Pakistan”s forex reserves rise to $16.70 bln

KARACHI: Pakistan”s foreign exchange reserves rose to $16.70 billion in the week ending July 16, from $16.63 billion a week ago, the central bank said on Thursday.

Reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rose to $12.86 billion from $12.82 billion a week earlier, while those held by commercial banks rose to $3.84 billion from $3.81billion, said Syed Wasimuddin, the SBP”s chief spokesman.

Pakistan”s forex reserves rose to a record high of $16.77 billion in the week ending July 2, thanks to foreign inflows worth $750 million received during the week.

The previous record high was $16.45 billion in October 2007.

In May, Pakistan received $1.13 billion, the fifth tranche of a $10.66 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan.

The IMF loan package was agreed to in November 2008 to help avert a balance-of-payments crisis and shore up reserves.

Stocks witness volatility at KSE

KARACHI: Local equities ended flat on Thursday amid light trading as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the anticipated monetary policy, due to be announced on July 30, dealers said.

The Karachi Stock Exchange”s benchmark 100-share index, fell 0.05 percent, or 5.17 points, to end at 10,228.86 points.

Volume fell to 60.22 million shares, compared with 118.68million shares traded on Wednesday.

Dealers speculated that the light trading was because the government rejected all bids for the Pakistan Investment Bondat an auction on Wednesday as the cut-off yields for the bids received were much higher.

“The market seemed confused about the rejection of the auction with most analysts trying to look for answers and its likely investors will stay on the sidelines until the announcement of the monetary policy,” said Asad Iqbal, chief investment officer at Faysal Asset Management Ltd.

PSM CEO defends dealers, asks FIA to stop ”victimization”

KARACHI: Imtiaz AK Lodhi, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) has defended the corporation’s dealers and asked the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) to stop ”victimizing” them, Geo News reported.

In an exclusive interview with Geo News, the CEO of country’s largest steel maker said the major loss; Rs 19 billion out of Rs 22 billion, incurred to the PSM was due to decades old raw material purchasing procedure being used by the corporation.

He pointed out that no embezzlement has been unearthed in sale of products, adding that due to purchasing raw material at higher prices the steel maker suffered huge losses.

The PSM has not issued any notices to its dealers for dues recovery, he said. He also cited increase in salaries as one of the reason behind the PSM’s collapse.

We have initiated an advanced indigenisation project. Under this project our engineers, geologists and experts have started extracting raw material (iron ore) from three of our captive mines,” said Imtiaz AK Lodhi.

We have received Rs three billion out of Rs 25 billion bailout package before June, while Rs 6.60 billion were expected soon, the CEO said.

To a question he replied that the National Bank led consortium would lend Rs 7.60 billion to the Mills.

He mentioned that the talks were underway with Russia for the expansion and a Memorandum of Understanding would be signed during President Zardari’s visit to Russia.

Flour mills strike enters fourth day in Quetta

QUETTA: Flour mills strike entered fourth day on Sunday across Balochistan including Quetta, as Flour Mills Association announced that the protest will continue till fulfillment of demands.

According to the Association, the flour mills have been shut to protest against the decision of a ban on movement of flour.

The Association said wheat is abundantly available in the country but the people of Balochistan are being prevented from reaping the benefits of a bumper crop by putting a ban on the movement of the commodity.

Millions flock to remember Bosnia massacre

SREBRENICA, Bosnia-Hercegovina: Tens of thousands of people gathered Sunday to commemorate the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of nearly 8,000 Muslims by Bosnian Serbs and bury 775 newly identified victims.

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Millions flock to remember Bosnia massacre

Flour shortage feared as millers continue strike

LAHORE: People faced acute shortage of flour in Sunday markets as the Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) continued the strike in favour of their demands on the fourth consecutive day, ARY NEW reports Sunday.

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Flour shortage feared as millers continue strike

Priyadarshan comes to Akshay’s rescue

MUMBAI: Some duos just spell magic at the box office and one such is the teaming of comic ace director Priyadarshan and the actor with impeccable comic timing Akshay Kumar.

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Priyadarshan comes to Akshay’s rescue

SC rejects FIA report in Steel Mills case

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has rejected the FIA report in Pakistan Steel Mills corruption case.

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SC rejects FIA report in Steel Mills case

Imran Khan becomes the new Mills & Boons hero

Remember the perfect plot of all the Mills and Boons books that girls have literally grown up reading? The one where the good looking guy, a complete cynic on the subject of love, finds a hopeless romantic girl and ironically falls in love with her. It was believed to be the perfect dope for the readers of mushy novels.

No wonder then, that the publishing house saw potential in the Dharma Production’s next I Hate Luv Storys as they felt that Imran’s character in the film fits the M&B prototype to the T.

The publishing house Harlequin Mills & Boon and Dharma Productions have therefore tied up to come up with a special series of eight books. The books will have the cover of I Hate Luv Storys and will have the story of the characters of the film where Imran is the typical non believer of love.

Seems like a lot many young girls are going to sleep, dreaming about this new burgeoning Khan.

APTMA calls off strike after meeting Gilani

LAHORE: All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) here on Sunday announced call off two-day strike in a week after holding a meeting with the Prime Minister.

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APTMA calls off strike after meeting Gilani

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