Boss Gen Kayani Sahib...

File photo of Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani. PHOTO: REUTERS

ISLAMABAD: Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani on Saturday said the army supports the government’s policy of dialogue with the Taliban to end the insurgency wracking the country.

The main political parties last month backed a government proposal to seek negotiations with the militants, who have been waging a bloody insurgency against the state since 2007.

But the umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) faction, a loose coalition of militant groups led by Hakimullah Mehsud since 2009, responded with a list of preconditions.

These included a government ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from the tribal areas along the Afghan border where the militants have hideouts.

“The national leadership has decided to give dialogue a chance to deal with the issue of terrorism and Pakistan army fully supports this process,” Kayani said while addressing a passing out parade of cadets in Abbottabad.

“The nation and the political leadership have to determine the parameters for holding such a dialogue… this process should bring unity among the nation instead of leading to a division,” he said.

During the televised address at the Pakistan Military Academy, the general said it was essential to find a solution to terrorism which he described as negating the basic ideology of the nation and the teachings of Islam.

“The military will be more than happy if a solution to the problem is found through dialogue,” he said, adding that the use of force would be the last option.

Kayani, who is retiring from his post next month at the end of a second tenure as army chief, dismissed speculations that the failure of counter-insurgency operations forced the military to go for dialogue.

“This is far from being a truth,” he said, pointing to the successful 2009 military operations in the northwestern town of Swat, which was cleansed of terrorists within four months.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said his government was sincere about holding peace talks with the Taliban, after rebel chief Mehsud complained that no serious steps had been taken to open a dialogue.

Speaking after a security meeting in Peshawar, Sharif said progress was being made on the issue of opening negotiations.

His statement came a day after the broadcast of a BBC interview in which Mehsud said he was ready to sit down for talks but the government had “not taken any serious steps”.

Shrinking coffers: Govt strives to arrange funds for urea import

The Ministry of Industries and Production proposed that the ECC might allow the Trading Corporation of Pakistan to import 500,000 tons of urea – 300,000 tons in November and 200,000 tons in December. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: 

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of cabinet has asked the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) to seek loans for import of urea in the current Rabi sowing season as heavy overall imports have put a strain on the government’s foreign currency reserves.

In a meeting held on October 2, the ECC agreed that there was an immediate need to import urea for planting crops and allowed purchase of 500,000 tons for the Rabi season, which runs from October to March. However, it suggested that avenues of financing should be explored to meet the cost of import, sources say.

“For this, the EAD should make necessary efforts in coordination with the Ministry of Industries and Production and the Finance Division,” a source quoted the ECC as saying.

The ECC also felt the need for regular supply of gas to fertiliser producing plants according to their quota in order to ensure optimum production and supply and avoid shortage of fertiliser in the sowing season.

Earlier in the meeting, the Ministry of Industries and Production proposed that the ECC might allow the Trading Corporation of Pakistan to import 500,000 tons of urea – 300,000 tons in November and 200,000 tons in December – from the international market.

The ministry also asked the ECC to direct the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to make sure that gas was supplied to all urea producing units in winter, a period when gap between demand and supply of gas widens significantly.

The meeting participants discussed that Pakistan would face urea shortage in the Rabi season and this would possibly be felt by December when demand would hit its peak.

According to the Ministry of Industries, provinces in a meeting held in September had given an estimate that they would need 3.211 million tons of urea in the sowing season.

Punjab will require 2.130 million tons, Sindh 677,000 tons, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 254,000 tons and Balochistan 150,000 tons.

Giving the expected gas supply schedule for fertiliser plants, a meeting participant said domestic urea production was 587,000 tons per month with 100% gas supply. In case of gas shortage, the urea production came down to 376,000 tons per month.

Sales of locally assembled cars rebound, rise 7.5%

The govt had reduced the age-limit of used cars from five years to three years. Since then, a gradual decrease in used car imports has been helping sales of locally assembled vehicles. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: 

The sales of locally assembled vehicles (including LCVs, vans and jeeps) jumped 7.5% – a healthy increase – to 32,841 units from 30,541 units during the first quarter of the fiscal year 2013-14 compared to the same period of last year.

In September alone, sales volumes remained stable, clocking in 1% higher at 11,166 units from last month, and 15% compared to the corresponding month of 2012.

Analysts believe the sales of locally assembled cars will improve in the coming months due to lower influx of imports of second-hand Japanese cars. The government had reduced the age-limit of used cars from five years to three years in December 2012. Since then, a gradual decrease in used cars imports was helping the sales of locally assembled vehicles.

However, local assemblers say that they do not see much improvement in sales going forward into fiscal 2014.

Amongst individual companies, Pak Suzuki sales during the increased 1.7% to 17,966 units, against 17,659 units sold in the same period of last year.

However, sales surged 5.1% to 6,287 units in September alone compared to August, and 4.1% when compared to September 2012.

In the first quarter of fiscal 2014, sales of Indus Motor Company improved 1.4% to 8,419 units over the last fiscal’s first quarter. Indus Motor’s flagship automobile Corolla’s sales were up 1.1% to 7,109 units in the quarter from 7,032 units in the corresponding quarter of fiscal 2013.

However, Indus Motor’s sales have been on a decline, and keeping up with the trend in September alone, sales fell 11% to 2,602 units against 2,923 units sold in August.

Maintaining previous month’s record, Atlas Honda car sales surged 43% to 6,304 units in the first quarter of fiscal 2014 compared to the same period of last year, mainly due to sales of the new civic model.

In the quarter, sales of civic increased 87%, while city sales rose 20%. The massive growth in sales of the civic is attributable to the launch of the newer model.

Bumpy road ahead: IMF puts financing requirement at Rs9t

The IMF said that in the current fiscal year Pakistan will need an amount equal to 29.9% of its GDP (Rs7.6 trillion) to pay off its maturing debt, 17.2% higher than last year’s requirement. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: 

Contrary to the government’s claim of reducing the country’s total debt this year as required by law, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that there will be a net accumulation of debt, as Pakistan’s total financing requirements are predicted to balloon to an alarming Rs9 trillion this year.

In terms of percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Pakistan’s total financing requirements were second only to Egypt among emerging markets, according to the Fiscal Monitor report that the IMF has released on sidelines of its annual meetings being held in Washington.

The report stated that Pakistan’s total debt will increase to 64.1% of its total estimated size of the economy in the current fiscal year 2013-14. This will be higher than the debt level of 63.4% of the GDP in the previous fiscal year ended on June 30.

Under the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limited Act of 2005, the government has to restrict the total national debt to 60% of the GDP. Besides, if the debt level is above 60% of the GDP, it has to be brought down by 2.5% of the GDP each year.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had promised at the time of the budget that his government will reduce the debt burden by 2% of the GDP this year, despite taking fresh loans from the IMF and other international lenders.

The IMF has also put question marks over the policy of retaining the debt limit at 60% of the GDP, terming the debt limit too high for a developing country like Pakistan that remains vulnerable to balance of payments crises and also faces problems of financing its expenditures.

The IMF further said that Pakistan’s gross national debt will increase to 66.6% of the GDP from last year’s level of 66.2%.

Another worrisome element that the IMF highlighted in its report is increasing total financing needs of the country, reflecting the maturity of short-term debt and higher budget deficits. The report noted that Pakistan’s total financing needs will increase to 35.4% of the GDP, or almost Rs9 trillion. In the previous fiscal year, total financing needs stood at 34% of GDP.

The IMF said that in the current fiscal year Pakistan will need an amount equal to 29.9% of its GDP (Rs7.6 trillion) to pay off its maturing debt, 17.2 % higher than last year’s requirements.

Maturing short-term debt is also increasing the cost of borrowing that has already crossed the Rs1 trillion thresholds− the single largest expense on the budget followed by defence spending.

Expecting the federal government to be in a desperate position, domestic banks have long been refusing to provide long-term debt to the federal government, which many saw as an administrative weakness of the finance ministry.

The IMF said that gross financing needs are set to rise in emerging market economies this year relative to previous projections, mainly driven by higher levels of maturing debt. Countries with particularly large (exceeding 20% of the GDP) debt requirements are Egypt, Jordan, Hungary, and Pakistan, reflecting short maturities and high deficits, according to the IMF.

The IMF said that these countries have high levels of deficit, debt and large gross financing needs, are exposed to shocks and swings in market sentiment and thus must take early decisive steps to safeguard against adverse debt dynamics and bolster credibility.

Helping hand: Govt urges financiers to support development projects

Enhanced regional connectivity through regional transit and economic corridor between Pakistan and China is being pursued aggressively. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal urged developing partners, World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Department for International Development (DFID) to collaborate with Pakistan in carrying forward the agenda for regional connectivity for improving trade and economic growth.

Speaking at the meeting of the development partners over regional integration, he reiterated that Pakistan had been pushed towards a severe economic crisis because of being a frontline state in the war against terror as it had paid a heavy human and economic cost. Hence, Pakistan alone would not be able to afford huge burden of its development needs and restructuring the economy, the minister added.

However, the minister still appreciated the role and contribution of development partners in the economic growth of Pakistan over the years. Still he asked for further support of the development partners to push the agenda of regional connectivity for improved trade and growth.

Iqbal highlighted that Pakistan was a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), Economic Cooperation Organisation (Eco), Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (Carec), and actively participated in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), however he admitted that Pakistan had not utilised the benefits in a significant way.

Iqbal went on to say that the failure to develop infrastructure and protocols for large-scale overland trade and streamline the trade structure, together with the absence of comparative advantage in the capital intensive and high value-added products were some of the reasons for Pakistan’s failure in taking advantage of the potential in regional trade. He suggested that trade complementarities could be developed in the region only if the regional counterparts were able to achieve vertical specialisation through production-sharing arrangements. Therefore, enhanced regional connectivity through establishment of regional transit and economic corridor between Pakistan and China was being pursued aggressively by the government, he added.

At the occasion, the planning minister also discussed the future plans of the government, saying that the incumbent government had started preparing documents of Vision 2025 and the 11th five-year plan 2013-18, which will be finalised by the end of the year. He reassured the development partners that regional integration was an important element of the government’s vision.

Iqbal was of the view that the economic corridor project with China would be a milestone project, and transform the region by bringing in trade and job opportunities for all of people in the region. Regional connectivity projects in the fields of rail, road, energy and telecommunication were already being pursued by the government.

“Pakistan appreciates the support of its development partners; however, our strategy is to increasingly rely on local resources by focusing on tax reforms, promoting investment and exports.

LG reveals G Pro Lite phablet with 5.5-inch display

LG's new G Pro Lite.
(Credit: LG Electronics)

LG has given birth to a baby brother for its LG G Pro phablet.

Dubbed the G Pro Lite, the new device is outfitted with a 5.5-inch screen but otherwise lacks some of the more robust features found in the full Pro model. The display offers a resolution of just 960x540 pixels, compared with the 1,920x1,080 pixels offered in the Pro edition.

The G Pro Lite comes with a 1.0 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage. An 8-megapixel camera is on the rear, while a 1.3-megapixel shooter is on the front. The 3,140 mAh battery is removable.

But cellular speed is limited to 3G, whereas the full Pro model supports 4G LTE. Outfitted with AndroidJelly Bean 4.1.2, the G Pro Lite will come in both black and white.

The phone does offer other useful features, including a stylus pen and stereo speakers. A dual SIM slot comes with its own hot key to let users easily switch between the two SIM cards.

The LG G Pro Lite is slated to debut this month in Latin America followed by launches in Asia, Russia, China, India, and the Middle East. LG didn't reveal the price or whether the phone will launch in the US. Thefull Pro model sells in the US through AT&T for US$199.99 with the standard two-year contract.

Wind power project: Sindh govt inks MoU with Turkey

Government of Sindh and STFA Yatirim Holding, a Turkish company signed an MoU on Friday for implementation of a wind power project. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: 

The government of Sindh and STFA Yatirim Holding, a Turkish company signed an MoU on Friday for implementation of a wind power project.

The Secretary Energy, Sindh, Agha Wasif Abbas signed the MOU with Project Development Director, STFA, Mehmet Orhan.

Sindh CM, Syed Qaim Ali Shah while speaking on the occasion said that Sindh was the only province blessed with powerful wind corridor in Pakistan. However he stressed the need of implementation on the project at the earliest to benefit the people of Sindh. Shah said that Turkish businessmen take keen interest towards investment in Pakistan, as they enjoy good relations with government and private sector.