DAWN WIRE SERVICE
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Week Ending 07 December 1995 Issue 01/48
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The DAWN Wire Service (DWS) is a free weekly news-service from
Pakistan's largest English language newspaper, the daily DAWN. DWS
offers news, analysis and features of particular interest to the
Pakistani Community on the Internet.
Dr. Altamash Kamal - Coordinator
e-mail dws%dawn%khi@sdnpk.undp.org
dws@dawn.khi.erum.com.pk
fax +92(21) 568-3188 & 568-3801
mail Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.) Limited
DAWN Group of Newspapers
Haroon House, Karachi 74400, Pakistan
(c) Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.) Ltd., Pakistan - 1995
Karachi carnage
..........Violence claims fourteen lives this week
..........Concern expressed at carnage forecast
..........MQM leader s brothers arrested
..........MQM s strike disrupts city life
..........Dehlavi for confidence building measures
..........MQM fears for worker s life
..........MQM seeks assurance on end to extra-judicial killings
..........Decision on arrests
..........MQM sends letter to govt with demands
..........MQM chief never talked of geographical change
Opposition
..........Shahbaz blames govt for economic situation
..........Nawaz renews demand for fresh poll
..........Nawaz warns govt of accountability when PML gets power
Ruling party
..........Benazir calls for evolving code of ethics for press
..........Politics of violence to be crushed, says PM
..........New Delhi helping terrorists Shah
..........Babar links bombing with extradition
..........Borrowing will be cut to budget limit
..........PM seeks report on bourses in 2 days
..........Bourse rescue plan presented to PM
..........Govt takes notice of Altaf s remark
..........People s uplift top priority, says Benazir
Prosecution may drop 45 cases against Nawaz
Murtaza vows to save PPP from split
Change of govt imminent, says Murtaza
Kharal accuses Nawaz of being RAW agent
Karachi crisis more economic than ethnic, says Burki
---------------------------------
PM allays fears over forex accounts
Rupee falls to record low
How real are the fears of bankruptcy
Govt encounters speculative report in home market
Loan decision on 13th IMF monitoring situation
Stocks stage broad recovery as index gains 47 points
No quick-fix solution to stock market slump
Investors make massive buying as volume soars to 22m
Upward drive on stock market intercepted
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Taquat ka nasha Ardeshir Cowasjee
An economy without crutches Sultan Ahmed
Who s in charge anyway? Mazdak
Devaluation of human life Omar Kureishi
Theft and transmission losses Editorial Column
Praying for Pakistan Hafizur Rahman
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Ijaz s unbeaten century lifts Pakistan batting
Aussies rule test cricket today
Waugh digs in as Pakistan s batting crumbles again
Pakistan takes lead in test but falter in 2nd inning
Sydney test set for tight finish
3rd test win World Cup tonic for Pakistan
Mushtaq emerges as political challenger
Jansher stretched but overcomes challenge
Eyles set up Qatar Open final clash with Jansher
Fourth successive Qatar Open crown for Jansher
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Violence claims Fourteen lives this week
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Fourteen people, including two MQM activist fell victim to violence.
Terrorists kidnapped and killed four men and arsonists burnt at least
seven public and private vehicles in the city and also set ablaze
several dozen telephone cables in Orangi, rendering thousands of
telephones unworkable. Some incidents are cited below
KARACHI, Dec. 1 An MQM activist, who was going on a motorcycle with
another friend, was shot dead by the police when they did not stop
their motorcycle on the orders of a police party. The victim was
identified as Naseeruddin Babu his companion fled the scene.
The Orangi Town police described Naseeruddin as a terrorist and
claimed he was killed in an encounter . SSP West was not available
for his comments.
TWO ARRESTED Police claimed it arrested two MQM activists after an
encounter in Paposhnagar and found two Kalashnikov rifles from their
possession. They were identified as Arshad and Wahid.
The police claimed that Arshad had set ablaze a Larkana-bound bus on
January 27, 1995 at Al Karam Square in which seven passengers were
burnt to death. About Wahidullah, the city police claimed that he is
an MQM unit chief and had allegedly committed 15 murders.
KARACHI, Nov. 2 Orangi, where the police shot dead MQM worker
Naseeruddin Babu, remained tense with sporadic incidents of shooting.
MQM women activists on Saturday brought out the funeral procession of
Naseeruddin Babu claiming that the rangers are not allowing men to
attend it.
An unidentified bullet-riddled body was found in Defence Phase-VII.
The victim could not be identified. This was the second body found in
Defence during the last two days.
The police suspect both the victims were killed somewhere else in the
city and later their bodies were thrown at the Qayyumabad drain in
Defence.
Public and private vehicles were set ablaze in Liquatabad, Orangi,
Korangi, Arambagh and at Nishtar Road.
KARACHI, Dec. 4 The worst incident occurred in Orangi Town where
three men, who had gone out in search of a missing relative were
kidnapped and killed.
Police said Mohammad Boota, Mian Khan and Bashir Ahmed, left their
Data Nagar house to search for Noor Mohammad who had not returned
home.
All three relatives were kidnapped and their bullet-riddled bodies
were found stuffed in gunny bags in Orangi. Their missing relative
Noor Mohammad was also found dead.
The charred body of an unidentified man, with his hands tied behind
the back, was found stuffed in a gunny bag in Gulshan-i-Iqbal. The
victim, according to doctors, was probably killed and later his body
was set ablaze.
KARACHI, Dec. 5 Wajid Ali Safdar, MQM Orangi Town unit chief, died in
a shootout with the police in Orangi his other companions escaped,
police claimed.
Father of Syed Mazahir Hussain, claimed that Wajid Ali was arrested
during a raid on his residence in North Karachi at 1 am on Tuesday and
was taken away by rangers and police in front of all the family
members.
The family claimed that the raiding party had given Wajid Ali a severe
beating before taking him away. Relatives claimed that his body had
marks of torture, and both legs were broken.
Party chief Altaf Hussain severely criticised Wajid s murder and
demanded an immediate action against those who were responsible for
it.
MQM leaders told Dawn that the family of Wajid Ali Safdar was forced
to abandon their Orangi house by a PPP activist who allegedly enjoyed
the backing of rangers and police.
They said two police constables, Murad and Ismail, had been frequently
visiting the family in North Karachi to know Wajid s whereabouts. On
Monday night when Wajid came to meet his family, the rangers
surrounded the apartment and arrested him, the MQM claimed.
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951202
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Concern expressed at carnage forecast
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, DEC 1 The MQM coordination committee has expressed its
concern over predictions which appeared in a section of press on
Friday regarding a planned carnage on DEC 16 in the city.
Horrifying news are part of disinformation unleashed by the
government to arrest and kill more people in the name of violence and
terrorism, the committee claimed.
It said Interior Minister Naseerullah Babar was on record having
predicted in a statement that the month of December would be very
important.
The committee alleged the Sindh government had embarked on a plan to
crush the urban population in the name of killing by Indian agents and
terrorists. It said deployment of thousands of law enforcers in the
city had exposed the government plan.
In another statement, coordination committee Convenor Senator Ishtiaq
Azhar condemned the killing of Naeem Ahmad, an MQM activist, who was
buried by women in Korangi as men were not allowed to offer his
funeral prayer and bury him .
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951202
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MQM leader s brothers arrested
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Dec. 1 The MQM fact-finding committee claimed on Friday that
a heavy contingent of rangers and police raided the house of Rauf
Siddiqui, Mohibban-i-Pakistan chief organiser, in Federal B Area on
Thursday night and arrested his brothers.
In a statement, the committee said Abdur Rahim Siddiqui, 54, Abdul
Aziz Siddiqui, 51, and Abdul Basit Siddiqui, 39, had nothing to do
with politics. They are federal government officials, it added.
The committee said the raiding party had come to arrest Zafar
Siddiqui, the younger brother of Rauf Siddiqui who was out of the
country for the last one-and-a-half-year.
The committee said the three were subjected to torture at the Gulberg
police station.
In a statement, MQM chief Altaf Hussain condemned the arrest of Rauf s
brothers and asked the President to intervene.
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951204
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MQM s strike disrupts city life
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Dec. 3 The MQM strike to protest the alleged high-handedness
of the security forces widely disrupted life in the city on Sunday.
The MQM gave a strike call against an incident in Korangi in which it
claimed rangers and police created such a situation which forced the
women mourners to bring out the funeral procession of party worker
Mohammad Naeem.
The Sindh government denied this and said men were also present in
large numbers.
The second similar funeral was brought out in Orangi on Saturday. A
spokesman for the Sindh police described both the incidents as a
publicity stunt by the MQM.
Sunday s strike remained peaceful except for a stray incident of
violence in which a man was shot and killed in Orangi while a private
car was set ablaze in Federal B Area.
The troubled localities of the city, where MQM supporters are in a
majority, remained shut throughout the day. Elsewhere in the city, the
strike was either partial or there were no signs of strike at all.
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951205
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Dehlavi for confidence building measures
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Dec. 4 Leader of the MQM negotiation team Ajmal Dehlavi, who
returned from London after having consultations with party chief Altaf
Hussain, said that confidence-building measures were must for holding
successful talks.
Asked whether Mr Hussain was satisfied with the pace of the talks, Mr
Dehlavi said When I am not convinced with the talks, how Altaf Bhai
can be satisfied. Before resumption of talks the government ought to
take such measures as can improve law and order situation and create
an atmosphere of confidence only then a political solution to the
Karachi crisis is possible.
His attention was drawn to Mr N.D. Khan s reported statement in which
he had said if the government s 21 points were accepted, it would lead
to restoration of peace and tranquillity in Karachi and the situation
of political deadlock would be overcome, the MQM team chief said this
statement was nothing but a repeated joke as nowhere in the world a
government had asked a political party to accept demands as it was
always the government which was at the giving end and not the
political party.
However, he said, he would be sending the reply of Mr Khan letter
tomorrow or day after tomorrow with the hope that the government would
take confidence-building measures before resumption of the talks.
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951205
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MQM fears for worker s life
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Dec. 4 The MQM feared that one of its workers, who was
arrested along with his two brothers in Kharadhar last month, will be
killed in a fake encounter by the Korangi police.
The MQM said Javed Raza, a member of Korangi sector committee, his
brothers, Khalid Raza and Arif Raza, were arrested on Nov. 1. Despite
the fact that the three were not wanted in any case they were kept in
various police stations. Finally, they were taken to the Korangi
police station, where Javed was booked in 17 cases and his brothers
were booked in two cases each, they said.
The MQM claimed that on Monday Javed was produced in a special
terrorist court by the Korangi police and after the hearing took him
with them. But the party claimed that till late Monday night Javed was
not brought back to the Korangi police station and feared that he
might be killed during a fake attack on a police party as had
happened earlier in the case of Faheem Farouqi and three other MQM
workers.
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951206
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MQM seeks assurance on end to extra-judicial killings
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Staff Correspondent
LONDON, Dec. 5 The Mohajir Qaumi Movement has asked for an
undertaking that extra judicial killings and other form of
brutalities of its supporters will be immediately stopped and the
diverse promises made to them during talks by the official negotiating
team would be actually implemented before they can agree to restart
the talks with the government.
In a letter addressed to the leader of the government negotiating
team, Mr N.D. Khan, the MQM chief negotiator, Ajmal Dehlavi, has also
pressed for a meaningful response to the points raised in his letter
of Cot 9 and for an environment of trust to be created to enable us
to feel that the administration is genuinely in search of a lasting
solution to the problems we have been discussing.
The MQM released the text of its letter sent today in reply to Mr
Khan s communication of Nov. 15, with copies of the previous
correspondence.
The MQM letter, sent recalls why the talks scheduled for Sept 26 could
not be held. The reason given was the death the previous day of two
MQM workers who were tortured by the law-enforcement agents. The MQM
negotiating team had in a letter on Sept 25 asked the government to
enquire into various incidents which they believed exhibited the worst
form of state terrorism against the Mohajir youths. The government
side replied on Oct. 5 but, according to the MQM, made patently false
and self-serving assertions and did not look into their complaints
afresh, objectively and with a compassionate approach .
The latest MQM communication is full of grievances that have been
raised in their previous correspondence with the government. It
accuses the government of adopting delaying tactics and being not
sincere to proceed with the negotiations . In its Oct. 9 letter to Mr
Khan, the MQM team had raised 11 specific points. They now say that
not even one of these points was dealt with by Mr Khan, showing that
there is not the slightest indication of any policy decision of the
government to realistically solve the crisis in urban Sindh.
While in their letter the MQM accuses the present administration for
being the most incompetent and corrupt and the present state of
economy has been mentioned. The persecution of the opposition and the
deprivation of the people of their civic vote by denying them
elections to local bodies are some of the other charges levelled. The
federal government is accused of flouting provincial autonomy. The
government s human rights record has been strongly criticised and the
killings of four MQM worker on Oct. 10 is cited as evidence to show
that such tragedies have become a frequent routine against which we
have constantly protested. The MQM team has rejected Mr Khan s
assertion that Altaf group was responsible for genocide of innocent
peoples. In the garb of search and siege operations the law
enforcement agencies, were guilty of larceny, plunder and other
violations. Some of these have been highlighted by human rights
organisations, including Amnesty International. Many political
leaders, including the Prime Minister s brother, have also criticised
the reckless use of state force in Karachi and southern Sindh.
The MQM team has claimed that the party s leadership has endeavoured
to keep the negotiating process going by calling off or postponing
protest strikes on a number of occasions to show their goodwill. But
the violence against the MQM supporters continued to show that the
government has not the slightest interest in the outcome of the
negotiations nor is it sincere in solving the present crisis which
threatens the fundamental security of the country.
The MQM has said they are willing to present their evidence about
extrajudicial killings by government agencies before any impartial
international judicial tribunal to test the validity of their
grievances and the government denials.
The letter makes it clear that there has not been the slightest
progress in their talks with the government. The government, the
letter said, has used the channel of conducting negotiations while
carrying the most cruel and brutal campaign against the MQM and the
Mohajir nation. The members of the negotiating team, it said, have
been subjected to severe restraints on their movement, and bogus
criminal cases have been registered against some of them.
The criticism levelled against the MQM of damaging Pakistan s image
abroad has been refused. The issue of the supply of lethal weapons to
government supporters raised by the MQM and denied by the government
is again taken up in the letter. The MQM said the government denial in
this respect is unbelievable and the government sponsorship of the
Haqiqi terrorists is well recognised .
The correspondence released consists of five letters, three from the
MQM and two from Mr Khan. The first letter is dated Sept 25 and is the
one in which the MQM negotiating team drew the attention of the two
killings and the detention of Ms Rais Fatima, Shazia Farooq and
several MQM MPAs. The talks scheduled for September 26 did not take
place as the MQM wanted the government to urgently deal with the
grievances they had raised in the letter.
The leader of the MQM negotiating team has emphasised that the
suspension of the round to talks is not because of any fault on his
party s side. He said Progress has not been made because of
continuous state of atrocities, including extrajudicial murders by law
enforcement agencies, that have prevented any meaningful dialogue
between the participants.
The peace that we all seek has alluded us because the pleas by the
MQM for a cessation of manifestly unlawful operations by the law
enforcement agencies of the state have been contemptuously ignored by
the government, the letter said.
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951207
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Decision on arrests
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Staff Correspondent
LONDON, Dec. 6 The MQM will review the situation as a result of the
latest round of arrests of its activists and supporters and the raids
and sieges held in Orangi Town, Karachi. If the present wave of
arrests and raids does not stop it will on Friday decide what course
of action to take. This was stated by Mr Altaf Hussain on Wednesday
who condemned the house-to-house search in Orangi and Korangi areas.
The MQM leader said the government in pursuance of its racist
policies was trying to destroy the rank and file of the MQM so that
it could eliminate its vote bank. He described the actions of the
government as undemocratic and an abuse of human rights.
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951207
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MQM sends letter to govt with demands
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ISLAMABAD, Dec. 6 The law minister and head of the government s
negotiation team Prof. N.D. Khan received the 13-page letter on
December 5. Commenting on the letter, the minister declared it a
delaying tactics. There is nothing new in the letter, all the old
demands have been repeated , he added.
The minister was of the view that first MQM should clarify its
position about the latest statement of Altaf Hussain in which Altaf
has threatened to change the geography of Pakistan and discuss the
matters relating to the national security which was a real concern,
said the minister.
The minister said that he was summoning the meeting of government s
negotiation team to discuss the letter and other relevant issues and
to evolve a strategy in the light of the behaviour of MQM team.
He reiterated that the talks were un-conditional from the beginning on
the very principle of give-and-take and at this stage it will be
unfair to attach any condition and this shows their intentions to
delay the talks as they are seeking favour for the persons who are
involved in unlawful activities , he claimed.
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951207
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MQM chief never talked of geographical change
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Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Dec. 6 MQM Senators Ishtiaq Azhar, Nasreen Jaleel and Aftab
Shaikh have condemned the attempts at misinterpretation of Altaf
Hussain s recent statement in London.
In a joint statement, they said The MQM chief had only talked about
the state error let loose against the Mohajirs in Sindh at a meeting.
He never talked against the solidarity and territorial integrity of
the country.
Now the vested interests and the government have started a
vilification campaign against the MQM chief and the Mohajirs by
calling stark lies, they said adding In fact, as far as the record
of dismembering the country is connected, it is the PPP which is
responsible for the 1971 tragedy.
This example is enough to prove who is against the territorial
integrity of the country.
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951201
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Shahbaz blames govt for economic situation
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Staff Correspondent
RAWALPINDI, Nov. 30 The Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab
Assembly, Mian Shahbaz Sharif accused the government for the current
economic situation of the country.
Shahbaz Sharif said that despite the fact that Benazir Bhutto has
tried to economically strangulate his family, deploying all the state
machinery at her command, his family was not talking about the damage
to the business since they were convinced that the salvation of all
Pakistanis lies in strengthening of the country.
He regretted that as a result of the disastrous economic and political
policies of Benazir Bhutto, even the PPP and the people of Pakistan
were being pushed towards poverty, backwardness, unemployment,
lawlessness and corruption.
Shahbaz Sharif said that even at this stage, it was not too late for
Benazir Bhutto to realise the gravity of the crises facing the country
and the only democratic solution to this crises was holding mid-term
elections so that Pakistan could be saved from further economic
damage.
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951202
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Nawaz renews demand for fresh poll
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Bureau Report
LAHORE, Dec. 1 Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif has reiterated his
demand for fresh elections and warned that in case the demand is not
met the political system may have to face some unpredictable
tragedy .
He said the opposition wanted the prime minister to set healthy
precedents. But, he said, she failed in all respects and plunged the
country into a crisis.
Because of her failures, he said, the people and the establishment
were not willing to tolerate the PPP government any more.
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951204
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Nawaz warns govt of accountability when PML gets power
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 3 Opposition leader Mian Nawaz Sharif on Sunday
threatened the ruling party with accountability for what he called
victimising workers and leaders of his party, when the PML came to
power.
Condemning the six-month imprisonment of women workers on the charges
of contempt of court last month, he said it was a slap on the face of
all women of the country by a woman prime minister. Nawaz Sharif will
not rest unless he forces the looters and plunderers of national
wealth to run, the opposition leader said.
He said two 70-year-old women were also included among the workers
recently sentenced. The government, he added, had shifted them to
Multan jail just to torture the dependants of these workers.
Calling by name the judge who had given the verdict in the case of
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, he said all these jiyala judges would also be
taken to task after the fall of the PPP government.
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951201
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Benazir calls for evolving code of ethics for Press
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Staff Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 30 Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on Thursday called
upon the journalists and newspapers owners organisations to evolve a
code of ethics for themselves checking the tendency of printing false,
fabricated and sensational news.
The prime minister in her hour-long speech expressed serious
reservations over the role being played by the print media and said
that it has become self-appointed decision-makers of the nation s
destiny.
Calling upon the media to publish nothing but truth, she said they
should differentiate between the national interest and the government.
Quoting several instances where the unnecessary criticism and
scandalous reporting by the print media severely hurt the national
interests, she said the national interest should be held supreme.
The government was called upon to save the newspaper industry from
imminent disaster by withdrawing sales tax on the import of newsprint.
The newspapers owners were thankful to the government for waiving
import duty on newsprint. The government was also called upon to clear
all outstanding bills of the official advertisements.
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951201
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Politics of violence to be crushed, says PM
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 30 Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said on Thursday
that clerics and opportunist politicians nurtured by the British, CIA
and Gen Zia-ul-Haq were working against democracy by using the name of
Islam.
On the one side are the democrats with principles, on the other side
are the forces of dictatorship which believe in weapons and
assassination, Bhutto said.
The prime minister also held the West partially responsible for
providing an opportunity to the clerics to exploit their cause. While
the battle between democracy and dictatorship is shaping up in the
Muslim world or in the South, lack of concern by the West for global
issues such as freedom in Kashmir and debt repayment and cultural
domination was adding fuel to combustible mixture.
Bhutto said those who have emerged from the darkness of dictatorship
an indirect reference to opposition leader Nawaz Sharif who started
his political career by joining a dictatorial government often have
mind-set shaped by the forces of tyranny.
She said instead of taking satisfaction from a constitutional order,
some elements were serving as agent provocateurs by claiming that the
president, parliament, judiciary, armed forces and provincial
governments were working as hand-maidens of the political government
instead of taking on the government in an extra-constitutional manner.
She said the political government of today was not facing any
intrigue, conspiracy or confrontation from the different organs of the
government as these organs were fulfilling their duties according to
the constitution.
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951203
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New Delhi helping terrorists Shah
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 2 Sindh Chief Minister Abdullah Shah on Saturday
accused the self-exiled leader of the MQM, Altaf Hussain, of helping
India by diverting international attention from human rights
violations being committed in Kashmir.
Altaf Hussain is creating problems in Karachi on Indian instance, Mr
Shah told reporters in the federal capital. Accusing India of
involvement in incidents of terrorism in Karachi, the chief minister
said India has a direct hand in whatever is happening in Karachi.
When Altaf Hussain owns known terrorists and claims that they were
MQM workers, then I have the right to say that he is involved in
terrorism, the chief minister said.
The chief minister said the terrorists had changed their strategy and,
in sheer desperation, they had now started targeting high-profile
personalities or important buildings to harass people.
He said the police had unearthed several terrorist gangs and now even
the people of Karachi were voluntarily informing the law enforcement
agencies about their whereabouts.
The chief minister admitted that in certain cases the police had
transgressed their powers, but said that the government was taking
stern action against all such officials. He said several hundred
policemen had been dismissed from service, or suspended or even
arrested for committing excesses or for their involvement in crimes.
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951204
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Babar links bombing with extradition
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 3 Interior Minister Naseerullah Babar told the
National Assembly on Sunday that the financier of the Egyptian
Embassy bombing disaster had been apprehended by authorities during
the earlier part of the day.
The minister sounded optimistic about achieving a major investigative
breakthrough with the arrest of this probable financier . He said
that hectic efforts were also being made to establish the identity of
the unidentified body of the second man we believe was the accomplice
of the suicide bomber who blew up with the vehicle carrying the
explosives .
The minister had to face some fairly barbed comments on the matters of
security arrangements in Islamabad. He snapped back by saying that he
had accepted the responsibility on the first day, adding If my
resignation could contribute to the investigations I would have done
so without your asking and said nothing however can stop a suicide
assassin from achieving his objective .
Responding to another question, he said that Egypt s internal battles
were being fought on the Pakistani soil but conceded that another
contributing factor could have been Pakistan s continued extradition
of Egyptians . He also said that an investigation had also been
launched to establish the causes for the inordinate delay in the
processing of an earlier warning conveyed to the foreign office by the
Egyptian authorities.
To a question by opposition s Ejaz Shafi, he said that he had accepted
FBI s offer of assistance only because we did not have a similar
level of expertise in bomb blasts investigations and added I d
rather adopt all measures that would help the investigations rather
than stand on ceremony .
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951204
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Borrowing will be cut to budget limit
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 3 The government hopes to bring down bank borrowing
from Rs49 billion in five months to Rs40 billion by the end of
December and bring it back within the budgetary limit of Rs30 billion
by the end of the current fiscal year.
Prime Minister s Adviser for finance and economic affairs, V.A
Jaffarey told a Press conference here on Sunday that measures to
mobilise additional resources announced on October 28 and the steps
taken to keep a strict control on expenditures would help the
government to end the year with a deficit of 4.6 per cent rather than
5 per cent of the GDP fixed in the budget.
Mentioning the recent mini run on the foreign exchange accounts, due
to mainly, according to Jaffarey, rumours that foreign exchange
accounts were being frozen. He said they did not amount too much and
the situation was not alarming. The external position has also been
strengthened by the fact that we have standby arrangement with the
IMF.
He requested the Press not to encourage rumours and asked them to
refer rumours to us before using them in the news stories. He
welcomed criticism, but wanted the editors to discourage false
reporting.
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951204
-------------------------------------------------------------------
PM seeks report on bourses in 2 days
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 3 Agreeing with the perception of the chiefs of the
three stock exchanges of the country that the prevailing liquidity
crunch was mainly responsible for the long run of bears on the local
bourses, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on Sunday formed a committee
headed by chairman Corporate Law Authority to examine demands of the
stock exchanges, including a proposal for setting up of a support fund
to rescue the market which plunged to an all time low of 1322 points
in the share index, last week.
After an hour long meeting with the presidents of Karachi, Lahore and
Islamabad stock exchanges, the prime minister also ordered immediate
release of National Investment Trust (NIT), Industrial Corporation of
Pakistan (ICP) and State Life Insurance Corporation (SLIC) funds out
of the proceeds of the Privatisation Commission.
The committee has been asked to submit its report in two days time
after consulting State Bank, NIT, ICP, Employees Old- Age Benefit
Institution, Privatisation Commission and SLIC, chief of three bourses
later told a Press conference.
When asked as to what would be the size of the proposed support fund,
he said they had not yet specified the amount. We did not go with an
estimate. First we wanted to know whether it could be done, he added.
The prime minister also assured that the privatisation of PTC would be
completed by March 31 next when 26 per cent shares along with the
management would be handed over to the strategic investors.
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951206
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bourse rescue plan presented to PM
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Faraz Hashmi
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 5 The Shamim Committee set up to examine the
suggestions of the chiefs of three bourses to rescue the sinking
market, has endorsed their demand for the withdrawal of 10 per cent
tax on bonus shares, in its report presented to the prime minister on
Tuesday evening, official sources said.
Mr Shamim Khan said that during the deliberations of last two days the
committee had consulted representatives of the NIT, ICP, Employees Old
Age Benefit Investment (EOBI), Central Board of Revenue, Privatisation
Commission and officials of the insurance wing of the ministry of
commerce.
He hoped that the measures recommended to the prime minister would
rescue the market which plunged to an all time low of 1322 last week.
However, Mr Shamim Khan refused to comment on the other demands of the
bourse presidents, including the setting up of a support fund for the
market.
They had also demanded that the government should make legal
provisions allowing the EOBI to invest in the share market.
Revival of investment allowance, two way convertibility of PTC
vouchers into general demand receipts (GDRs) and expeditious
privatisation of the Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation were the
other demands put forth by the three bourses to the prime minister.
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951206
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Govt takes notice of Altaf s remarks
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Dec. 5 The government has taken a serious notice of the
statement of MQM chief Altaf Hussain in which he has talked about
geographical changes, Sindh Planning Minister Nisar Ahmad Khuhro told
newsmen, adding We expect from the people that they would not allow
any one to endanger the solidarity of the country.
Mr Khuhro was also critical of the statement of Ajmal Dehlavi, leader
of the MQM negotiation team, in which he had said that armed struggle
is justified.
Mr Khuhro also referred to photographs in which only women
participated. He said It was part of the MQM campaign to bring a bad
name to the government. It was aimed at showing the world that in
Pakistan, where a woman is prime minister, owing to police threats to
men, women were compelled to do the burial of the dead.
The photograph of the funeral procession of a so-called MQM
activists, who was wanted in heinous crimes, was in itself
contradictory as in the photograph men were clearly seen standing in
the funeral procession, he added.
The minister said a hysterical situation was created by the
photograph and a strike call was given, making life of common man
miserable.
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951207
-------------------------------------------------------------------
People s uplift top priority, says Benazir
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Allah Nawaz Khan
GHAZNI KHEL (Southern NWFP), Dec. 6 Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
said that credit for the restoration of democracy in the country went
to the Pakistan People s Party and its workers who gave sacrifices
during the black days of martial law.
She said that the party had been given a mandate by the people and
would remain in power for full five years and declared that the PDF
government would continue its efforts for the economic uplift of the
people.
The prime minister said her government was committed to people s
welfare and was using all resources to erase poverty and unemployment.
Referring to the criticism of the opposition party Ms Bhutto said that
her government inherited a bankrupt economy, corruption, Kalashnikov
and drug culture, and a bad law and order situation.
Ms Bhutto referred to caretaker prime minister Moeen Qureshi s remarks
who had admitted that the economy was in shambles but she expressed
her resolve to bring the nation out of the crisis.
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951204
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Prosecution may drop 45 cases against Nawaz
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ashraf Mumtaz
LAHORE, Dec. 3 The authorities have failed to find evidence in about
45 cases against opposition leader Mian Nawaz Sharif and his family
members and have recommended to the Punjab government that the
relevant cases should be withdrawn, highly informed sources told Dawn
here on Sunday.
The sources said the possibility of the government withdrawing a
number of cases against the former prime minister and his family to
enable legal experts to focus their attention on other cases which
have some potential cannot be ruled out.
According to the sources, officials dealing with the cases concerned
had studied them in detail only to conclude that no action was
possible against the accused as no evidence was available to
substantiate the charges.
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951201
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Murtaza vows to save PPP from split
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
RAWALPINDI, Nov. 30 Mir Murtaza Bhutto, Chairman of Pakistan People s
Party (Shaheed Bhutto group), on Thursday vowed to save the PPP from
any split saying that the loot of Zardari can be divided but the
party cannot.
Though Ms Bhutto and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, remained the main
target of criticism but he also referred occasionally to Nawaz Sharif.
There was not much difference between the official PPP and the
opposition PML in corruption and loot and plunder of the country, he
said.
Mir Murtaza touched all issues and criticised the government on all
counts.
If voted to power I will nationalise all the industrial units being
dished out to the favourites, he said, adding that he would also
review all the deals made by the present government with the foreign
investors, particularly in the energy sector.
Mr Murtaza presenting his case before the people asked whether he had
done any wrong by asking Benazir to hold elections in the party, to
throw out the murderers of the late Bhutto, to reinstate Begum Bhutto
as the chairperson and to keep record of the party funds.
The party was not the heritage of anybody it belonged to peasants,
labourers and the masses, he said.
Benazir Bhutto, he said, had twice got the power but she never think
of salvaging her father s honour by reopening his trial. Benazir
Bhutto who was not loyal to her father, her mother and her brother how
she can be loyal to the masses, he questioned.
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951207
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Change of govt imminent, says Murtaza
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
LAHORE, Dec. 6 The chief of Pakistan People s Party (SB), Mir Murtaza
Bhutto, said a change of government had become imminent due to the
internal political, economic and social situation.
But, he ruled out any connection between the existing political
scenario and the visit to Pakistan of Moeen Qureshi and a senior World
Bank official, Shahid Javed Burki.
Murtaza said inflation had broken the back of the common people. The
100 per cent increase in the prices of commodities of daily use had
particularly affected the salaried class and daily wage-earners.
He claimed that the government had decided to freeze the foreign
currency accounts but it could not do so under US threat to stall a
$6,000 million IMF approved loan for Pakistan.
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951206
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Kharal accuses Nawaz of being RAW agent
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 5 Federal Information Minister Khalid Ahmed Khan
Kharal accused Nawaz Sharif of being a RAW agent and a criminal in
an emotional outburst in the House on Tuesday.
Provoked by the remarks of opposition s Chaudhry Zulfiqar, Mr Kharal
jumped up from his seat and shot off a volley of serious accusations
against the leader of the opposition. Jabbing the air angrily with his
fists, the minister said Mian Nawaz had looted national funds by
usurping the money from state banks for the expansion of his own
industrial empire. He also named four textile mills which he charged
had been funded by misusing the prime ministerial office.
An equally angry Chaudhry Zulfiqar bounced back into the argument with
the sarcastic argument that we know who is a RAW agent because it
wasn t Nawaz who admitted helping Rajiv and preventing the
disintegration of India, it wasn t us who hijacked a Pakistani
aircraft, and we also know which government s interior minister handed
over the list of Sikh militants of East Punjab to the Indian
government.
Although over nine opposition members indulged in Babar bashing, none
could match the intensity of the blistering attack launched by Khwaja
Asif.
Questioning the interior minister s zeal to uncover corruption , he
challenged him to investigate the real causes behind the deliberate
creation of a diesel crisis by certain people in petroleum business
which resulted in the emergency buying of diesel at a much higher rate
of 32 cents per litre instead of the contracted rate of 14 cents.
He said Gen Babar was only indulging in needless bellicose rhetoric
and creating cases which weren t even there.
Apart from making a serious criticism of the interior minister s
performance, Mr Asif did not spare any opportunity to mock the
beleaguered minister.
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951206
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Karachi crisis more economic than ethnic, says Burki
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 5 Shahid Javed Burki, a World Bank vice president,
said here on Monday the Karachi problem was not so much an ethnic
problem as it was an economic question.
Mr. Burki said conventional wisdom about Karachi focused on the city s
difficult and seemingly intractable ethnic situation. However, he
added, a deeper and more informed look at Karachi s socio-economic
development in over the last few years would indicate that some
segments of the city s population have suffered extreme deprivation
because of the profound changes in the structure of the country s
economy.
He said if we understand the reason why poverty is returning to
Pakistan, we will also begin to understand why it has been so
difficult to resolve the conflict in Karachi. Opining that the
country had reached a point where a programme for action was needed,
Mr. Burki suggested a ten-point plan of action
First, he said, the government must revive economic growth it should
aim to double the gross domestic product between now and the year
2005. This implies a rate of growth of seven per cent a year, and an
increase in per capita income of over 4 per cent a year.
Second, a serious attention needs to be given to rebuilding the
institutions that have either perished or are in a state of serious
disrepair. Institutions include the system of administration, the
legal and judicial systems, political parties which are needed to
intermediate between the rulers and the ruled..
Third, Pakistan needs to put back life into the sector of agriculture
which, in spite of all the developments that have taken place in the
past, remains the mainstay of the economy.
Pakistan, he said, needed a market based agricultural system rather
than a system in which, over a long period of time, price and tax
distortions have piled upon each other to the point that the real
potential of the agricultural sector has been totally camouflaged.
The time has come to do away with subsidies on such agricultural
inputs as water, seeds and chemicals to allow the farmers to obtain
full market prices for their outputs and to have available to them the
full option to trade in the domestic and international markets and to
allow the state to tax agricultural incomes as it does incomes from
any other economic activity.
Fifth, the functions of the government should be decentralised so that
they respond effectively to the wishes and aspirations of the people.
Sixth, a comprehensive programme needs to be formulated to help the
women of Pakistan to achieve their economic potential. Women s rights
should not be judged inferior to general human rights women should be
provided the opportunity to educate themselves, and to enter the work
force.
Seventh, the state needs to provide for those who cannot meet their
basic needs. With the initiation of the zakat, usher and baitul-maal
programmes.
Eighth, Pakistan needed a system of health insurance that would
provide access to health institutions even for those who could not
afford them. Such an insurance system can be combined with privately
managed pension programmes that would guarantee people with incomes
past their working lives.
Ninth, he said, a sturdy safety net should be erected to catch the
people who are likely to fall into poverty as the economy restructures
itself. Pakistan is unique even among the poor countries of the world
in not having any formal system that can come to the assistance of the
people who suffer losses in jobs or serious declines in incomes that
are the inevitable consequences of economic transformation.
Tenth, and finally, he said Pakistan could no longer postpone the
development of a comprehensive programme for providing basic
education, primary health care, and the opportunity to control the
size of the family to all the citizens. The Social Action Programme
is a step in the right direction but the temptation must be resisted
to politicise it by allowing employment opportunities only to loyal
political workers.
Today, Pakistan needs to create four million new jobs every year in
order to accommodate the new entrants to the labour force. This number
is well beyond the economy s current capacity.
With a highly skewed distribution in incomes which had gotten worse in
recent years, he said he would suggest that an economy that had the
characteristics of Pakistan needed to see GDP increase at a rate twice
the increase in population growth to make a serious difference in the
incidence of poverty.
===================================================================
951201
-------------------------------------------------------------------
PM allays fears over forex accounts
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 30 Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said on Thursday her
government has no plan to impose foreign exchange control, freeze
foreign exchange accounts or use safety deposit boxes.
She said under Article 8 of the International Monetary Fund, the
government cannot impose controls on foreign exchange. She also denied
reports that the State Bank of Pakistan has refused to honour cheques
of government departments.
The prime minister said the government had enough funds, and there was
no need to even touch the safety deposits.
Earlier, she told reporters that there was no economic crises in the
country, and everything appearing in the Press on this issue was
baseless and un-founding. This is a part of malicious propaganda
against the government, and these are motivated news by the
opposition.
The Prime Minister also held the Press responsible for spreading, what
she said, irresponsible news without ascertaining the facts. The
Press is also responsible for spreading such kind of news.
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951201
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rupee falls to record low
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Commerce Reporter
KARACHI, Nov. 30 The rupee fell to a record low level against the US
dollar on Thursday as there were not many sellers around Rs 36.23 for
a dollar on the open market and most of the buystops remained
unsatisfied.
The dollar s buying and selling rates on the open market were quoted
at Rs 36.20 and 36.23, a new post-devaluation low against the official
rates of Rs 34.25 and 34.42 to a dollar.
They said most of the rumours about the state of the economy and
financial position of the government will die in due course as they
are not based on hard facts.
However, the big gap of Rs 1.81 between the open market and official
rates provide a manoeuvring ground to bargain-hunters and speculative
forces, which in turn have almost cornered the open market dealings.
The currency market is in near-turmoil as it is hard to find dollar
even at the asking prices, they added.
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951203
-------------------------------------------------------------------
How real are the fears of bankruptcy?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
M.B Naqvi
THE PAKISTANI rupee lost 38 paisa in the open market on November 22.
The same day the papers told us (a) that the treasury is dishonouring
government cheques and (b) the various banks were buying dollars to
meet the demand from those who were trying to withdraw from their
foreign currency accounts in large numbers.
The State Bank had to deny that it had no cash to honour the
government cheques. There were other apprehensions and the country was
in the grip of rumours of imminent crisis, if not collapse, together
with expectations of yet another devaluation by at least three per
cent.
This was despite the news that the government had, after intensive
negotiations with the IMF, managed to clinch a deal for a standby
credit of 600 million dollars, repayable over 15 months at higher than
usual ESAF rate of interest. How high these rates are has not been
disclosed.
No doubt the position would remain considerably difficult but it will
be manageable. The State Bank expertise in making do with shuffling of
credits and liabilities with a dash of short term borrowing should see
us through to the end of the second quarter of the current year when
the receipt of the second tranche of the standby credit would again
lead to relative stability and improved outlook.
Many others, while conceding the substance of the foregoing, say that
the real crisis lies elsewhere there are three areas of grave
concern the first is the budgetary position. The second is balance of
payments weaknesses that is truly structural. The third area of grave
concern is inflation that is, in real life, shooting beyond 20 per
cent, no matter what Statistics Division dishes out (14 per cent?)
The budgetary position is truly difficult. Despite the Ads/news of
departmental achievements, the stark reality of the tax base being
much narrower than need to be can no longer be glossed over. The
hiatus between revenues and expenditures is likely to grow rather than
contract. The recent (October) measure devaluation, enhancement of
regulatory duties, and increased POL prices is sure to cause upsets
in all budgetary expectations.
But as the critics have said that devaluation step would boomerang
The benefit of exports would be much less than losses the economy
would incur in terms of cost-push inflation and of course the increase
in debt servicing charges.
It is now being conceded that the maximum benefit to exports is likely
to go as far as 10 per cent and that too would remain operative for
about three to four months at the most. The recent rumours of further
devaluation show that even this estimate of three to fours months is
overly optimistic. Meanwhile the enhancement of regulatory duties and
increase in POL prices have led to a wholesale increase in prices of
inputs and infrastructure facilities, estimated anywhere from 20 to 30
per cent. This is the real cause of the upset in both the budgetary
and balance of payments spheres.
The joker in the pack, as always in our case, is inflation. The
datumline was 13 per cent inflation before the October steps were
taken. What would be the overall effect remains to be seen. As noted
many prices have gone up by 20 percent or more as a result. Their
overall impact on the indices of the wholesale prices COL and SPI is
awaited. While some are alarmed, others are hopeful that the recent
spurt in imports is a healthy sign because it indicates that the
import of more machinery intermediates and raw materials, as well as
agricultural inputs indicate that for the immediate future six months
to a year the output is likely to increase. That should prevent
inflation rate rising too high. But what about the period between now
and the next six months or so?
That remains an area of uncertainty and weakness. Should the prices
tend to rise faster than the economy managers had hoped they would,
the governments ability to do what it is doing trying desperately to
keep the expenditures confirm to budgetary allocations would be
gravely endangered as the effects of inflation are not always wholly
calculable. These can, in severe cases, destabilise the society. But
even in moderately high doses working classes ant government employees
can suddenly become strident in demanding cost of living increases
here and now, upsetting quite a few estimates. That the budgetary
excesses would burst the monetary targets, leading to more inflation.
Structural Weaknesses
The structural weaknesses thus indicated cannot be tackled by ad hoc
measures that our governments tend to take. This is not a case of
slip here or there. It is far more than deviation from a given target
it renders the budget unrealistic.
The phenomenon is certainly covered under the rubric of the absence of
work ethics and the culture of tax paying. But empty preaching is not
the remedy. It is common place to talk of rich farmers not paying tax
and that about Rs 200 billion is said to be the realisable potential
from this class It is true enough. No less significant is the fact
that the well-heeled gentry in industry and trade is not paying its
taxes honestly by all estimates, urban rich folk too pay only a small
part of what they ought to pay whole sections of small to medium
businessmen simply pay nothing. There is the whole raging black market
that pays simply nothing. How much is it is anyone's guess 40
percent? 50 per cent? or what?
The fact of the matter insofar as expenditure side is concerned, is
that the real motto of the successive governments has been borrow,
borrow and borrow some more. The development expenditures Islamabad
rulers believe, are owed us by world community. Ten policy-makers have
boxed themselves in a policy orientation and a mind-set that
predicates our being bailed out on foreign friends while we go on
consuming far more than we produce. No matter who is responsible for
it, it is now clear that this mental habit is now to be broken because
those whom we thought would always bail us out are now refusing to do
so.
Obviously the Press cannot be told the precise details of what
precisely happened in the week along negotiations that Mr V.A.
Jaffarey, the Finance Adviser to the Prime Minister had conducted
with the IMF.
Some facts we know the old ESAF and Extended Facility arrangements
have broken down and should be treated as having been cancelled a new
Standby Credit with some inevitable conditionalities is likely to be
approved later this month and there is a prospect that a new ESAF and
EFF agreement is likely to be signed for three years beginning with
1996-97. General idea of that agreement's conditionalities can be
easily guessed at old ESAF's third year's target will become those of
1996-97 and those for subsequent years can be projected.
However, the precise conditionalities that Pakistan has to comply with
during 1995-96 remain to be spelled out in detail probably in the
shape of one or more dreaded mini-budget and perhaps a more
'realistic' adjustment police for the managed float for the national
currency. Mr Jaffarey has given enough details the Fund has forced
Pakistan virtually to go back to interrupted ESAF programme targets
virtually in to except that it is now given a slight concession in the
matter of budget deficit target. Instead of 4 per cent (of GDP)
Islamabad is being permitted a deficit of the size of 4.6 per cent.
Obviously a lot more pain has to be endured. Why? It also seems the
IMF has overlooked the last June's 'deviation regarding not bringing
down the maximum import tariffs to the desired 45 per cent in 1995 96,
Pakistan will have to bring it down to 35 per cent in 1996-97.
Islamabad will also have to live with a higher ($ 2.8 billion) deficit
on the current account.
Because we cannot balance our books, our secular deficit in the
balance of payments however around $ 2.5 billion a year and it is sure
to be nudged up to three billion dollars barrier. This is slightly
more than the secular deficit on the external trade account,
indicating other weaknesses. And this is when Pakistan economy
receives development loans and other credits that range from dollars
three billion to four billion from Consortium and other countries.
This is now an unsustainable position. The period of free lunches has
to come to an end, no matter what IMF says. Nobody owes us our
development or excessive consumption. Politics underlying the
Pakistan-BWI (Bretton Woods Institutions? relationship needs to be
studied with greater care. It would seem the country has not been
paying adequate attention to the political desires' of the donors
World Bank, IMF, US, Japan European Union most others (except perhaps
China). The bruising spat we have had this year with the IMF is only a
beginning. More should be expected down the road.
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951203
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Govt encounters speculative reports in home markets
-------------------------------------------------------------------
M. Ziauddin
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 2 The government has mounted an earnest offensive
against what it believes to be rumour-mongering and disinformation
campaign in the newspapers about the state of the economy.
Mr. V.A. Jafarey, governor State Bank, Mohammad Yakoob, chairman
Corporate Law Authority, Shamim Ahmed Khan and Waqar Masood,
additional secretary economic affairs in the PM Secretariat appeared
on TV together to reassure the nation that the state of Pakistan was
not about to go bankrupt.
Faced with a resource crunch of the most serious magnitude following
an unusually bad first quarter in which the borrowing limit for the
whole year (Rs.30 billion) was exceeded by at least Rs five billion to
bridge the widening gap between income and expenditures, the
government took a series of corrective steps in a totally non-
transparent manner that gave rise to a lot of damaging market
speculations.
While these stories and the stories of diversion of funds from
Pakistan to other markets were still circulating, the government went
and sealed a foreign bank of high standing on a purely technical
matter. This one single step sent a wave of panic among the general
public and gave credence to the rumours that the government was about
to freeze the foreign bank accounts.
It was not any government official, but a newspaper which pointed out
in its story on the subject that under Article 8 of the agreement
Pakistan had signed with IMF, it cannot do such a thing. So, it can be
seen from the above sequence of events that it were not the newspapers
that had presented a distorted picture of the economy, but the picture
had got distorted by various non- transparent actions of the
government.
The government undermined its credibility by going back to the IMF
within five months of repudiating its programme and also by announcing
a mini-budget within four months of the annual budget. Also its action
of sealing the Emirates Bank did not do much good to its credibility.
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951204
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Loan decision on 13th IMF monitoring situation
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Shaheen Sehbai
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 The Executive Board of the IMF will now meet on
December 13 to discuss and approve the 15-month $600 million standby
arrangement with Pakistan, IMF sources said on Sunday.
The IMF was closely monitoring the situation in Pakistan after the
recent near-collapse of the stock markets and a mini-run on the
foreign exchange deposits.
Experts associated with the IMF and observing the Pakistan situation
do not agree with the Pakistan Government explanation that the press
was to be blamed for the present situation.
There have been mistakes committed by the Government and they should
better admit those mistakes and try to redress them, one expert said.
He listed, among others, the lack of firm public commitment by the
Government to the restoration of the IMF programme, even after the
signing of the standby arrangement, as one such mistake.
Other harmful actions of the Government include its failure to control
spending and instead reliance on non-bank borrowing like the launching
of the Rs 25,000 bonds which experts think was one way of admitting
that we are unable to cut our spending but we will borrow money lying
under the mattresses of people which otherwise should have gone to the
private sector.
The statements made by the Prime Minister and some other ministers
that the State Bank had unlimited capacity to print money was taken by
these experts as another wrong message sent to the market where the
inflation is already extremely high. What they are saying by making
such statements is that inflation was not a worry and the Government
was ready to print as much currency as was needed. The closure of the
Emirates Bank was another blunder committed by the Government and
experts think a proper message should be sent to the market by not
only the Government apologising but also taking some action against
those who took the decision.
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951205
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Stocks stage broad recovery as index gains 47 points
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Commerce Reporter
KARACHI, Dec. 4 Stocks staged a broad recovery aided chiefly by
positive response from the prime minister after meeting the bourse
chiefs to pull the market out from the current impasse, lifting the
KSE 100-share index by another 47 points.
The market has recovered over 100 points during the last three
sessions, which means a recouping of market capitalisation of Rs 18
billion.
However, it generally believed that the direction of the market will
be clear after the panel set up by the Prime minister finalises it
recommendations to aid the market.
The recovery was largely led by bank shares, which came in for active
short-covering at the lower levels, leading gainers among them being
MCB, Bank al-Habib, Metropolitan Bank, Askari Bank, Crescent Bank and
Bankers Equity.
They were followed by leading synthetic shares, under the lead of
Dewan Salman, Dhan Fibre and Pakistan Synthetics and so did cement
shares, major gainers among them being Pakland Cement, Dadex, Essa
Cement, and Maple Leaf Cement.
A smart rally of Rs 15 in PSO led the advance in the energy sector
where the current favourite Hub-Power and Shell also showed good gains
amid active short-covering.
Both PTC vouchers and Telecard were actively traded on news of two-
conversion of the GDR for the former and so did blue chips such as
Adamjee Insurance, ICI Pakistan, Brooke Bond and Siemens Pakistan in
other sectors.
Barring modest losses in MNCs such as Philips, Pakistan Elektron,
Ciba-Geigy, Wellcome Pakistan, and some others, losses elsewhere were
fractional and reflected lack of support.
The most active list was topped by PTC vouchers, sharply higher by Rs
2.30 on 1.745 million shares followed by Hub-Power, up Rs 1.60 on
1.728 million shares, Dhan Fibre, steady 45 paisa on 926,500 shares,
Dewan salman, higher Rs 1.60 on 530,000 shares.
The other actively traded shares were led by Faysal Bank, up Rs 1.05
on 440,100 shares, Ebrahim Energy, lower 25 paisa on 179,500 shares,
Askari Bank(r), up Rs 4 on 162,000 shares, and PICIC, off 35 paisa on
156,000 shares. There were some other notable deals also.
Trading volume totalled 11.587 million shares as compared to 12.476
million shares at the last weekend.
There were 335 actives, out of which 179 shares rose, while 97 fell,
with 59 shares holding on to the last levels.
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951205
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No quick-fix solutions to stock market slump
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dilawar Hussain
KARACHI, Dec. 4 The government, of late, seems to have perfected the
art of finding simplified solutions to complex economic and business
problems. The learned Commerce Minister said and the Finance Minister,
who also happen to be our PM, baffled economists last week by
challenging the opponents claim that the government is going
bankrupt. They observed How can the government go bankrupt when we
control the Security Printing Press and can print as many currency
notes as we like!
The government spared the operators of the capital market by not
repeating its belief that the market was being manipulated by big
players and in turn, the heads of the country s bourses did not
mention the lack of investors confidence that stems principally
from the government s inability to improve the law and order in
Karachi, the country s financial capital, as the major factor in
fuelling the bearish fire. Sirjuddin Cassim, the President of KSE,
actually was quoted to have gone as far as to assert that law and
order situation in Karachi was not the main problem plaguing KSE and
that the industrial production had remained unaffected by strike
calls.
The stock market representatives, if they had mustered the courage,
could have easily contested the government s allegation of
manipulation by the logic. They could have taken up the vital
question of sagging investor confidence , instead of sweeping it
under the carpet. Ask any broker, investor, capital market operator,
or anyone who is anybody at any of the brokerage houses local or
foreign. He would almost invariably cite evaporation of investors
confidence again of both local and foreign as the prime reason for
the shares slump. Lack of liquidity, taking the second place.
While totally ignoring one-half of the reason for the malady, the
Sunday deliberations sought to address the other half Liquidity.
Incontrovertibly, the steps reported to be taken would put a temporary
floor under the market fall.
The other recommendations by the exchanges, to which the government
gave sympathetic hearing, were also admittedly in the right direction
Two-way convertibility of PTC GDRs, reactivation of investor scheme by
ICP, correct interpretation of prudential regulations regarding loans
obtained on the shares of listed companies, investment of pension
funds in stocks, enabling EOBI to invest in shares, withdrawal of tax
on bonus shares and treatment of capital gains earned by insurance
companies at par with other investors.
Many serious analysts are skeptic they believe the 20-month slump has
eroded a quarter of the market, which equals around Rs 120 billion.
How much of that would the Rs one billion be able to retrieve, is a
64-million dollar question. The institutional buying may spark a short
term rally, but once the funds have been saturated, nothing could
prevent the bears from re-entering the rings.
It is thus that the major problem of the stock market in not liquidity
but sentiment. For the genuine long-term investment to be revived, the
problem of sagging investors confidence has to be recognised and
addressed. Economy must not only be claimed to be improving but must
also be seen to be improving. And the same goes for the law and
order situation in Karachi and the overall political stability in the
country. Confidence needs to be created in the minds of the local
investors so that they visualise the market with optimism and can
invest with the long-term investment perspective, instead of the short
term speculative gains in mind. The foreigner will return when they
see rewards more attractive then the risks involved. It will only be
then that the stock market will begin to head north. All other quick-
fix solutions are not likely to work.
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951206
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Investors make massive buying as volume soars to 22m
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Commerce Reporter
KARACHI, Dec. 5 Volume soared to an eight-month peak level of 22
million shares on Tuesday as investors made massive buying on the blue
chips counters aided chiefly by a general perception of a near-term
bullish outlook.
The KSE 100-share index showed a fresh rise of 29.82 points at
1,446.67 as compared to 1,416.85 as base shares attracted good support
at the current lows.
Most floor brokers believe that the near-term outlook is promising but
its directions will largely be set by the recommendations of the panel
set up by the Prime Minister to formulate steps to boost the ailing
market.
Plus signs again dominated the list as blue chips remained in strong
demand. But the bulk of the buying was centred around the trend
setter, PTC vouchers and Hub-Power, which together accounted for one
third of the total volume on heavy covering purchases.
Lever Brothers topped the list of big gainers, up Rs 48 followed by
Adamjee Insurance and Dadabhoy Insurance, which rose by Rs 12 to 27
respectively.
Other leading gainers were led by Telecard, Rafhan Maize, Pakistan
Oilfields, and Shell Pakistan, rising by Rs 3 to 7.
Bank shares rose in unison on heavy covering purchases at the lower
levels, major gainers among them being Askari, Al-Towfeek, Citicorp
Al-Faysal, PICIC, Crescent and Union Bank, rising by Rs 2 to 3.25.
There were several other good gainers.
Big losers were led by Pakistan Gum Chemicals, Frontier Sugar, which
fell by Rs 7.50 followed by Universal Insurance and General Tyre.
Dreamworld made debut at Rs 9 against its face value of Rs 10 and
ended around Rs 7.50 but without any deal.
The most active list was topped by PTC vouchers, up 60 paisa on 6.115
million shares followed by Hub-Power, firm five paisa on 3.146 million
shares, Dewan Salman, steady 30 paisa on 1.021 million shares, and
Faysal Bank, up 35 paisa on 878,500 shares.
The other actives were led by Fauji Fertiliser, higher 50 paisa on
448,700 shares followed by Dhan Fibre, unchanged on 636,000 shares,
LTV Modaraba, higher 60 paisa on 398,000 shares, and PICIC, up Rs 2.85
on 336,500 shares. There were many other notable deals also.
Trading volume rose to 22.251 million shares bettering its early July
figure of 18 million shares thanks to heavy buying in pivotals.
There were 320 actives, out of which 210 shares rose, 61 fell, with 49
holding on to the last levels.
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951207
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Upward drive on stock market intercepted
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Commerce Reporter
KARACHI, Dec. 6 The recent upward drive on the stock market was
intercepted as dealers moved in to cash in on the higher levels amid
light trading.
But profit-selling did not assumed an alarming proportions as was
reflected by steep decline in the turnover. Only big players rolled
positions from one counter to the other to take strong technical
positions.
The Karachi Stock Exchange index of 100-share fell 19.01 points at
1,427.65 as compared to 1,446.66 on Tuesday, reflecting the weakness
of the base shares.
Selective buying emerged strong on some of the blue chips counters,
lifting their prices substantially higher under the lead of PSO, which
spurted by Rs 11 followed by Dadabhoy Cement, which suddenly burst
into activity apparently on encouraging corporate news, rising by Rs
15 just in one go.
Other prominent gainers were led by Nestle Milkpak, Karam Ceramics,
EMCO Industries, Dawood Hercules, Brooke Bond, EFU, Essa Cement and
Bawany Air, which rose by one rupee to Rs 2.50.
Lever Brothers, which rose by Rs 48 overnight lost more than a half of
the gain, falling by Rs 25 followed by Adamjee Insurance, which
suffered a decline of Rs 10 on selling at the last four days
persistent rise.
Among the MNCs, which eased sharply Dewan Salman, Searle Pakistan,
Indus Motors, and Highnoon Lab, falling by Rs 2 to 4.
Bank shares fell in unison on profit-selling at the inflated levels
but big losers among them were Al-Faysal, Al-Towfeek, Bank al-Habib,
Bankers Equity, Citicorp, MCB, Crescent Bank and KASB & Co, falling by
Rs 1.75 to 3.
Other prominent losers were led by leading ICP mutual funds including
8th and 9th, Dadabhoy Insurance, Pioneer Cement, and S.G.Power.
The most active list was topped by Hub-Power, unchanged on 3.190
million shares followed by PTC vouchers, easy 60 paisa on 2.584
million shares, Dewan Salman, off Rs 1.20 on 607,000 shares, and
Faysal Bank, lower 40 paisa on 397,000 shares.
The other actives were led by Dhan Fibre, easy 10 paisa on 373,800
shares, Pioneer Cement, off Rs 3.10 on 296,600 shares, Honda Atlas,
lower 60 paisa on 297,00 shares, Cherat Cement, off 75 paisa on
168,000 shares and Al-Faysal Bank, off Rs 1.50 on 137,000 shares.
There were several other good deals also.
Turnover figure fell to 13.278 million shares from the overnight
22.516 million shares owing to the absence of leading sellers.
There were 338 actives, out of which 212 shares suffered fall, 77
rose, with 49 holding on to the last levels.
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951201
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Taqat ka nasha
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ardeshir Cowasjee
JANUARY 4 1991, my letter headed Government Reneges published in
Dawn Why does the Minister of Finance, Sartaj Aziz, and his ministry
discredit Nawaz Sharif s government instead of helping it raise its
credibility in the eyes of the people of Pakistan and those of its
lenders within and without the country? Should not the government s
word, and written word at that, be its absolute bond?
The National Development Finance Corporation (NDFC), fully owned by
the federal government, encouraged people, Pakistanis and others,
irrespective of nationality, religion, caste or creed, to deposit
money with it for (as the very name suggests) national development,
upon receipt of which it issued to the depositors bearer certificates
of deposit promising to pay the bearer of such certificates the amount
invested along with profit (interest) accrued up to the date of
maturity, at the rates agreed, upon the mere surrender by the
bearers to it of such certificates.
Such promises made by the NDFC, on behalf of the Government of
Pakistan, were honoured by it until Nawaz Sharif s government assumed
power in November 1990. Since then, the NDFC has been ordered by the
ministry of finance to renege on the promise it made, not to pay the
sums it promised to pay but to pay them less by deducting Zakat on
sums deposited with it up to five years ago.
It is indeed a matter of great regret and shame that the new
government has chosen to act as it has. One presumes that this action
has been taken by an irresponsible underling of the ministry oblivious
of the impact upon the people of the breaking of the government s
solemn undertaking. If this government is to be trusted, its word must
be its bond.
Will the finance ministry explain its action to the people?
No explanation was given. Yet again, it was established that the
government s word is not its bond. Most of our finance ministers,
Sartaj included, with either nothing in or on their heads, have been
no different from the masters or mistresses they have served, all of
whom have inevitably assumed unto themselves the powers and arrogance
of the Sun King I am the State .
Sunday morning, November 26, 1995 A highly nervous clued-up Gujerati
stockbroker rang (each time he opens his mouth he makes me promise
that I will never divulge his name in print). What s happening? The
market is crashing, has already fallen by 30 points. Have you any news
from Islamabad? Any heads rolled? My response You should be telling
me rather than asking. We both soon found out.
On Saturday evening, a stockbroker on his way home from the nearby
Stock Exchange, spotted government seals on the doors of Emirates Bank
and armed excise policemen guarding them. Telephones buzzed all
evening and by morning the citizens were convinced their fears had
materialised and the government had started freezing foreign currency
accounts. What was to follow was left to experience, foresight and
imagination. Naturally, the stock market crashed. There was panic
selling. The government financial institutions, managed as they are,
could not stem the fall as they were meant to. There were no Morgans,
Rothschilds, Sekhsarias, who in days gone by stood in the ring and
announced, I will buy whatever whoever is selling.
There was a run on our foreign exchange reserves. Dollars were
remitted or withdrawn. Dollar notes had to be flown in. The 10 per
cent import duty on cash imports, so stupidly imposed in the October
budget, was withdrawn.
That Sunday morning, the Governor of our State Bank did not know what
he should have known the night before that a foreign bank, Emirates
Bank (owned by the State of Dubai and whose Board is chaired by a
minister of the Ruler s Council), had been sealed by Assistant
Collector of Excise Shuja-ud-din. Why? Because the bank relying upon
High Court judgements, had refused to pay the excise duty the AC was
attempting to extort. The helpless Governor Yaqub rang the equally
ineffective Financial Adviser Vaseem Jafarey. They could do nothing.
They were frozen.
And then the bell clanged and a voice from Dubai boomed and announced,
to all intents and purposes, I am the State. (And he was). My bank
has done no wrong. My men have abided by your laws. I too can
administer justice in my territory as swiftly and cleanly as can
you. The message was heard loud and clear, the government apologised,
the doors of the bank were immediately unsealed, and Shuja-ud-din and
his extortees were told to get lost.
However, within the space of that one day enormous damage had been
done. Millions of our foreign currency reserves had flown. The
fragility of our economy had been exposed.
Feeling unsafe and exercising abundant caution, counsel for Emirates
Bank, Barrister Mohammad Gilbert Naim-ur-Rahman, filed a
constitutional petition in the Sindh High Court. Acting Chief Justice
Abdul Hafiz Memon stayed the excise collector s hand till the next
date of hearing. American Express and Citibank had earlier obtained
such orders from the High Court.
Monday, November 27 The run continued. Karachi stocks plunged to an
all-time low. The men who rule over us sat in a cabinet and met in
Lahore, whereafter Prime minister Benazir, Finance Minister Benazir,
minister of State for Finance Makhdoom Shahabuddin and Financial
Adviser Vaseem Jafarey left it to the least credible cabinet man,
Information Kharal, to speak to the Press. His claim was that vested
interests were spreading rumours to cause serious harm to the national
economy in order to create panic among the people in general and
potential investors in particular, with a view to shaking their
confidence in Pakistan s future. But, the danger to our financial
health had been warded off.
Kharal feels that those who do not like or approve of him and his
fellow party people would sabotage themselves to the extent of seeing
their own money and savings go down the drain. Who and what is Kharal?
Tuesday, November 28 The run continued. Minister of Commerce Ahmed
Mukhtar who has extended his field of operation and has been recently
dabbling in the field of finance collecting taxes from the textile
mill owners and exempting ring spinning frames (SRO dated November 5,
1995) was invited to dinner to address the members of the Karachi
Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Not wishing to condemn without
hearing as do some others, I went to hear him. We all lost our
appetites.
He spoke in Punjabi-English. The people talk nonsense, said he. They
say the Government of Pakistan is bankrupt, that it cannot pay its
employees. Don t they know that we operate the Security Printing
Press, that we can always print as much money as we want? A few
million dollars may have gone out, but so what? That amount many of us
can spend in a couple of evenings in Europe.
Wednesday, November 29 I went to the Sindh High Court where the
petition filed by Barrister Makhdoom Ali Khan on behalf of Citibank
was to be heard by a Division Bench headed by Justice Wajihuddin
Ahmed. The government s lawyer was not present, the hearing was
adjourned to December 6, and the stay extended. Assistant Collector
Shujahuddin was in court, very proud of his having made Emirates Bank
lose money and of his having taught them a lesson by sealing the bank.
For the lay mind, what is being adjudicated is as follows government
had imposed excise duty on loans granted by banks to customers. The
customers went to the High Court and obtained stay orders restraining
the banks from making payment to the excise authorities. In many cases
the orders clearly state that no duty be paid. However, the CBR
directed the AC to collect. The banks say the court orders restrain
them from making payment. AC Shuja-ud-din says he takes his orders
from the CBR which has directed him that all these orders expired six
months after they were issued. The banks are in a fix. If they pay,
they may be prosecuted for contempt if they do not pay, AC threatens
to seal them all. No one in the government bothers to resolve the
issue to rein in AC Shuja-ud-din or to apply to the courts for
direction.
Corrupt, irresponsible officials endowed by non-credible rulers with
unrestrained power easily become intoxicated by the power they wield
(taqat ka nasha). Such men are as dangerous as swinging monkeys
brandishing cut-throat razors.
If confidence is to be restored, the government must immediately,
repeat immediately, announce (and abide by its undertaking) that FIA
and Excise men such as Rehman Malik and Shuja-ud-din and their squads
will not enter or seal or take any action against any bank without the
express written authority of the Governor of the State Bank of
Pakistan. No speeches or lesser measures will suffice.
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951207
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An economy without crutches
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Sultan Ahmed
PRIME MINISTER Benazir Bhutto is annoyed with the press for what she
regards gross mis-reporting on the state of the economy, wild
exaggerations of economic difficulties and denial of credit to her
government for the economic achievements.
But while the charge of exaggeration cannot be denied in some areas,
the fact is the fundamentals of the economy are not as sound or the
health of the economy as good as she or her Adviser on Finance V.A.
Jafarey claims. Indisputably Pakistan has weathered many an economic
storm in its chequered political and economic history, and it may be
able to survive one more, but not without some more injury to the
economic system and more hardships to the masses.
She is also fond of stating how low was the foreign exchange reserve
before she came to office again in October, 1993, or how empty was the
treasury. But 1993 when we had five governments, including two care-
taker set-ups, was the year of excessive political convulsions with
their inevitable impact on the economy as prime ministers came and
went, or were shot out. Such a year could not become a yardstick for
measuring the performance of her government or her successors.
Undoubtedly the economic crisis or extreme hardships which the country
is facing today are not of her making entirely. Whether it is the
sustained inflation, soaring national debt, worsening balance of
payments, or the ever-shrinking rupee, it is the outcome of the
accumulated bad policies of the past and worse official practices. But
what required from her was urgent and comprehensive remedies to repair
the vast damage, particularly when she continues as finance minister
as well with the help of old advisers and young Turks, who are treated
as economic wizards.
She has now to come up with adequate, effective and visible economy
measures, and cut the public spending substantially. That is what the
IMF and the State Bank of Pakistan, too, have been urging the
government to do reduce the large budget deficit, restrain the
mounting national debt and lower the vicious inflation.
This is an area where symbols are as important as the substance. And
she and the President should have drastically cut down the expenditure
on themselves, reduced the number of their ceremonial foreign visits,
their duration and the size of their entourage which in many cases is
common for both. They should have avoided more than doubling of their
salaries and perquisites, and coming up with unacceptable levels of
pensions for them. The government should have sent far fewer
delegations abroad when their achievements are so small and their
visits are too expensive. And size of the delegations should have been
small and surely the new practice of sending delegates to the UN
General Assembly every fortnight as if a relay race is on in New York
must have been avoided.
The people groaning under the impact of rising taxation and mounting
inflation, who are exhorted to tighten their belts too often, should
be able to see the top people, who control our purse strings, too, are
making some sacrifices instead of flying off too often in special
planes while PIA complains non- payment of Rs 80 million for such VVIP
trips.
Now can the Pakistan press be blamed for the foreign exchange reserves
sinking within four months from 2,737 million dollars to 1,092
million? Can it be blamed if the public sector banks and DFIs are not
able to recover more than 15 per cent of the Rs 80 billion defaulted
loans after 28 months, and for the default now rising to Rs 100
billion, due to new political loans?
Can the Press be blamed for the domestic debt rising to Rs 797
billion, marking a rise of Rs 93 billion last year and Rs 92 billion
the year before an increase of Rs 194 billion within the two years
of her government as the State Bank figures show? Along with that the
foreign long and medium term debt has risen by Rs 151 billion within
two years, making the total national debt Rs 1,465 billion which is a
truly crushing burden for it means debt of over Rs 11,100 per capita.
The stock exchange crisis is not of the making of the Press either.
The index of shares of the Karachi Stock Exchange has been slipping
for the last 20 months after it reached its peak of 2,661 in March
last year. The reasons were political, monetary, fiscal as well as the
endless Karachi killings. The government did not give serious
attention to the problem. Gen. Naseerullah Babar instead blamed it on
manipulators in the KSE as if share prices in the Lahore and Islamabad
exchanges were doing well. And to make matters worse, a 10 per cent
tax on bonus shares was imposed under the current budget even when
bonus shares mean re-investment which the country desperately needs
both to accelerate industrialisation and fight inflation. As a result,
the KSE index sunk to 1325 or a half of the peak index on November 29
and bounced back by 100 points within three days after the PM agreed
to meet presidents of the three exchanges to discuss the crisis. That
shows how an earnest official action, that too at the level of the
P.M. can produce results. Moving away from domestic comments on the
economy to international perception, was not Pakistan s credit rating
by the reputable Moods Investors Service, New York lowered in July
last from BA3 to Bl? And was it not Transparency International based
in Berlin which rated Pakistan in August as the third most corrupt
country in the world after Indonesia and China with its new capitalist
futures? The Pakistani delegate Mian Rafi who attended its conference
in Manila recently said that on the basis of the quality of the
complaints by foreign investors and specialists Pakistan should have
been the first country, but since fewer investors had visited Pakistan
compared to Indonesia and China, Pakistan came to have the third
position among the corrupt.
The prestigious annual report The world in 1996 published by the
Economist of London, cautions declining foreign exchange reserves may
soon provide less than eight weeks-worth of import cover. It says the
government will remain highly unpopular and talks of army intervention
in 1996. Its other publication Asia through 2000 talks of declining
GDP before the end of the century 4 per cent in 1998 and 3.4 in
1999, double digit inflation until 1999, and foreign debt rising from
29.7 per cent now to 35.8 per cent by 1999.
This is the kind of situation, along with dismal forecast for the near
future when the population will rise to 150 million by 2000, that
calls for urgent and adequate official action. Equally imperative is
the closing of the gap with the people, and between the government,
trade, industry and other economic groups, and a better equation
between the big agriculturists and trade and industry. And it so
postulates an early and effective end of the Karachi crisis and
meeting the basic needs of its people instead of trying to sell them
mega-development plans in which they have small faith.
It is no use talking of the low foreign exchange reserves of the Nawaz
Sharif period and compare that with the present as at that time total
foreign exchange deposits of Pakistanis, foreigners and of foreign
banks with the State Bank were not 6.5 billion dollars against which
the government s reserves now is only 1.1 billion dollars. In such a
situation rumours are likely to breed. The solution was for the banks
to be enabled to return the dollars of small depositors as they came
to get them. Delaying repayment by two or three days aggravated the
rumours and promoted a mini-stampede. Meanwhile foreign banks which
brought in money from abroad to save their face and help their clients
were charged 10 or 11 per cent tax on the cash and that precipitated a
new crisis, following the crisis caused by the closure of Emirate Bank
in an excise duty dispute which exposed Pakistani banks in the Gulf to
retaliatory closure.
The PM has now ordered an enquiry into both. But does that not show
that small men at lower levels whether in the CBR or FIA have been
armed with vast powers and they are ready to misuse them? At a time
when coherent and consistent official action is needed there is medley
of misdeeds in sensitive areas.
And look at the chaos produced by the provincial governments by not
paying the dues of federal institutions, like WAPDA and PTC and the
Centre withholding their financial dues or deducting the bills from
them and the provinces protesting and Sindh overdrawing Rs four
billion from the State Bank. Similarly it is her Federal Anti-
Corruption Committee which is coming up with grave charges of vast
corruption against federal institutions and autonomous bodies and
feeling too frustrated as it is blocked from many quarters.
Clearly the PM has to look closer home for solutions to her economic
problems. And her finance officials have to brief the Press in Karachi
also instead of confining it to Islamabad, and Lahore now. Better
information and less scolding is what the Press needs.
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951202
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Who s in charge anyway?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Mazdak
THE drip, drip, drip you hear is the sound of the lifeblood of the
economy draining away.
If the Karachi Stock Exchange is an indicator of the state of health
of the economy, then we have a terminally ill patient on our hands.
However, we have been assured by that internationally acclaimed
capital market analyst, General Naseerullah Babar, that the collapse
of the country s equity market is due to the manipulation by a group
of stock brokers.
Without wishing to cast doubts on the Interior Minister s acknowledged
expertise in high finance, I must confess to being puzzled as the
president of the Karachi Stock Exchange has recently appealed to the
Prime Minister to save the stock market from utter ruin. If the steep
and unprecedented fall in share prices is indeed due to
manipulation , then who is benefiting and why are stock brokers
squealing for help?
Actually, asinine statements apart, investor confidence is a fragile
thing, based in part on economic and financial fundamentals, but
mostly on perceptions of a non-monetary nature. These include non-
quantifiable factors like law and order, political stability,
confidence in the government s policies and of late, the international
financial environment.
Thus, when news of a prominent businessman s arrest breaks, the market
reacts by shedding a few points. If, on the other hand, a tax cut is
announced, share prices are likely to rise. Over the last year or so,
there has been very little good news indeed, a combination of fiscal
and psychological factors has devastated the stock exchange and ruined
many small and big investors.
For any sane person to suggest that the equity market has been
deliberately depressed is to reveal ignorance of truly monumental
proportions.
Recently, millions of dollars are believed to have left the country
from private foreign currency accounts within a couple of days. The
reason for this massive flight of capital is a persistent rumour that
the government intends to freeze all or part of such accounts and
compensate the account holders by giving them the equivalent in
rupees.
Although the story has been forcefully denied, most people are not
taking any chances as they point out to the fact that a large
instalment on a foreign loan is due in December, and due to a drop in
exports, sufficient funds are not available to service the loan.
Clearly, since such a move would be tantamount to fiscal suicide,
there does not appear any chance of the government going through with
it. Nevertheless, individuals with a couple of thousand dollars as
well as businessmen with hundreds of thousands in their bank accounts
have so little confidence in the government that they immediately
transferred their funds abroad.
While denying the rumour, official spokesman have suggested that it is
the product of opposition disinformation. They may well be right, but
the fact remains that the story was believed because of the widespread
perception that this government is hostile towards business, apart
from being clue less about fiscal policy. As an example of this
ignorance, businessmen cite the recent devaluation of the Pakistani
rupee and the simultaneous increase in customs duties on virtually
every imported product. Now as any student of economics will tell you,
the whole point of devaluation is to give your exporters a competitive
advantage over rivals.
However, in our case, the prices of raw materials and other inputs
have been increased at the same time by jacking up customs duties,
thus blunting any possible edge exporters might have gained, and
producing nothing excepting to add to the already soaring inflation
rate.
The COAS has gone on record with the statement that the defence budget
is being severely eroded as a result of rising prices and the falling
value of the Pakistani rupee. If this is the reality the defence
forces with their bloated budget have to contend with, think what
inflation is doing to the average Pakistani family. And yet, despite
the visible political fallout of all these economic factors, there is
a strange air of unreality about the government s response.
Sundry spokesman at every level blame the previous government for our
pain. Again, there is some truth in this charge Nawaz Sharif s
profligate ways have left permanent scars on the economy. But two
years down the road, the present government should have something more
to show than soaring prices, a falling rupee, a shattered share market
and a complete collapse of confidence among the business community.
A major problem in formulating coherent and consistent economic
policies is the fact that no one individual seems to be in charge.
There is no federal finance minister as the Prime Minister has
retained this crucial portfolio her special assistant, Shahid Hasan
Khan, wields enormous clout which he exercises by dealing directly
with the bureaucracy, bypassing the minister of state for finance who
has very little to do with policy-making. Nor, indeed, does V.A.
Jafarey who, despite having the status of a federal minister, has been
largely marginalised.
Another heavyweight in this galaxy of experts is Qazi Alimullah, the
hard working though plodding arch bureaucrat who was given a three-
year contract as deputy chairman of the Planning Commission despite
being Finance Secretary when Nawaz Sharif launched his ill-fated
Yellow Cab Scheme.
Completing this dream team is the finance secretary who is thoroughly
disliked by the business community which views him as being hostile to
their interests. Indeed, businessmen are seldom, if ever, consulted in
decisions that directly affect them. Leading this motley crew is
Benazir Bhutto in her role of finance minister.
It does not help that the business community is perceived by the
ruling party as being pro-Nawaz Sharif. There is certainly some truth
in this as they view the ex-prime minister as one of their own. But it
should be remembered that entrepreneurs follow profits and if they are
pro-PML(N), it is because they perceive it to be business-friendly.
If this government were to follow policies conducive to money-making,
there is no reason why there should be any hostility between the two
sides. After all, the bottom line is that what is good for General
Motors is good for America if there is a conducive climate for
investment, profits will be reinvested and more goods, services and
jobs will be generated. The government s revenues will rise, the stock
market will thrive and more investible funds will be available to
finance new projects.
And the opposite scenario? Well, we are living through it now.
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951203
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Devaluation of human life
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Omar Kureishi
ALL violent deaths are wasteful. Those that are politically motivated
are mindless and counter-productive as well. But this is well known
and it isn't as if I have discovered some profound universal truth. It
is well known to all except, perhaps, to those who order and commit
murder in the name of, or on behalf of, or to further some cause,
personal or public.
Thus one finds that writing on the subject is a total exercise in
futility. Those one wishes to address or try to persuade are not
likely to be swayed by reason and they seem to be people with no sense
of humanity, no sense of the rules of life in which human beings count
for something.
All of us, at some time, have known the pain and anguish that comes
with the passing away of someone close whether it is a member of the
family or a friend or even a person we have admired from a distance.
The daily statistics that appear in the newspapers of killings convey
only the coldness of the brutal, senseless acts. These are impersonal
deaths and tell us nothing about the victims, most importantly, do not
bring to our attention the most notable single fact that the dead are
someone's father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, that they
belong to some household and of how that household has been broken and
devastated, filled with sorrow. Statistics only tell us how many have
died. The rest is left to our imagination.
I was immensely saddened to learn of the death of Syed Ehsan Ali Shah,
gunned down in cold blood. One can discern no motive other than he was
the brother of the Chief Minister of Sindh. The killers for the time
being remain faceless so that the act of murder becomes a part of a
conspiracy. Conspiracy to what purpose, for the promotion of what
cause? Only those who ordered the killing can tell us. What about the
killers? What manner of people are they that they can take a human
life and not know why they are doing so?
But it is the fact that no value is attached to human life that
baffles me. Even a soldier in battle must have some qualms out life as
if one was crumpling a piece of paper, that, I suppose, requires a
special kind of unfeeling and by definition is outside the pale of
conventional morality. It is subhuman.
What I am complaining about is a dehumanised society for the hit man
would go bankrupt if he had no client. It is the nature of the client
that fascinates me too. What sort of person would want to settle a
score, be it an act of personal revenge or a political statement by
ordering the physical elimination of others?
I next come to terrorism and to the bomb blast at the Egyptian
Embassy. That some foreign militant group should choose to pursue
their domestic agenda on our soil is deserving of the severest
condemnation. Not only were Egyptian lives lost but Pakistani as well.
I am not certain what cause they were espousing but I am certain that
they did not advance it.
There was a time once when terrorists needed the oxygen of publicity
to bring their grievances to the attention of the world. In a perverse
sort of a way, there was some admiration for them because many were
supportive of their demands or were outraged by what their people had
suffered.
It was a kind of a cry for help. Then terrorism became an end in
itself and mercenaries and other kinds of soldiers of fortune began to
make a career of it. They became international hit men. The cause
itself became bloodstained.
There is now universal revulsion for terrorism because the victims are
invariably innocent bystanders. Once again, those who have not the
remotest connection with the high-mindedness are the ones who get
hurt.
A terrible price is being paid for being innocent. Those Pakistanis
who died in the bomb blast at the Egyptian Embassy just happened to be
there. It was bad luck of the worst sort. But what about their
families?
What would they be feeling? Obviously they will have no sympathy for
the aims and objectives of those who caused the bomb blast. It is, as
I said at the outset, both mindless and counter- productive. It will
not be for the first time that a public will turn hostile to a goal
that had seemed noble because of the brutality of the means.
The world is sick of violence whether it is national or international.
The way to change society is not to destroy it. Because if nothing is
left, what will there be to change?
If a cause is worth dying for then one should set an example and die
for it. Not take the lives of those who just happen to be present. How
dangerous it has become just to remain alive!
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951205
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Theft & transmission losses
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Editorial Column
THE KESC's transmission and distribution losses are 40 per cent as
against the Economic Survey's average of 24 per cent for the whole
country. Addressing the officers of the BSC the other -day, Mr Ghulam
Mustafa Khar gave a deadline of June 1996 to bring down these losses
to the level of the existing average for Pakistan. The minister seems
unconvinced that more than half of these losses are due to theft. The
officials were warned that the reduction in losses should not be
achieved through inflated bills instead, corruption and power theft
need to be eliminated.
The magnitude of theft can be gauged from the fact that the KESC
itself claimed recently that in a few localities it had detected 5,560
kundas supplying power to 8,150 households. If these households were
consuming the minimum of 50 units each, the KESC was losing Rs 400,000
each month in only a few localities of this mega city. The losses of
this order are as shocking as they are baffling, especially when the
KESC claims to be currently spending Rs 38 billion on the system-
improvement projects. Because of this heavy expenditure, one can
understand the shortage of cash but not the increase in losses on
account of transmission and distribution faults.
For corruption and inefficiency of the KESC administration, consumers
are required to pay highly inflated bills. To this aspect the minister
was totally indifferent. Within the last few months the charges have
increased two-fold or threefold, depending upon the units of
electricity consumed by households and industries. In case of the
consumption of about 500 units, almost equal to half of the energy
charges is added as fuel-adjustment charge and a full hundred per cent
is levied as an additional surcharge. The total bill thus comes to
about 200 per cent more than the actual price of the electricity
consumed. Despite these heavy charges, the KESC does not have meter
readers, for bills are made out, for months together, on the basis of
average, which is another way of over-charging on the basis of
graduated tariff slabs.
While the minister has delivered usual exhortation to the officers to
reduce losses on account of theft and transmission shortcomings, he
has not paid any attention to the plight of the consumers in relation
to over-pricing. Two or three-fold increases in power charges must
have upset the viability of many an enterprise, especially those in
whose cost energy forms a major constituent. As 35 to 40 per cent of
Pakistan's industry is located in Karachi, the KESC must be
contributing substantially to inflation, entirely because of its
corruption and inefficiency within its fold. With the spiralling of
charges without any restraint or rational consideration, there will be
no pressure on the KESC bosses either to reduce corruption or improve
efficiency because the balance sheet would now automatically turn from
red into black. If anything, it would encourage inefficiency if not
corruption. Had the minister prohibited any increase in tariff until
theft was reduced and power loss was brought down to the national
average, the KESC would have been under pressure to make some serious
efforts to improve efficiency and cut losses to the maximum extent
possible.
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951206
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Praying for Pakistan
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hafizur Rahman
SUPPOSE the Pakistani nation refuses to lift even a little finger to
rectify matters in the country, but the leaders, both in the
government and the opposition, go regularly to Makkah and Madina to
pray for its unity, integrity and safety, will Allah be moved by their
prayers and grant these three gifts as a special favour?
We are taught that the Almighty s ways are inscrutable, and that no
one can claim to understand why he punishes some and rewards others
why apparently saintly men and women suffer and obviously evil men and
women flourish. But there is also such a thing as common-sense with
which he has adorned the human mind.
This common-sense tells us, that unless we make an effort to put the
daily morsel of food into our mouths, He is not going to do it for us
and we can starve to death, howsoever pious we may otherwise be.
Similarly, unless we do something positive and concrete for our
country, and do it honestly, to improve our ways, Allah is not likely
to underwrite our continuation as a nation just because we are
Muslims.
You will be surprised to know that too many people in Pakistan believe
that this country is specially favoured by God, and that is why we are
still there despite our sins (and crimes) of omission and commission.
The question is how long is He going to tolerate our bad, sinful and
criminal ways?
For there is no doubt now that, morally and spiritually, we have all
but reached the nadir of degradation and depravity, as much in our
thinking as in our utterances and deeds.
It is the universal view, within the country and outside, that there
are no decent values and noble standards left, and that corruption,
both intellectual and financial, has taken over from all praiseworthy
traditions and practices.
Prayer is supposed to be a strictly private communion between man and
his Maker. Why do pressmen have to be told of its contents? Must
praying for Pakistan be publicised to show that this is what we are
doing for our motherland? It is as if Speaker Gilani was saying, I
have today prayed for the safety and security of Pakistan. Everything
will be OK now. Don t worry.
When Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and Leader of the Opposition Nawaz
Sharif perform umra, or raise their hands in devotion at various
shrines, do they purposely go there to seek the Almighty s protection
and benediction for Pakistan? Is that their only intention to ask him
to guard the country against disruption, disunity and disintegration?
Nothing else?
I am sorry, but I refuse to believe that if they say so. Everyone of
us bows before Allah for his personal and private needs, whether this
bowing in prayer is in the privacy of one s home or under the glare of
TV lights in holy places.
And yet, despite their prayerful whinings, Pakistan continues to
degenerate, and Pakistanis have allowed their morals to deteriorate
faster than the speed of sound. Why? One doesn t have to be specially
holy to divine the ways of God. Prayers have to be accompanied by good
actions, noble deeds and sincerity of purpose before they can be
expected to show results. Remember the childhood lesson God helps
those who help themselves.
If the action is not there, prayers are just insincere cries in the
wilderness and as meaningless as the one I heard the imam of our local
mosque send up one Friday Ya Allah! forgive all the sins and
trespasses of all Muslims all over the world, dead or alive!
I can t say anything about the Muslims who are dead, but the maulvi
can be asked, Will Allah forgive the sins and trespasses of the
living if they are doing nothing to become better Muslims? Are you
implying that they should go on having a jolly good (and sinful) time
and God should go on overlooking their misdeeds? Is this what you
understand by God being particularly favourable towards the adherents
of Islam?
All that I say is pray for Pakistan if you must if you feel an
inward urge to do so. But, for God s sake do something useful and
practical for the country too.
===================================================================
951201
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ijaz s unbeaten century lifts Pakistan batting
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Qamar Ahmed
SYDNEY, Nov. 30 For the first time in the series Pakistan s tamed
batting line-up stood to the test courageously to make an impressive
231 for 4 on the first day of the third and final Test against
Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
For this they owe a lot to their replacement batsman Ijaz Ahmed who
scored a flawless unbeaten century (101) to lift them after Pakistan
had won the toss and started poorly, losing their first wicket of
Aamir Sohail on only the third delivery of the day.
Having come in to face the new ball, Ijaz seldom flattered in his stay
of over six hours on the crease in which he hit thirteen glorious
boundaries and two towering sixes of Mark Waugh and Shane Warne. His
fifty came in 176 minutes batting with four boundaries and a six and
his third century against Australia at the fag-end of the day in 348
minutes batting.
For a player who had been forced into oblivion after the Test series
in Zimbabwe early this year, this surely was a great comeback innings
and a mind-boggling for those who still fail to understand or discover
as to why he was banished from the scene and not considered against
Sri Lanka at home despite his 246 runs in the series against Zimbabwe
at an average of 49.50.
There was no doubt in the fact that he was at the wrong end of a dicey
decision by Darrell Hair in the second innings of the second Test. He
batted defiantly in the first innings there and his cool and
calculated innings at the SCG had all the hallmark of a fully
committed person who was there to prove something not only to the
Australians but to his folks who for some dubious reasons had made him
a scapegoat.
It sounds strange that he was not even allowed to play for his
employers in Pakistan and yet suddenly was rushed back to Australia to
strengthen a rather rickety batting line-up.
To acclimatise and elevate himself in such a brief period and then
rise to the call is indeed creditable and he deserves every bit of it.
The manner in which he steered Pakistan to a respectable score was
cheerfully applauded by a crowd of over 11,000. Drives and cuts flowed
from his bat once he got into his grooves and even Shane Warne who
spun the ball viciously was not much of a problem for him.
Winning the toss, Pakistan opted to bat and lost the wicket of Aamir
Sohail when the first day s play started after a fifteen-minute delay
because of rain. It was a careless shot by Aamir Sohail who edged
Craig McDermott into the third slip to Mark Waugh on the third ball of
the day when 4.
Ramiz Raja batted steadily for his 33 runs but was out to a poor shot
when he lobbed a long-hop to mid-on to Michael Slater off Warne,
minutes before lunch but not before he had put on 60 for the second
wicket with Ijaz Ahmed. In the second session 79 runs were added with
Pakistan losing one more wicket that of Inzamam-ul-Haq who in 96
minutes stay had scored 39 runs to put on 77 for the third wicket.
Inzamam s was an impressive innings which was cut short by Warne who
had him caught at the wicket by Ian Healy.
Ijaz continued to dominate the proceedings even with Salim Malik at
the wicket who had joined him. The two shared a stand of 69 for the
fourth wicket before it ended. Malik looked in good shape. In one over
from Glen McGrath he hit three fours past the cover region but was out
leg before to him when 36. Having put on 21 runs for the fifth wicket
with Basit Ali Ijaz saw the day off without any further damage.
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951202
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Aussies rule test cricket today
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Qamar Ahmed
SYDNEY After their 2-0 drabbing of Pakistan in the current Test
series and their win in the series against the West Indies early this
year, Australia can now claim to be the champions of this game at Test
level and they deserve what they have achieved in the last few years.
They not only owe this distinction to their master batsman Allan
Border who led them in 93 Tests (a record) but also to the efforts to
their dedicated and devoted cricketers like David Boon, Waugh
brothers, Steve and Mark, Ian Healy, Craig McDermott and Shane Warne
and of course their present leader Mark Taylor who is well backed by a
qualified physio and an experienced coach, Bobby Simpson.
Their run of successes continues with the recent mauling of a
disjoined Pakistan touring team.
Australia has now taken the reins. How long they will manage to remain
on top will now depend on how quickly the other teams recover to be
level again and how long their form lasts.
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951202
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Waughs dig in as Pakistan s batting crumbles again
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SYDNEY, Dec. 1 Mark and Steve Waugh dug in for a nervous Australian
side after Shane Warne had sparked another dramatic Pakistan collapse
on the second day of the third Test here Friday.
Pakistan lost their last six wickets for 68 - the last four wickets in
19 balls - and were all out for 299. But Michael Slater went in the
first over before Australia recovered to 151-3 when bad light stopped
play an hour ahead of schedule.
Mark Waugh was on 54 his 21st test half century and three runs short
of his top score on his home Sydney Cricket Ground and Steve on 26
in an unfinished 60-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Australia, with the series already won after substantial wins in
Brisbane and Hobart, lost skipper Mark Taylor for 47 soon after tea
when he was out to an wild shot at off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq. His
135 minute innings ended when he was snapped up by wicketkeeper Rashid
Latif leaving his team shaky at 91 for three.
David Boon, the second man out, was unconvincing during his 79 minutes
at the crease before he edged leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed to Latif to be
out for 16.
Slater repeated his first over Hobart test flop when he was dismissed
off the third ball of Wasim Akram s opening over for one as Australia
had to negotiate two testing overs before lunch.
Wasim Akram clipped Slater s off-stump with an in-swinger as the
impetuous Australian opener attempted to drive to claim his 279th
wicket in tests.
Pakistan crumbled again fell to the spin of Shane Warne who took four
wickets for 55 off 34 overs.
It was another shameful display by the Pakistan batsmen, saved by Ijaz
Ahmed s 137 the highest score by a Pakistani at the SCG. His 442-
minute innings was ended when he hoisted a Shane Warne ball to Glenn
McGrath at backward square leg.
Ijaz, who came to the crease after only two minutes into the test,
faced 332 deliveries, hit two sixes and 17 boundaries. Ijaz was
dropped by Mark Waugh at second slip off Craig McDermott when on 104
in the second over of the morning.
McDermott took three wickets for 62. Warne now has 191 test wickets
and McDermott 276.
Basit Ali, who cracked a sizzling off drive off Paul Reiffel, was out
for 17 when he found Slater at extra cover.
Latif lasted 10 balls before he prodded at McDermott and offered a
catch to Ian Healy to be on his way for one, sending the tourists to
269 for six.
Pakistani skipper Wasim Akram ripped into McDermott s 21st over,
hitting four fours in five balls.
Wasim had a life on 18 when he hooked McGrath to long-off where Slater
scurrying in the direction of the ball dropped a two-handed chance.
Mushtaq Ahmed lasted three balls and spinning partner Saqlain Mushtaq
four balls before Wasim was deceived by a slower delivery from McGrath
and spooned the ball back to him to be caught and bowled for 21.
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951203
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Pakistan takes lead in test but falter in 2nd innings
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Qamar Ahmed
SYDNEY, Dec.2 There doesn t seem to be any light at the end of the
tunnel for Pakistan in the third and final Test being played at the
SCG. Their bowlers sweated and clinched the initiative and their
batsmen then destroyed it all and let every opportunity slip through
their imprudent attitude.
The story was much the same even in the third day s play of the Test
in which two leg spinners Mushtaq Ahmed and Shane Warne dominated the
proceedings. Mushtaq once again weaving his web around the Australian
batsmen had provided Pakistan with this golden opportunity of a 42-run
first innings lead. His five for 95 in Australia s 257 all out was a
type of performance which Wasim Akram s men badly needed to lift them
up but in the end he alongwith his captain, who had taken 4 for 50,
were let down by reckless batting by Pakistan.
An overall lead of 143 with six wickets remaining is not a healthy
score, considering that Aamir Sohail, Ramiz Raja, Ijaz Ahmed and Basit
Ali are all gone. Basit s dismissal, on the last ball of the day when
he padded the ball from Warne pitched outside the leg stump and was
bowled round his legs, sent shock waves in the dressing room.
Of the recognised batsmen only Salim Malik who was at the crease with
21 and Inzamam-ul-Haq who did not take the field all day because of
stiff neck were left to save a sinking ship. If the two manage to
share a long partnership and Wasim Akram and Rashid Latif make useful
contributions to enhance the lead by another hundred runs and over,
Pakistan then may have some hope to make Australia struggle for runs.
The disturbing factor for Pakistan however is Shane Warne, who has the
ability to spin the ball on a marble let alone on a wicket which is
already turning square. To add to his 4 for 55 he is hungry for more.
In the second over of the Pakistan innings, Aamir Sohail was dropped
in the first slip by Mark Taylor of all the people when he slashed at
a Craig McDermott delivery. In the next over, Aamir hooked Glen
McGrath for 6 to mid-wicket. But he chanced his arm once too often and
was caught by David Boon at point off McDermott when 9. It was slip-
shod batting.
Having added 16 runs to their tea score of 42, Pakistan lost Ijaz
Ahmed for 15 after 40 runs were added for the second wicket. Warnes
top spinner wrapped him in front of the wicket. Ramiz Raja swept Warne
when 39 and failed as the ball seemingly brushing his gloves lobbed in
the air to be caught by Mark Waugh.
Salim Malik showed a lot of resilience occupying the crease for 76
minutes for his 21 to keep his end intact but saw Basit perish at the
other end.
The Waugh brothers who earlier in the morning had resumed at 151 for
3, were separated after an 83 runs partnership for the fourth wicket.
Steve Waugh was beaten off Mushtaq and was smartly stumped by Rashid
Latif for 38.
Greg Blewett had no clue against Mushtaq s googly and was bowled when
5. But Mark Waugh who had started the day at 54 stayed there to reach
his century in 239 minutes batting with six fours and a six off
Saqlain Mushtaq.
from 226 at lunch, Australia crashed to 257 all out fifty minutes
after lunch. Mushtaq who had Ian Healy caught at the wicket before
lunch took a well judged catch in the gully off Wasim Akram to dismiss
Mark Waugh for 116. Akram then had Warne caught by Rashid for 2 and
bowled McDermott in the same over - taking two wickets in three balls.
A low down catch by Akram at cover off caused McGrath dismissal thus
enabling Pakistan to be in the lead which was enjoyable.
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951204
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Sydney Test set for tight finish
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Qamar Ahmed
SYDNEY, Dec. 4 For Pakistan or for Australia it is going to be a very
crucial final day tomorrow in the third Test being played at the SCG.
As it is poised, it can go either way. A win for Australia would mean
a clean sweep in the series against the tourists and for Pakistan the
victory would mean a lot more than a win. It will at least give them
some credibility and confidence before they start their three-week
tour of New Zealand.
Needing 247 runs to take the match and with it achieve a whitewash in
the series, Australia are precariously placed at 121 for 3 having lost
Michael Slater, David Boon and their century-maker of the first
innings Mark Waugh. They still require 126 more runs on a wicket on
which it is not easy to bat against spinners Mushtaq Ahmed but not
difficult either, if Mark Taylor, who is there with 49, and the rest
stick to their task to wait, stay and graft the required runs.
Pakistan resuming at their overnight 101 for 4 with Inzamam and Salim
Malik together took the score to 163 before Malik who had batted
responsibly was given out leg before by Dickie Bird when 45. It was a
close decision after Malik had added 62 runs for the fifth wicket with
Inzamam and had batted for 192 minutes in a bid to take a sizeable
lead. From 117 for 5 at lunch Pakistan should have been able to take a
big lead but they did not as once again their batting faltered and a
collapse ensued.
Inzamam 45 at lunch completed his 50 with six fours in nearly two
hours batting but then saw wickets tumble. Wasim Akram was leg before
to a dicey decision by Steve Randall when McDermott brushed his top
end of his pads.
Rashid Latif was another unlucky man to be declared leg before to a
delivery from Warne which had pitched outside the leg stump when he
was 3. Bird s blunders were innumerable but this was a stunner.
Taylor s superb catch at mid-wicket off a McDermott delivery to get
rid of Inzamam was a brilliant piece of work when Inzamam had scored
59. McDermott later had Saqlain and Mushtaq Ahmed in his next over to
wrap up the innings and finish with 5 for 49.
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951205
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3rd Test win World Cup tonic for Pakistan
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Qamar Ahmed
SYDNEY, Dec. 4 The victory against Australia by 74 runs in the third
and final Test at the Sydney cricket ground today couldn t have come
at a better time, that is just a day before the team leaves for New
Zealand for a one-off Test and four limited - over games.
The Pakistani team deservingly earned a success after their successive
defeats in the first two Tests at Brisbane and Hobart, and the
humiliation against Sri Lanka at home. The triumph would go a long way
to boost the confidence of the Pakistanis and to reorganise
themselves.
The fans may be having a different view of the series had Pakistan not
dropped nine catches in the first Test at Brisbane and had the
umpiring, which has been grossly inconsistent in the series, not
played its part in Pakistan s stumble in the second Test at Hobart.
But this is all part of this glorious game of uncertainties. One could
pontificate and hypothesise but the truth of the matter is that the
series is over and Australia has won it 2-1, thus dashing any
aspirations that Pakistan had of winning a series Down Under. But
Pakistan s fourth Test victory in Australia and their first after
their last win in Melbourne in 1981-82 in this country, was well
deserved.
Pakistan s captain Wasim Akram cannot be blamed for moaning that the
series should have been a five - match contest. Obviously not happy
with the umpiring in the series he said, I am not allowed to comment
on umpiring decisions but we will in the usual manner submit a report
to the ICC.
Given recent history of the Australians, the run chase of 247 to win
was though approachable was demanding.
The Test at the start of the day was evenly poised and opened and any
one could have snatched it. Pakistan was lucky that they made early
inroads and continued to put pressure once they had tightened their
grip over the Australian middle order and the tail.
With only ten minutes to go to lunch on the final day, Pakistan had
completed their demolition job, taking the remaining seven wickets and
not allowing any mercy. For this leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed who had a
haul of 9 wickets for 186 in the match was as much responsible as
Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis who struck the final blow by taking three
wickets to polish off the tail.
In the third over of the day, Ian Healy, the night-watchman edged one
from Akram to Rashid Latif when 7. Taylor who earlier on had reached
his fifty with five fours in 169 minutes batting, drove dangerously
past Mushtaq s stretching hands for four to long on.
Both he and Steve Waugh, who was batting with a runner because of a
groin injury were never at ease as Mushtaq and Akram kept them
guessing with superb bowling, the former with his shrewd spinners, the
latter with swinging deliveries.
Driving Mushtaq, Waugh played onto his wicket when 14 and six runs
later Taylor ran out of steam to be stumped by Rashid Latif for 59.
Waqar Younis brought into the attack then bowled Greg Blewett with a
full toss when 14 and shattered Craig McDermott s stumps in the same
over.
The collapse continued as Shane Warne hit one of Mushtaq at long off
and Saqlain Mushtaq took it comfortably. A few deliveries later Waqar
delivered a scorcher to overthrow Glen McGrath for 0.
Making runs in the second innings was hard work. Pakistan bowled
tight and deserved to win. Shane Warne was the Man of the Series for
his 19 wickets and Mushtaq Ahmed, the Man of the Match.
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951206
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Mushtaq emerges as potential challenger
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SYDNEY, Dec. 5 Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne is facing a new
challenge his status as the ultimate match-winner for any cricket
Test side is under threat from Pakistan counterpart Mushtaq Ahmed.
Warne, Australia s most prolific bowler in recent years, earned the
man-of-the-series award by capturing 19 Pakistan wickets as Australia
beat Pakistan 2-1 in the three-Test series.
But the bowler who revived the art of leg-spin has found himself
challenged by the diminutive Mushtaq, whose nine-wicket match haul
helped lift Wasim Akram s side to a 74-run victory in the third Test
on Monday.
His victims at the Sydney Cricket Ground included Warne, who looked as
confused and baffled as the other Australian batsmen by Mushtaq s
ability to disguise a delivery that spins back into the right-hander.
Warne, in contrast, can produce sharper turn away from a right-hander
with his standard leg-break delivery in an arsenal further
strengthened by his flipper.
Warne, the stockier and more experienced of the leg-spin pair,
eventually lost his wicket for five after lofting a mis-timed drive to
Saqlain Mushtaq at mid-off.
Mushtaq s man-of-the-match performance, which took his tally for the
series to 18, earned glowing praise from Wasim, who bracketed the
right-arm spinner in the same class as Warne.
Mushtaq was overlooked for the first Test in Brisbane, won
convincingly by Australia, while Warne did not bowl in either Pakistan
innings in the second Test in Hobart, also won by the home side, after
breaking his toe late on the first day.
Mushtaq, who attributed some of the credit for his performance to
Warne s influence, said he is playing his best cricket at the moment.
Shane is one of the best bowlers in the world because of one thing
he never gives the batsman a chance to hit the ball because his line
is very good and he is very consistent, Mushtaq said in a post-match
interview.
I learned one thing from him I get a bit excited because I have not
got great patience, but he has great patience. So that is what I tried
to do, he said.
Warne finished the series with 19 wickets for 198 runs at an average
of 10.42, compared with Mushtaq s 18 for 384 runs at 21.33.
Warne has 195 wickets in 41 Tests while Mushtaq has 62 from 20.
The figures are enough to make any Test batsman nervous, particularly
as both Warne and Mushtaq are some years away from what is regarded as
a spin bowler s prime.
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951201
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Jansher stretched but overcomes challenge
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DOHA (Qatar), Nov. 30 Pakistan s world champion Jansher Khan needed
all his experience to overcome the challenge of 20-year- old
Australian Dan Jenson in the quarter-finals of the Qatar International
Squash Championship here on Thursday.
It was only in the third game that Jansher was able to assert his
authority and won 17-15, 17-15, 15-8 after 54 minutes, with the first
game occupying almost half this time.
Jenson, ranked 33 in the world and playing in his first- ever major
quarter-final, used his height and long reach to take the ball early
and whenever he got an opening, finished the ball with a fine touch.
Although Jansher was never behind, he was never able to get more than
two points ahead of the Australian in the first game and Jenson saved
a game point to stretch it into setting.
In the second Jenson had a useful lead of 6-2, but then played a
couple of high-risk shots which finished up on the tin and started
Jansher on the road to recovery.
But again Jenson did not let him get far in front and was level with
him at 13. Once more he saved a game point with a deft drop- shot, but
could not make the most of his reprieve.
In the third Jansher applied tremendous pressure and his young
opponent s control faltered. Once he was cushioned with a sizeable
lead, Jansher himself played some daring shots from overhead and
Jenson s challenge collapsed, the final game taking only ten minutes.
Australian Brett Martin, the fourth-seeded Australian, beat Del
Harris, the English finalist in the recent World Open Championship, in
a spectacular match lasting 42 minutes.
The issue was settled in straight games but fortunes fluctuated
incessantly and each of the games could have gone either way.
Martin s ability to score winners from seemingly impossible angles and
the element of deception in his strokes tipped the scales.
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951202
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Eyles sets up Qatar Open final clash with Jansher
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DOHA, Dec. 1 Australia s Rodney Eyles lived up to his number two
world ranking by qualifying for the final of the Qatar International
Squash Championship with a win over compatriot Brett Martin here on
Friday.
The semi-final, lasting 62 minutes, was a thriller because it was
closely-contested and had spectacular rallies. Although competition
was keen, the match was played in excellent spirit and with both
rivals moving superbly on court, lets were down to a minimum.
The crowd, often brought to its feet by the Australians dazzling
display, groaned with disappointment when Martin failed to stretch the
match to a fifth game.
Pakistan s six-times world champion Jansher Khan beat Scotland s Peter
Nicol 15-12, 15-12, 17-15 in 58 minutes to set up a final against
Eyles on Sunday.
Jansher s concentration seemed to lapse each time he had a sizeable
lead in the third game. He had four match points at 14-10 and though
Nicol saved it with a tight drop, the Pakistani then made errors to
let Nicol draw level at 14-14.
As for Nicol, he played with persistence but without being able to
exert much authority. He was the last man to beat Jansher on the
international circuit in the Leekes Welsh Classic in February 1994.
No matter how well you are playing, he can go one better. It is very
frustrating, said the third seed after losing 15-12 15-12 17-15.
Results in the Qatar International Squash Championship here on Friday
Semi-finals Rodney Eyles (Aus) bt Brett Martin (Aus) 15-11, 15-13,
10-15, 15-13, Jansher Khan (Pak) bt Peter Nicol (Sco) 15-12, 15-12,
17-15.
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951203
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Fourth successive Qatar Open crown for Jansher
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DOHA, Dec. 2 World champion Jansher Khan won the Qatar International
Championship for the fourth year running with an emphatic win over the
World number two from Australia Rodney Eyles.
Jansher had the match sewn up in 58 minutes, 15-4, 15-9, 17-16. He
came from behind to win the third game but his recovery was quite
effortless, rattling off five points in a row after Eyles had served
for the game at 14-9. Jansher saved another game point over setting,
at 16-15. Initially Jansher was 3-7 behind in that game.
There was promise of the second game being fought more closely when
the rivals were level at seven. But a tinned shot by Eyles started the
opening of the gap, with Jansher either hitting winners or forcing
Eyles into errors.
Jansher was both erratic and loose at the start of the third and
continued to fritter away points till Eyles led 12-7. Two forehand
kills which ended successive points, followed by an error from Eyles
gave him temporary relief.
But then Eyles responded with two winners in succession, a drop and a
boast, which took him to game point. Jansher, however, closed in on
him with three successive winners, the first two being volley-drops.
On his fourth game point, a frustrated Eyles drummed the tin with his
return of service and a mis-aimed drop put Jansher level. A penalty
point gave Eyles his last chance of salvaging the game.
But Jansher deprived him with a volley that died in the back of the
court and seized the last point with a flourish, hitting a winning
backhand.
Dawn Page