltd. said it plans to issue an overseas bond worth up to $250 million to raise Tier II capital over the next two or three months.

In November, Pakistan Mobile Communications (Pvt) Ltd. (Mobilink) raised $250 million in funds for expansion by selling a seven-year global bond. ADVERTISEMENT

Analysts said the availability of liquidity for emerging markets globally was encouraging Pakistani companies to seek funds overseas.

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070522/3/328kv.html

 

[Shehz]

Pakistan GDP seen growing at 7.5 per cent

http://dawn.com/2007/04/13/ebr2.htm

By Shahid Iqbal

KARACHI, April 12: Pakistan economic growth could expand by more than what the government estimates and it could be 7.5 per cent, Merrill Lynch said in a report released on Thursday.

The report did not consider the recent difficult political situation as hinder for the economic growth and expected that the GDP growth to sustain in 2007 and 2008 at 7.0-7.5pc and 6.8pc, respectively.

This will happen owing to robust consumption growth, supported by higher remittances from workers (up 21pc) and foreign investments (up 147pc), it said.

The report said that the investors to remain upbeat in the coming months, backed by withdrawal of expected monetary aggression by State Bank of Pakistan, expected concessions to the corporate sector in the next budget and the government’s decision to reduce its public sector holding through GDR.

The Merrill Lynch’s expectation of GDP growth was more than the State Bank estimates which put it in the range of 6.6 to 7.2 per cent while the government expects 7pc growth.

However, the report said that the likelihood of hitting the upper limit depends on the performance of livestock farming, which comprises approximately 50pc of the agriculture sector.

“Prospects of agriculture growth recovery appear bright on account of the timely rains, sufficient water reservoirs, availability of subsidised agriculture inputs, and higher agriculture commodities support prices,” said the report adding that countrywide rains are likely to boost the output in livestock farming.

“Pakistan’s politics has been in the headlines of international press and we think issues have been exaggerated,” said the report, adding that President Musharraf will remain firmly at the helm of what is the best privatisation and deregulation story in Asia.

The political turmoil seen in the last few months has been unable to hamper investments in the country, as reflected in foreign flows. Foreign inflows surged 147pc to $4.6bn during July-Feb FY07 and are expected to expand further to $6bn (or 4pc of GDP) by the end of this fiscal.

“Despite adversities in domestic politics, foreign private investments have risen by 147pc and continue to be a dominant feature over the last three months. This reflects investors’ confidence on Pakistan’s future economic growth,” said Merrill Lynch.

The report expects that the fiscal deficit to be contained at 4.5pc and current account deficit at 4.8pc of GDP on account of unexpected slowdown in exports.Rising foreign investments should continue to correct macro imbalances and help sustain economic growth, however, rising foreign inflows will continue to pose a challenge for SBP.

The report said that the rupee was overvalued by two per cent against the US dollar.

“In trade weighted index rupee is overvalued by 2pc. We maintain our rupee verses US$ exchange rate forecast of Rs62.20 by June 30, 2007” said the report.

The report said that the robust foreign exchange flows in the past few months have protected exchange rate from downward revision.

 

[Neo]

July-April tax receipts cross Rs 656.48 billion

ISLAMABAD (May 23 2007): The revenue collection crossed Rs 656.48 billion during July-April (2006-2007) against the target of Rs 645.1 billion, beating the target Rs 11.38 billion. According to the updated figures released on Tuesday.

The net revenue collection stood at Rs 656.48 billion during the first ten months of the current fiscal against Rs 547 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal, indicating a growth of Rs 109.48 billion. The CBR has to collect Rs 178.52 billion in the remaining two months of the current fiscal to meet the target of Rs 835 billion set for 2006-2007.

The board has to collect Rs 89.26 billion each in the month of May and June to meet the target. Direct taxes collection was Rs 252.88 billion in July-April (2006-2007) against Rs 167.58 billion in the same period last fiscal, reflecting a growth of 50.9 percent.

Sales tax collection was Rs 245.79 billion during the first ten months of the current fiscal against Rs 228.54 billion in the same period, showing an increase of 7.5 percent. GST collection at the import stage was Rs 141.19 billion against Rs 134.86 billion in the corresponding period last year, whereas sales tax collection on domestic consumption was Rs 104.59 billion during the period under review against Rs 93.68 billion in the same period last fiscal, showing an increase of 11.6 percent.

The board has collected Rs 103.07 billion as customs duty during July-April (2006-2007) against Rs 105.50 billion in the corresponding period last fiscal, reflecting a decrease of 2.3 percent.

Federal Excise Duty (FED) collection was Rs 54.73 billion against Rs 45.35 billion during this period. The collection of federal taxes during April 2007 has crossed Rs 59.48 billion. The board has paid an amount of Rs 73 billion as refund/rebate to the exporters during July-April of the current fiscal.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=567743&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

Big allocation for five dams in budget

ISLAMABAD (May 23 2007): Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Akram Sheikh has said that a significant amount would be allocated in the development budget for next fiscal for the construction of five big dams including Kalabagh Dam announced by President General Pervez Musharraf.

Talking to reporters after the two-day meeting of the Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC), he said that a high level committee headed by Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Salman Shah had been asked to gear up its efforts to raise funds for this purpose.

Total development budget for the next fiscal 2007-08 would be around Rs 549 billion, confirmed Akram Shiekh. He said that APCC had worked out Rs 549 billion development budget for 2007-08 that includes Rs 329 billion for the federal programmes, Rs 150 billion for the provincial programmes in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), Rs 35 billion for Kushhal Pakistan Programme (KPP-I & II) and Kushhal Pakistan Fund (KPF) and Rs 35 billion for development of earthquake-hit areas.

He said that the final recommendation to National Economic Council (NEC) for development budget would be just less than Rs 549 billion, not more than that.

Dr Sheikh said that the Planning Commission had devised certain principles while working out the total development budget. The principles include giving priority to complete the ongoing projects, starting important approved new projects, initiating crucial unapproved projects, fulfilling the public commitments made by the President and the Prime Minister and ensuring equitable distribution of funds among the four federating units.

Mentioning about the crucial unapproved projects, he said that the government would initiate such projects under which the rivers, which are full of pollution, (industrial effluent and plastic bags), would be made clean on priority basis to save the environment.

He said that the government would keep substantial allocation for acquisition of land for big dams and the Committee on dams, headed by Dr Salman Shah, Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, would arrange the required foreign funding for the dams that include Diamer-Bhahsha, Kalabagh, Akhori, Kuram Tangi and Munda dams.

He said that the government gives paramount importance to the National Trade Corridor (NTC) project and in the development budget for 2007-08, the government would approve the allocation for roads, railways and ports to make the NTC a success story of Pakistan."

He said that the government would give priority to complete the Gawadar Port on long-terms basis under which the Free Trade Zone, oil city and roads would be constructed to ensure connectivity of Gawadar with other parts of the country. Dr Sheikh said that right now the total number of ongoing projects is around 1950 and 50 to 100 new projects would be initiated in the next fiscal.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=567754&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

Karachi carnage scares foreign investors

ISLAMABAD (May 23 2007): The carnage in Karachi is haunting Pakistan as a number of foreigners who were working on different industrial and oil/gas exploration and production projects in Pakistan, but its worst blow came when Chile's petroleum minister refused to travel to Pakistan after watching firing incidents on TV screen in her country.

Sources said she wrote a letter to her Pakistani counterpart Amanullah Khan Jadoon, who was her invitee that prevailing law and order situation does not allow her to travel to Pakistan.

Chilean petroleum minister's visit to Pakistan was scheduled for May 15 and 16 and she was supposed to lead a delegation of investors of her country who wanted to invest in Pakistan's oil and gas sector. The officials of the ministry confirm that Chilean minister cancelled her scheduled visit, but they are scared to give its reason.

Jadoon had visited Chile some time back and invited his Chilean counterpart to visit Islamabad along with investors of her country and encourage them for investment in Pakistan. Another sad story of the Karachi carnage is that a Japanese engineer, who was in a hotel in Karachi on that particular day, refused to travel from hotel to project site of a $500 million industrial project.

Asadullah, a Pakistani engineer, who is also working on the same project in Karachi told Business Recorder that his boss Japanese engineer, watched incidents of indiscriminate firing in Karachi on May 12, and termed the situation in the city extremely tense and dangerous. Next day, he submitted an application with the management of the project wherein he said in the prevailing situation he can not work Pakistan.

Since the technology of the project is Japanese, the exit of the Japanese engineer is bad sign for the project. The management is worried over the new development that would ultimately delay the project.

It is not the story of Chile's minister or Japanese engineer but of many oil and gas sector companies' foreigner employees who have either left Pakistan after May 12, happenings or they plan to leave this country as early as possible.

The oil and gas sector may suffer more than any other sector since foreigners who were scheduled to visit to discuss different project for oil and gas exploration or services to the exploration and production companies were reluctant to come to Pakistan after May 12 day-long firing cases that claimed more than 45 lives. Local investors who were working to get foreign partners for joint ventures are seriously worried about the future of their projects.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=567786&currPageNo=2&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

Omantel eyes stake in Pak firm

MUSCAT: Oman Telecommunications Co. (Omantel) said on Tuesday it was considering buying a Pakistani telecom company to expand outside its home market.

Omantel, the smallest telecom operator in the Gulf Arab region by market value, did not name the telecom firm in a statement, but said it could buy a “big share”.

“The company is currently studying plans to enter into competition to purchase a share in a Pakistani telecom company,” Omantel said in a statement. “The deal would give Omantel an opportunity to expand its investments.” Gulf Arab telecom operators have been hunting for foreign assets as competition increases at home, and Asia has been a priority.

Qatar Telecommunications Co. said this week it had completed the purchase of a majority stake in Pakistan’s Burraq Telecom, hoping to tap Asia’s fourth-most populous country.

Emirates Telecommunications Corp. bought a 26 percent stake in Pakistan Telecommunications Co. Ltd. for $2.6 billion in 2005.

Omantel has faced competition in mobile phone services at home since Nawras, a subsidiary of Qtel, started operations in 2005.

Omantel shares rose 2.71 percent on Monday the biggest gainer among the 10 largest stocks. Its shares have risen more than 11 percent since the company’s first-quarter profit beat expectations on May 13.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=57127

 

[Neo]

12,000 villages get benefit from KPP schemes

ISLAMABAD (May 23 2007): The ministry of Local Government and Rural Development has completed 16,995 schemes under the Khushal Pakistan Programme (KPP) in the country, benefiting around 12,000 villages in areas of provision of electricity, water and other facilities.

The completed schemes account for 73 percent of total schemes planned for implementation in all parts of the country, Federal Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Abdul Razzaq Thahim said. The schemes also included construction of roads, extension of telephone facility, provision of education and health facilities.

Referring to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, he said that government has issued instructions for providing needed funds to FATA for various projects. The National Assembly Standing Committee for local government and rural development reviewed the development schemes during a meeting here on Monday.

Representatives of the Ministry of Water and Power told the meeting that total 11,4886 villages were electrified 65,191 in Punjab, 20,433 in Sindh, 22,711 in NWFP and 6,551 in Balochistan.

The meeting was informed that under KPP, members of National Assembly were given a total of 19,864 schemes. KPP is focussed on meeting people's basic needs through involvement of elected representatives at all tiers in the planning and execution of projects. Launched in 2003, the programme earlier named as Tameer-e-Pakistan, covers schemes related to gas, electricity, roads, telecommunication, education, health, sanitation and water supply. The federal government has allocated Rs 4.42 billion for the programme for the financial year 2006-2007.

Under this Programme, as of 15 May 2007 Rs 11,905.805 million have been disbursed to executing agencies in the federal, provincial and district governments for executing 23,475 schemes in approved sectors. So far 16,995 schemes have been completed. Schemes are identified by the public representatives keeping in view the needs of the communities while executing agency is also designated.

Proposed schemes have been forwarded to the executing agencies for proper feasibility report, cost estimates and administrative approval. On receipt of administrative approval, financial sanction will be issued by the ministry of local government and rural development after endorsement by finance division.

http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=567854&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=

 

[Neo]

May 23, 2007
Pakistan to spend extra $1.1bn on furnace oil

By Khaleeq Kiani

ISLAMABAD, May 22: Pakistan will be paying $1.1bn (little over Rs65bn) extra on import of furnace oil in the current fiscal year mainly because of electricity shortage and the burden will grow in coming years.

A senior petroleum ministry official said the government had estimated furnace oil consumption at 650,000 tons for power generation but the electricity shortages had compelled to import an estimated 4.4 million tons, or about six times higher than the estimated.

As such, the government had anticipated furnace oil imports at $235 million for the current fiscal year, which has now expected to go up to $1.335 billion, about five times higher foreign exchange payments.

But this higher burden was partially offset by significant reduction in the diesel, aviation fuel and crude oil imports. The diesel and crude oil imports cost the national exchequer $828 million lower than anticipated by the government.

As result, net loss in oil imports during the current year is expected to be about $270 million. The government had allocated a total of $7.23 billion for total oil imports for the current year, which has now been estimated at $7.5 billion.

The official said the government had projected total crude oil imports at 73.3 million tons for the current year at a cost of $4.545 billion but the overall imports were now updated to remain 17 per cent lower at 62.5 million tons at a cost of $3.87 billion, providing a saving of $674 million.

The official said that the government had forecast import of four million tons of diesel for the current year but the actual consumption was expected at about 3.4 million tons. As a result, the diesel import bill would be just $2.3 billion against budgeted estimates of $2.45 billion, leaving a saving of about $150 million.

Informed sources said the furnace oil imports would cost even higher ($1.36bn) than $1.335 billion this year mainly because of an expected 10 per cent increase in international fuel prices.

Pakistan’s next year oil import bill has now been estimated to cross $8.8 billion mainly because of an expected 8.5 per cent increase in international prices.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/05/23/ebr3.htm