China pledges another $200m in flood aid

BEIJING: China is to give another $200 million in emergency flood aid to Pakistan, Premier Wen Jiabao announced during a visit to New York for a UN anti-poverty summit.

The announcement comes a month after Beijing faced sharp criticism of its relief pledges from Washington’s pointman on Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, who called on Islamabad’s close ally to “step up to the plate” and do more to help.

“I wish to take this opportunity to announce that China will, on top of the pledged assistance, provide another $200 million of assistance to Pakistan,” Wen said. China had previously offered about $47 million in aid to Pakistan following the devastating floods, which UN agencies say affected 21 million people and left 12 million in need of emergency food aid.

Torrential rain began falling in northern Pakistan in July and the floods have since moved slowly south,

Oil falls to $82 on high U.S. stockpiles

SINGAPORE: Oil prices fell toward $82 a barrel on Wednesday, extending the steepest one-day percentage loss in three months in the previous session, on rising oil inventories and a firm dollar.

The dollar surged to fresh one-year highs against the euro on Wednesday, as a sell-off in the euro gathered momentum, with sentiment decidedly bearish as fears about contagion in the euro zone gripped investors. The dollar rose 0.27 percent against a basket of currencies.

NYMEX crude for June delivery fell 37 cents to $82.37 a barrel by 0215 GMT.

The contract dropped $3.45, or 4 percent, to settle at $82.74 a barrel on Tuesday. In post-settlement trading, it ended electronic trading at $82.07, down $4.15 or 4.78 percent, the largest one-day percentage loss since the 4.99 percent slide on February 4.

London Brent crude slid 45 cents to $85.22 a barrel.

“The main influences now are the rise in the dollar, the sovereign concerns in the euro zone spreading into Portugal and Spain. I think a pretty important factor though going forward is that build in oil stocks in the United States,” said Ben Westmore, an analyst at National Australia Bank.

“The price at those low $80s per barrel sort of mark is consistent with the market fundamental alone. I would expect oil price to track around low $80s for the rest of the week.”

Crude oil inventories at the key storage hub at Cushing, Oklahoma, rose by 1.7 million barrels to a record high of 36.3 million barrels, according to data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute (API).

Overall, U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 3 million barrels in the week to April 30, API data showed, versus analyst expectations of a 1.1 million barrel rise in the latest poll by a UK-based news agency.

Gasoline stocks rose by 1.5 million barrels last week, more than the expected rise of 200,000 barrels, according to analyst estimates.

Distillates including heating oil and diesel rose by 1.4 million barrels, versus expectations of a 1.7 million barrel rise.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration”s report is set to arrive on Wednesday at 1400 GMT.

Crude oil prices have not been seriously impacted so far from a giant oil spill off the U.S. Gulf Coast.

A flotilla of nearly 200 boats tackled a massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, taking advantage of calm weather to intensify containment efforts while a scientist warned that a powerful current could carry the crude to Miami and points beyond.

Losses revealed in annual customs duty

ISLAMABAD: Advisor of Finance Ministry Saqib Sherani said government has suffered losses of Rs. 200 million each year in recovery of customs duty due to loopholes in the system.

Addressing a seminar on budget proposals, Saqib said government is going to impose Value Added Tax (VAT) to increase tax, however, the VAT will not be implemented on medicines and edible items. He said only five percent VAT will be imposed on some items where 15 percent on remaining items. Government has prepared a list of 800,000 people with lavishing life style but not paying taxes. The proposals of VAT will be finalized within coming few days, he added.

Fourteen Hours Of Load Shedding Announced In Balochistan

QUETTA PAKISTAN : Fourteen hours of load shedding has been announced in various rural areas of a Balochistan province.

According to the report, KESCO Chief Shafiq Khattak said fourteen hours load shedding will be carried out in various rural areas of Balochistan.

He said KESCO was facing 858MW power shortfall and it required 1200MW power. Explosions of power transmission tower for the last three years have caused loss of Rs 200 million, he added.

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Fourteen Hours Of Load Shedding Announced In Balochistan was first posted on March 19, 2010 at 3:12 pm.
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