The profit after tax of Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) has increased to Rs 59.177 billion in the financial year ended June 30, 2010 (FY10) as compared to Rs 55.539 billion earned in FY09. The company's earning per share increased to Rs 13.76 in the period under review against Rs 12.91 in the same period a year back. The board of directors of the company in its meeting held on Thursday at Islamabad approved final cash dividend for the year at Rs 1.50 per share, ie 15 percent.

Chief Co-ordinator of CM Ramzan Package, Haji Muhammad Nawaz has said the Punjab government earmarked Rs 2 billion to provide subsidised food items to the people during Ramazan. He further said that now it was the responsibility of the concerned departments and officials to make joint efforts so that people could get benefits out of this public welfare programme.

"Pakistan is the third largest cotton producing country but its share of $3.90 billion is just one percent of global garments trade of $361 billion and its ranking in exports of garments and apparel is 12th in the world," said Bilal Mulla, former Chairman PRGMEA in a chat with Business Recorder ."Pakistan can increase its exports manifold if the government ensures level playing field to entrepreneurs and improves infrastructure," he added. Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) has urged the government to give consideration to the following recommendations to enhance exports of value added textiles: (i) ensure availability of yarn to domestic value added garments and apparel industry; (ii) minimum export of basic raw material such raw-cotton and yarn; (iii) building of proper infrastructure; (iv) consistency in policies with regard to exports and garments trade; (v) uninterrupted supply of gas, water and power; (vi) skilled manpower; (vii) market access to EU and USA GSP Plus; (viii) law and order; (ix) low interest rate; and (x) easy visa regime for developed countries for Pakistani exporters. Responding to a question, he said that the government must take PRGMEA on board before finalisation of new Industrial Policy.

Pakistan, Asia's third-largest wheat producer, harvested 23.80 million tonnes of wheat in the 2009/10 crop, as well as a carryover stock of 4.22 million tonnes, and was expected to export this year after a ban on exports last year. Pakistan, the world's fourth biggest cotton producer, has also seen that commodity hit hard, with up to 2 million bales of destroyed, industry officials said, out of an expected crop of 14 million bales in the 2010/11 season. Pakistan, which produced about 12.7 million 170 kg bales last year, often has to turn to imports to feed its textile sector, which accounts for about 60 percent of its exports. The country imported about 2 million bales in the 2009/10 financial year that ended in June.

The country has suffered a loss of about Rs250 billion in the agricultural and livestock sectors and the flood recovery costs may run into billions of dollars, local experts and a UN spokesman said on Thursday. The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Nazar Mohammad Gondal, said: “It is difficult to give an exact figure, but I agree that the loss of agriculture and livestock runs into billions of rupees.” Over 100,000 cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep, horses, camels and donkeys have been lost and 3,000 fish farms and 2,000 poultry farms destroyed across the country. “According to an estimate, the loss of cotton crop is of about Rs155 billion,” Mr Saleem said. In Punjab alone, a cotton growing area of about one million acres had been affected and crops worth Rs86 billion destroyed, he said. “The whole agricultural belt that includes Jhang, Bhakkar, Rajanpur, Rahimyar Khan and Layyah has been inundated.” Sindh has lost standing crops worth Rs95 billion over 100,000 acres. Cotton and rice are the major crops destroyed by the floods. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, over 325,000 acres have been submerged and crops worth Rs29.6 billion destroyed. Mr Mughal said over one million tons of wheat stock kept in houses had been swept away.

“NDMA’s distribution of relief goods is not equitable and the province has received aid not commensurate with the losses it has suffered. The United Nations and other donor agencies say that 95 per cent of the damage has taken place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while the NDMA is sending relief goods to areas where magnitude of devastation is comparatively small,” Mian Iftikhar told Dawn on Thursday.

The report is another blow to the BISP, as according to the government’s own survey 60 per cent beneficiaries of the programme’s cash transfers in 16 districts were not very poor. International donors have already objected to the distribution of billions of rupees through selection of people by elected politicians. During the last financial year ended June 30, the BISP Secretariat could only disburse Rs40 billion among the poor despite an allocation of Rs70 billion due to capacity constraints.

According to the IMF assessment, Pakistan’s dependence on getting Rs42 billion or $500 million external financing by floating a Euro Bond was risky, so the maximum sure-fire budget financing was only for 3.5 per cent deficit. The IMF was of the view that because of Greece debt crisis, international investors would be wary of investing in Pakistan’s bond.

The government has announced that during the current financial year, the gap between its income and expenditure would remain at Rs685 billion, or 4 per cent of the total size of the economy. It has estimated that it needs to borrow Rs186 billion from external sources and Rs499 billion from domestic sources to plug the gap. The deficit target too was pegged on the assumption that the provinces would generate upwards of Rs167 billion. The government also missed last year’s budget deficit target by a wide margin. The IMF concern was that after failing to get external financing, the government would resort to state bank borrowing which was inflationary in nature. The IMF conveyed to the authorities that their performance was not up to the mark and that they have to deliver on promises before a meeting of the Executive Board of the Fund for the approval of the next tranche. So far, Pakistan has received $8.7 billion in loans out of the agreed upon $11.3 billion. The Fund would closely monitor the receipts and expenditures for the months of July and August and the implementation plans for levying the reformed GST.

A top government official told The Express Tribune on Tuesday that the finance ministry has proposed Rs280 billion for the federal PSDP for 2010-11. The final figure for the federal PSDP for this fiscal year (2009- 10) is Rs300 billion compared to initial estimates of Rs446 billion. There is always a significant gap between the money allocated for development schemes and that actually spent.

The National Economic Council (NEC) approved a development budget of Rs663 billion for the financial year 2010-11 on Friday. The growth rate during the current fiscal would be 4.1 percent while growth rate target for the next financial year had been fixed at 4.5 percent, he indicated. He informed that the federal PSDP volume for the current year was projected at Rs300 billion but only Rs235 billion could be released. With an increase of 25 per cent, Rs280 billion had been allocated for federal budget for the next fiscal year, he added. Likewise the provincial PSDP budget was projected at Rs294 billion for the current financial year but only Rs245 billion could be released, he pointed out.

Hafeez Sheikh said that out of total Rs663 billion more than half of it, Rs373 billion, will be spent by the provinces. The provinces’ current fiscal year budget was Rs294 billion but they only got Rs245 billion, he added. The Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) would get Rs280 billion while the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) would be given Rs10 billion during fiscal year 2011 out of the development budget, he added. For the current financial year the government had announced Rs646 billion for development but the actual expenditure would be Rs490 billion, showing a cut of almost one-fourth of the total allocations. Hafeez Sheikh said that the federal government allocated Rs446 billion for the current PSDP but due to scarcity of resources only Rs235 billion could be spent, showing a massive cut of almost half of the total allocation. For the coming financial year Rs280 billion have been allocated for PSDP, which is Rs166 billion less than this year’s development budget but still more than the actual amount spent this year. The government has allocated Rs136 billion for infrastructure sector, Rs134 billion for social sector and Rs10 billion for the production sector out of Rs280 billion PSDP budget. For the next financial year the education budget would be Rs5.2 billion, which is even less than the revised budget of the current financial year. Similarly, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) is expected to get Rs2.7 billion less than the current financial year as its budget has been fixed at Rs15.8 billion. The healthcare sector would get Rs18.2 billion, which is again less than the current fiscal year’s development budget.

According to the budget-in-brief document, the government has allocated Rs442.2 billion for defence, which is 16 per cent of the total federal budget. Foreign loans repayment, servicing of domestic debt and foreign debt will take up another Rs873 billion, amounting to almost one-third of the federal budget of Rs2.76 trillion. Servicing of the domestic debt has been allocated Rs621.8 billion, which is almost equal to the overall development budget of the next fiscal year. During this financial year the government spent Rs595 billion on servicing of the domestic debt. Interest on external debt is expected to cost the government Rs76.7 billion as compared to Rs70.7 billion on servicing of the external debt for this fiscal year. Repayments of foreign loans have been allocated Rs174.4 billion.

However, the allocation in PSDP 2010-11 for provinces will likely be enhanced to Rs320 billion, a major hike of 60 per cent in comparison to last year’s allocation of Rs200 billion.