:k: great news!
I always fly PIA, even with the problems and hassles, It is still my top choice to go to Pakistan. I think it has a great track record on safety, I meet interesting people (yes, I am a socialite even on a plane) and you are supporting your country.
Last time my parents flew British Airways to Islamabad and they had a lot of lugagge problems, if they had flown PIA, they wouldve had greater leeway.
Sorry to be off topic, but anyone have any info on the Airport at Islamabad?
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ~MuNiYa~: *
Probably because of all the ilegal immigrants going back.
Nevertheless... good new indeed.
[/QUOTE]
That may be part of the reason, but the fact is that all the major industries of Pakistan that were previously making huge losses, and were near bankruptcy are now making handsome profits. PIA, Pakistan Steel, the major banks are all witness to this...
I agree with zman, Pakistan is benefitting from the INS crackdown and the crackdown on money laundering. The people I know in PIA would laugh if you said the profits were because of a major turn around in management and performance. The Nationalised Commercial banks (NCB's) were turned around during Nawaz Sharifs time
I expect you to downplay any achievments of the Musharraf-Jamali government, but to give Nawaz Sharif any credit for improvement in the banking sector is very laughable. 
Everyone is well aware of what he did to the banking sector, and in fact all other industrial sectors in Pakistan, and how the Musharraf government has dramatically turned that around in the last few years.
The facts are that since 9/11 the airline sector the world over has suffered as a result of the “war against terrorism”, and this would have affected PIA as well. Plus we obviously suffered (though not as much as India) somewhat from India closing it’s airspace? Now these factors would have had tremendous negative financial implications for a previously ailing airline like PIA, and illegals coming back home via PIA would only marginally make up for these losses. Try to give credit where credit is due.
whatever is the reason allah mian aur help karay humaree. :)
This is good news, but I wouldnt say PIA is doing good right now. Go to any airport in Pakistan, interact with the PIA staff and you will find out. The air hostesses working in PIA have become old mayis (old foggies), thanks to the late Zia, and are extremely rude. There have been some positive outcomes though, especially the resumption of the islamabad-chicago flight, which is a great measure.
I hope PIA does well in the future and gets its previous prestige back.
If you thought 3000 was a historic achievment…
Karachi stocks leap 2.9%, charge towards 4000 points](http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_20-7-2003_pg5_11)
Then their were predictions that a exports would be $11 to 11.5 billion next year but that has been acheived this year:-
During the fiscal year 2002-03…exports crossed the $10 billion mark and reached the level of $11 billion, exceeding the target](Daily Jang: Urdu News - Latest Breaking News update Pakistan - jang.com.pk)
And now the predictions for the coming year are…
New trade policy sets $12.1bn export target](Daily Jang: Urdu News - Latest Breaking News update Pakistan - jang.com.pk)
Apparently, Pakistan Steel Mill, isn’t as clean as it appeared:
link
PSM is one of the charges of our ministry of industries and production, under its minister Liaquat Jatoi. Jatoi is a malleable man, who way back in 1990 was found suitable to be a provincial minister by none other than the notoriously corrupt absconder, Jam Sadiq Ali (brought back from exile by Ghulam Ishaq Khan to be his chief minister in Sindh). Jatoi survived Jam, but when Benazir Bhutto returned to power in autumn 1993 with her chief minister, Abdullah Shah, Jatoi, with multiple corruption cases filed against him, decided it was time to vamoose and boarded a dhow for Dubai. He lived there in style, in his chosen self-exile, until Benazir was dismissed for the second time. He has now been politically resurrected and rehabilitated by the white-washed Chaudhry Shujaat Husain and appointed minister.
The manufacturers and users in some cases have to pay excessively above what they would have otherwise had to pay. We, the buyers of the final product, have to suffer in silence - just one of the many misfortunes we must bear because of our government’s incompetence.
External debtsdropping but internal rising…
Debt crosses Rs1.7 trillion mark
http://www.dawn.com/2003/07/21/top7.htm
By Khaleeq Kiani
ISLAMABAD, July 20: Pakistan’s total outstanding domestic debt has crossed Rs1.787 trillion mark on May 31, 2003, up by about Rs70 billion, from Rs1.718 trillion in June 2002.
The rise in debt has taken place despite reduced interest rates and government’s claims that “accumulation of domestic debt has been brought to a stop” through fiscal discipline.
The latest data of the State Bank of Pakistan reveals that the total domestic debt by end of June 2001 had stood at Rs1.730 trillion but declined to Rs1.718 trillion in 2002.
A comparison of the three-year debt data indicates that permanent debt is increasing at a steady pace. It was slightly over Rs281 billion at the end of June 2001, but jumped to Rs368 billion in June 2002. It further rose to Rs395 billion on May 31, 2003.
The permanent domestic debt comprised medium and long term market loan, federal government loans, special government loans, federal instruments and prize bonds.
The floating domestic debt, mainly comprising short term treasury bills, is maintaining a declining trend. The floating domestic debt was recorded at Rs738 billion at the end of June 2001 but reduced to Rs558 billion by the end of June 2002 and further dropped to Rs508 billion on May 31, 2003.
The central bank figures suggest that unfunded domestic debt, comprising almost all deposits of the national saving schemes, continued to rise during the last three years.
The unfunded domestic debt stood at slightly over Rs712 billion on June 30, 2001. It increased to more than Rs792 billion a year later and went up further to Rs884 billion on May 31, 2003.
The figures further suggest that while defence savings have been on the rise from Rs265 billion in 2001 to Rs287 billion in 2002 and further to Rs306 billion in May 2003, the borrowing from National Defence Saving Schemes has been declining from Rs41 million in 2001 to Rs35 million in 2002 and further to Rs30 million in 2003.
The domestic debt raised through Special Saving Scheme has witnessed a significant increase during the last three years. It amounted to Rs173 billion in June 2001, and increased to Rs209 billion in June 2002 and touched Rs277 billion in May 2003.
The debt raised through regular income scheme and GP fund has remained almost static during the period.
The regular incomescheme stood at Rs179 billion in 2001 and increased to Rs190 billion in 2002 but dropped again to Rs176 billion in May 2003.
Similarly, GP fund collection amounted to Rs18.5 billion, Rs18.7 billion and Rs18.4 billion in 2001, 2002, and 2003, respectively.
The government has been saying all along that rising debt stock has serious implications for debt service obligations.
The domestic debt servicing in Pakistan consumed more than 66 per cent of total revenue, leaving very little fiscal space for development spending, social sector and physical infrastructure spending.
Domestic debt in Pakistan is categorized into permanent debt which is both medium and long-term, floating debt which is normally short-term and the unfunded debt which comprised almost all deposits of the National Saving Scheme. The domestic debt servicing cost is far higher than that of the foreign debt.
Time to move back!
This is like the dot com bubble. Watch how the bubble bursts when democrats in the US come to power OR when as usual US puts sanctions back on Pakistan to apphease Israel/India...OR whenever Pakistan is no more useful to the USA as a resource in that region. I just came back from there and its the same old Pakistan as I left it 17 yrs back, its probably gotten worse. The economic prosperity is only on papers. The lives of the poor is still pathetic, the middle class has almost vanished and the rich have gotten richer.
KSE index crosses 4000 points
**News Analysis: Index crosses 4,000 points — Has the KSE gone overboard?
**
By Naween A Mangi
KARACHI: The KSE-100 index hurtled past the unchartered 4,000 points level Friday, leaving brokers and investors struggling to catch their breath. After all, the ride to this record has been relentless.
The driving factors remain the same. Low interest rates have shred rates of return all across the economy. Bank deposit rates now barely cover the cost of inflation and even the coveted national savings schemes no longer return what they once did. Meantime, stocks have been yielding double-digit returns and liquidity has gushed into equities. Then, the privatization story has fueled investors. Expectations that big guns PTCL and PSO will soon be handed over to private companies has kept them hot at the buying counters.
Of course the corporate earnings season which has just begun has also added its share of zing to the bourse. Companies are reporting strong growth and PTCL, Hubco and PSO are poised to jack up the market further when they post fat dividend payouts in the days ahead. Add to that the sure-fire insider trading that goes with the earnings period and that’s a handful more of points lumped onto the index.
But the question now is, is this too much too soon?
First, the good news.
It can no longer be denied that this bull run has been based on widespread rather than thickly concentrated buying, which was the norm of the past. Brokers report record numbers of accounts being opened by individual investors. One major broker says he’s doubled his entire client base in just the last three months. Another says more clients are lining up everyday than he has staff to handle.
The trouble is, it can also not be denied that while the rally rose briskly but steadily in its early phase, in the past two months or so, it has charged violently. And with that, the level of speculative activity has multiplied. Consider the numbers. The KSE-100 index has risen 49 percent since the January 1 level of 2,701 points. But it has climbed 38 percent since May 1 alone. Even more worryingly, the rally since July 1 has taken the index up 18 percent in just 30 days. At the same time, while blue-chips like PTCL and PSO have chugged up a decent 25 percent and 33 percent respectively, second-tier stocks have surged. DG Khan Cement, for example, has gained 175 percent in value since Jan 1. Speculative activity is also evident in the fact that although the dividend yield being offered by the KSE-100 has fallen from an average topping 12 percent to just 6.47 percent as prices have risen, the pace of the index rising has quickened rather than slowed. Indeed it often seems like the buying fever is unrelated to yields at all; after all Hubco, which offers one of the highest dividend yields at 18.6 percent has not changed in value since the beginning of the year.
Analysts point out that it’s a welcome sign if an index tests a certain level before breaking it. When the KSE-100 broke 3,000 points, it did so after coming up against it a good four or five times. But the race for 4,000 has been unremitting.
As the seasoned investor will tell you, markets crash just as fast as they soar and so despite the bullish investment calls being splashed across every report being churned out, there is always a potential downside. If the interest rates trend is reserved, stocks will be the first to be hit. And if the government’s stability falters, equity prices will be the first to tumble.
But clearly, the bulls aren’t letting up. Indeed, it’s a tough call to find a skeptic at the KSE. Broker and market mover Aqeel Karim Dhedhi, for example, has his sights and his money on 5,000 points. Similarly, a research report released by brokerage house Eastern Capital screams a target of 5,684 points. Happily, some big names like broker Arif Habib are taking a refreshingly more sedate view saying that “if the market maintains the 4,000 level, that will be quite some achievement.”
But perhaps investors with lighter pockets need a stronger dose of caution. The volatile badla market for share financing isn’t exactly sounding alarm bells yet. But with total investment topping Rs 17 billion and the annualized average rate hitting 16 percent, holding back some couldn’t hurt anyone. And if a correction could shave some 300 points of this galloping index, and it could first consolidate at 4,000 points, the ride towards 5,000 would likely be a lot more convincing and a lot less shaky.
Daily Times - All Rights Reserved
source: KSE index crosses 4000 points
Pakistani economy reaches new heights
Pakistan’s key bourse on dazzling growth path
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - **Pakistan’s Karachi Stock Exchange – the world’s unlikely top performer of last year – has surged to new heights in 2003, recording a dazzling 60 percent rise since January.
Current market capitalisation stands at an unprecedented 16 billion dollars, with an average daily turnover of 284.4 million shares worth an average 12.2 billion rupees (210 million dollars).**
The benchmark KSE-100 index, which closed at 4,142.46 points on Friday, has seen a rally of around 2,000 points in the past 12 months.
Most market watchers attributed the KSE-100’s growth to strong macro-economic performance, high liquidity, low interest rates, a steady flow of remittances from overseas Pakistanis and a paucity of other investment opportunities.
Sakib Sheerani, chief economist at ABN-Amro bank, saw a pent-up correction waiting to happen since stocks nosedived in the wake of May 1998 nuclear tests, conducted in response to atomic tests by rival India.
“The growth potential was enormous after the nuclear explosions and there was a huge vacuum waiting to be filled,” Sheerani told AFP.
“High remittance, excessive liquidity and low interest rates have really boosted investors’ confidence.”
Energy and telecom sectors accounted for 80 percent of investment, Sheerani said.
Arshad Arif, head of research at KASB Securities, called KSE’s growth phenomenon “strange.”
“This market is paying dividends of up to seven to eight percent, which is higher than any other area could offer,” he told AFP.
Most world markets underwent a correction after gaining 20 to 25 percent, Arif said.
“But in KSE’s case, exceptional liquidity and external assistance has catapulted it to an uninterrupted gain of more than 60 percent.”
A crash in the near future was not on the horizon, he insisted.
“Rather, I would say it still has potential to return a 20 to 25 percent dividend yield because public participation in the market still has a lot of room to improve.”
Foreign investors remain wary and have so far kept their distance from the KSE’s skyrocketing climb.
KSE managing director Moin Fudda, however, was confident that foreign fund managers were showing renewed interest in the market.
“The market is buoyed by liquidity … and there are signs that foreign profiles are watching with interest,” he said.
Fudda pointed out that over the last two months 500 of the 702 listed companies had rallied.
Pakistan’s economy grew 4.6 percent in the fiscal year to June 30, according to the state bank, marginally higher than the government target of 4.5 percent.
Inflation over the past fiscal year was contained to 3.3 percent, while interest rates averaged 7.0 percent.
Source: Yahoo News: Latest and Breaking News, Headlines, Live Updates, and More
Things like these make me feel real proud of our great country…