Transport Asia 2010 Exhibition

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Transport Asia Exhibition 2010, The Transportation Events Conference & Exhibition Programme are a series of key regional events for the International Trade Fair on Transport Technology, Infrastructure, Public Transport Systems, Air, Shipping & Marine Logistics Industry in the entire region. Transport Asia is the largest international transport event in Pakistan & its neighboring countries, making it the perfect opportunity for exhibitors to establish their company’s presence on the Pakistani transport market and promote their products and services to a large number of potential clients.

Transport Asia Exhibition 2010 has become an international meeting point for industry specialists from all major transport sectors, including freight forwarders and logistic service providers, shipping lines, ports, material handling equipment, etc.

The Government of Pakistan has long term plans to expand the communication infrastructure in the Country. It is looking forward to raise the transportation network in the Country to the international standards as
Pakistan aspires to tap the landlocked Central Asian States which is a very lucrative market for the rest of the world.

Transport Asia Exhibition 2010 is poised to highlight the emerging opportunities for transport sector in Pakistan. Transport Asia would showcase emerging technologies in the transportation & allied sectors and aims to focus on the immense potential of the transportation modes and related services to cater to the domestic and International transportation demands.

Gold Prices

Metal	Symbol	PKR for 10 Gm	PKR for 1 Tola	PKR for 1 Ounce
Gold 24K	XAU	27,987	32,609	87,051
Palladium	XPD	8,598	10,018	26,743
Platinum	XPT	35,489	41,351	110,386
Silver	XAG	437	509	1,358

FOREX RATES

Pakistan Open Market Forex Rates Updated at : 1/11/2009 11:12 AM (PST)
Currency	Buying	Selling
Australian Dollar	76.00	77.00
Canadian Dollar	77.80	78.80
China Yuan	12.00	13.50
Euro	123.70	125.00
Japanese Yen	0.9100	0.9200
Saudi Riyal	22.20	22.40
U.A.E Dirham	22.70	22.90
UK Pound Sterling	137.70	139.00
US Dollar	83.85	84.20

World markets buoyed by Alcoa, US jobless data

LONDON: World stock markets rose Thursday after a solid start to the U.S. third-quarter corporate earnings season and better than expected U.S. jobless data solidified hopes that the global recovery is on a sound footing.

European stocks tracked their Asian counterparts higher, with the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares up 29.18 points, or 0.6 percent, at 5,138.08 and Germany's DAX 54.55 points, or 1 percent, firmer at 5,695.30. The CAC-40 in France was up 39.554 points, or 1.1 percent, at 3,795.96.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 67.79 points, or 0.7 percent, at 9,793.37 soon after the open while the broader Standard & Poor's rose 7.79 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,065.37.

The global gains came after U.S. aluminum company Alcoa Inc. unveiled better than expected third quarter earnings in an after-hours statement Wednesday.

Alcoa, which traditionally kicks off the quarterly results season, said it earned $77 million, or 8 cents per share, in the three months to end-September. Though the profit was 70 percent down on last year's $268 million, it was better than expectations and helped send Alcoa's shares up nearly 6 percent in after-hours trade.

Alcoa also painted a fairly rosy picture for the second half of the year, forecasting an 11 percent increase in worldwide aluminum demand, largely on the back of robust growth in China.

"It is clearly good news for equity markets that the U.S. earnings season has got off to an upbeat start," said Anthony Grech, market strategist at IG Index.

"If U.S. earnings as a whole can surpass analyst expectations, we may see added momentum for global equities," he added.

Investors will be looking closely at upcoming earnings reports to see if hopes of a global recovery in the second half of the year are well-founded. The second quarter earnings season was generally better than expected and helped fuel a big rise in share prices in July and August. However, the forecast-busting earnings were largely due to cost cutting that are unlikely to be repeated.

Figures from the U.S. Labor Department further stoked hopes that the world's largest economy is on the mend. It reported that new claims for jobless benefits fell to 521,000 last week, down from 554,000 the previous week. Last week's total was the lowest since early January.

Market reaction to rate decisions from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England was muted.

As expected, the ECB left its main interest rate at 1 percent while the Bank of England kept its rate at 0.5 percent.

Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 32.87 points, or 0.3 percent, to 9,832.47 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 251.31 points, or 1.2 percent, to 21,492.90.

Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi climbed 1.1 percent while Australia's index jumped 1.6 percent after the country's unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 5.7 percent last month, adding to optimism about an economic recovery following a surprise interest rate increase earlier this week.

Mainland China's markets reopen Friday, having been closed for much of the week for a national holiday.

The dollar, meanwhile, continued to fall against major currencies amid ongoing concerns about its future as the world's leading reserve currency, and that helped push commodities prices. Crude oil climbed above $70 a barrel and gold hit a new high above $1,058 an ounce.

The dollar was down 0.1 percent at 88.54 yen, while the euro rose 0.3 percent to $1.4733.

Further sustained falls could see the dollar fall below its multi-year low of 87.11 yen and the euro break above its two-year high of $1.4842, achieved last month.

Benchmark crude oil for November delivery was down 3 cents at $69.54; the contract lost $1.31 overnight.

Asia stocks up amid faith in recovery

HONG KONG: Asian stock markets were modestly higher as investors eyed earnings from major companies for clues about the health of the global economy.

The moderate advance came after a mixed finish on Wall Street, where traders were reluctant to place major bets ahead of quarterly reports from U.S. companies.

But investors were pleased by news after the closing bell that Aluminum maker Alcoa Inc., the first of the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones average to announce its earnings, said it was profitable again after three losing quarters.

Markets found additional girding after Australia's unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 5.7 percent last month, news that caused the country's currency to surge to a 14-month high and added to optimism about an economic recovery.

Still, many investors were treading cautiously as they awaited more earnings reports in the U.S. as well as the reopening of mainland China's markets Friday, which have been closed the last week for a national holiday, analysts said

"We've already had a good rebound for several days, so at this moment we're on the sidelines and looking for more news," said Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 19.56 points, or 0.2 percent, to 9,819.16 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 81.95 points, or 0.4 percent, to 21,323.54.

Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi inched up 0.1 percent. Australia's index jumped 1.4 percent.

On Wall Street overnight, the Dow fell 5.67, or 0.1 percent, to 9,725.58.

The S&P 500 index rose 2.86, or 0.3 percent, to 1,057.58, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 6.76, or 0.3 percent, to 2,110.33.

U.S. futures pointed to a higher open Thursday. Dow futures were up 74, or 0.8 percent, at 9,747.

Oil prices rose above $70 a barrel in Asia amid a weakening U.S. dollar and mixed crude inventory data. Benchmark crude for November delivery was up 68 cents at $70.25; the contract lost $1.31 overnight.

The dollar slumped further, trading at 88.18 yen from 88.60 yen. The euro gained to $1.4756 from $1.4687.

Forex reserves rise to $14.7 billion

KARACHI: Foreign exchange reserves of the country rose to $14.748 billion in the first week of October mainly on account of fresh inflows of multilateral loans.

The SBP reported on Thursday that its forex holdings rose to $11.168 billion with the inflow of $410 million from the donor agencies. Commercial banksholdings amounted to $3.580 billion.

The country’s reserves have been on the rise, mainly thanks to borrowing from the IMF which has disbursed $5.148 billion since November 2008.

In November 2008, Pakistan struck a deal with the IMF for emergency loan package of $7.6 billion which was increased to $11.3 billion in July.

At the same time the current account imbalances also improved as massive expenses on account of oil imports fell on lower on lower international oil prices, reducing the trade deficit.

Gulf states' oil price 'plan' threatens dollar

LONDON: The dollar's future as the world's top currency was thrown into doubt on Tuesday as a report said Arab states had launched secret moves with China and Russia to stop using the greenback for oil trading.

Arab states have undertakn steps with China, Russia, Japan and France to stop using the dollar for oil trades, British daily The Independent reported on Tuesday, but this was denied by Kuwait, Qatar and reportedly other nations.

Despite the denials, the story sent the dollar sliding against rival currencies.

In turn, that sent gold prices surging a new record high at 1,038.65 dollars per ounce, as the dollar-denominated precious metal became cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies.

It comes as the United Nations called Tuesday for a new global reserve currency to end dollar supremacy, which has allowed the United States the 'privilege' of building a huge trade deficit.

'In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning -- along with China, Russia, Japan and France -- to end dollar dealings for oil,' The Independent newspaper reported on Tuesday.

They would instead switch 'to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar, the paper added.

Jane Foley, currency analyst at Forex.com, said the report was 'another chapter in the plot against the dollar as the world's most dominant reserve currency.'

She added: 'The dollar may be falling from grace, but it remains the case that since there are no alternatives its fall from pole position will be slow.'

Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah al-Sabah denied the report.

'Not at all,' Sheikh Ahmad said when asked by journalists to comment on The Independent story.

'At our level, no. We have never discussed or proposed this,' he said, adding that he was 'unaware' of any Gulf state making such a proposal.

Qatar's oil minister also flatly denied the report.

'Qatar has no information about what the newspaper has published and there are no secret or announced meetings concerning that matter,' Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah told reporters in Doha.

Fisk however reported that secret meetings had been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China,
Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which would result in oil no longer being priced in dollars.

'An eventual move towards oil being traded in a wider range of currencies is possible, but in our view, The Independent article makes it sound far more imminent than it likely is,' said Barclays Capital currency analyst Adarsh Sinha.

'In particular, the political consensus needed to achieve this would be very difficult, especially at a time when there is an apparent lack of consensus on more proximate issues for GCC countries, such as the Gulf Monetary Union.'

The report comes against a background of an agreement between China and Russia earlier this year to boost the use of their domestic currencies in bilateral trade at the dollar's expense.

Both countries have called for a revamp of the global financial system in the wake of the economic crisis, saying there is a need for a new supra-national currency besides the dollar.

Meanwhile in Istanbul on Tuesday, UN undersecretary-general for economic and social affairs, Sha Zukang, said 'important progress in managing imbalances can be made by reducing the (dollar) reserve currency country's 'privilege' to run external deficits in order to provide international liquidity.'

Zukang was speaking at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.-AFP

Textile units in EPZs get drawback facility

KARACHI: The ministry of textile industry has allowed drawback on local taxes and levies to textile units located in export processing zones (EPZs).

According to a ministry’s notification issued on Sept 1, 2009, all manufacturing units having processing, knit-to-shape or in-house stitching and cutting facility in garments, home textiles and processed fabrics will be entitled for drawback on local taxes.

The facility became effective immediately and all shipments made on or after Sept 1, will be eligible for getting drawback on taxes.

However, the most confusing thing about this notification is that initially it allowed drawback to units located in tariff areas of the country but only five days later the same facility was extended to units located in EPZs.

Exporters see a major flaw in this facility as all units in EPZs enjoy immunity from taxes and duties, therefore, there was no reason to allow them the drawback facility as was allowed to the units located in tariff areas, they added.

The State Bank has given separate country-code to the Export Processing Zones Authority because all supplies from Pakistan (tariff areas) to EPZ units are made against E-form and are treated as exports, hence are entitled to all incentives available on exports made overseas.

Exporters requesting anonymity further said that fabrics and garments exported from Pakistan to EPZ units were entitled to claim drawback, therefore, exports from EPZs to abroad can not be considered for drawback as it would lead to double claims.

As a result of this flaw exports destined for overseas would be routed through the EPZs to claim double benefit of drawback, thus defrauding the government.

The exporters said that since units located in EPZs did not pay contributions on account of social security, old age benefits, export development fund and property tax, there was not reason, whatsoever, to allow them the drawback facility.

They further argued that exports of these units did not form part of exports from Pakistan as their shipments were exempted from submission of E-form.

Furthermore, since Foreign Exchange Act is not applicable to EPZ units, export remittances are not surrendered to the State Bank and retained in foreign exchange by the EPZs exporters.

They urged the textile minister to personally intervene and correct the flaw as it would badly damage the interest of the tariff area units and would hamper their exports.

Gold holds near $1,050

Friday, October 09, 2009
LONDON: Gold prices held near $1,050 an ounce in Europe on Thursday, consolidating after hitting a record $1,058.20 an ounce earlier in the session, but underpinned by persistent weakness in the dollar.

Gold’s gains lifted other precious metals, with silver reaching its strongest level since July 2008 and palladium hitting a 13-month peak.

Spot gold was at $1,049.25 an ounce at 1444 GMT against $1,043.70 late in New York on Wednesday. A brief retreat in oil prices to below $70 a barrel in early afternoon trade helped take some upward momentum away from gold, but dealers said the metal’s gains looked solid as the dollar continued to languish. Oil later recovered.

Karachi Stock Market Summary

Oct 09, 2009 18:29
Market Status Suspend Volume 239,669,383 Value 10,905,444,857.08 Trades 131,722 Symbols Advanced 209 Decline 179 Unchanged 16 Total 404 Index Current High Low Change KSE All Share Index 6937.75 7042.84 6911.62 21.53 KSE 100 Index 9768.63 9924.94 9728.80 27.76 KSE 30 Index 10381.25 10535.18 10333.80 35.31 KMI 30 Index 14040.39 14283.45 13991.06 -22.9

FOREX RATES

Pakistan Open Market Forex Rates Updated at : 9/10/2009 8:41 PM (PST)
Currency	Buying	Selling
Australian Dollar	73.3	74.3
Canadian Dollar	77.7	78.7
China Yuan	12.00	13.50
Euro	121.6	123.6
Japanese Yen	0.927	0.937
Saudi Riyal	22.02	22.22
U.A.E Dirham	22.52	22.72
UK Pound Sterling	132.5	134.5
US Dollar	83.05	83.4

GoldCore Precious Metals Update - Gold To Consolidate Above Support at $985/oz?

Goldcore Bullion Services Team

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29 September 2009 @ 08:38 am ET

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Gold
US stocks rallied yesterday and the gold price soon recovered after initial falls, and resolutely stayed around the $990/oz level. The erratic nature of the dollar, at the moment, means that gold may still have its direction dictated by dollar volatility and traders may exploit this and push the limits of gold support in the short term, looking for favourable entry points. If gold continues to hold above $990/oz it will show that gold has the maturity to de-couple itself from short term influences. Jitters over Iran led to higher oil prices yesterday and there are prospects of new tough sanctions against Iran if Thursday's meeting of the UN Security Council and Germany (the so-called P5+1 - US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany) yields little progress. Analysts realise that should this geopolitical risk escalate, gold is likely to react positively.

Silver
Silver pushed back above the $16/oz level and is currently trading at $16.17/oz.

Platinum group metals
Platinum had a very quiet night on the Shanghai Gold Exchange and appears to be at the mercy of Chinese demand at the moment. It is currently trading at $1,277/oz, palladium is trading at $296/oz and rhodium is at $15,75/$1,675/oz.

Oil falls to near $70 after U.S. employment data

David Sheppard

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02 October 2009 @ 10:48 am ET

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Oil fell to near $70 a barrel on Friday after worse-than-expected U.S. employment figures raised doubts about the strength of the economic recovery, but a slump in the dollar helped drag crude prices off their lows.

The U.S. Labor Department said unemployment has risen to its highest rate since June 1983, with a payrolls drop of 263,000 in September coming in much higher than the market's expectation for a 180,000 fall. The U.S. unemployment rate now stands at 9.8 percent.

"Compared to previous recessions the pace of the current recovery can only be characterized as glacial," said Mike Fitzpatrick, vice president at MF Global in New York.

U.S. crude futures fell as low as $68.32 a barrel, before paring losses to trade down $1.02 cents at $69.80 a barrel by 1410 GMT.

London Brent crude lost $1.07 to $68.12.

The global recession slashed energy demand and oil prices collapsed from record highs close to $150 a barrel in July 2008 to lows near $30 a barrel at the turn of the year.

Since then, investors have been backing a rebound in oil consumption as the economy finds its feet, and prices have rallied back to trade between $65 and $75 a barrel for the last two months.

"At the moment it's looking vulnerable as stocks of oil are still very high and we're still not seeing a huge pick-up in demand," Sucden Financial trader Rob Montefusco said.

Oil prices were supported on Friday by a slump in the U.S. dollar, which fell against the euro and the yen.

A weaker greenback tends to boost dollar-priced commodities, as they become more cheaper in other currencies.

Traders and analysts said talks between six major powers and Iran -- the second largest oil exporter in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) -- over Tehran's nuclear programme could also push oil lower on Friday.

Both the United States and Iran described Thursday's talks as productive, after Iran agreed to allow U.N. inspectors into a newly disclosed uranium enrichment plant.

"While we certainly can't rule out more surprises in the next 3 months, there is a good chance that Iran will fade from the front pages, leaving the diplomatic and intelligence services to quietly do their work in the background," said Societe Generale analyst Michael Wittner.

(Additional reporting by Robert Gibbons in New York and Ramthan Hussain in Singapore; editing by James Jukwey)

Energy Prices Attention: open in a new window. PDFPrintE-mail Thursday, 24 September 2009 00:00

Commodities	Price	Change	Change %
PETROLEUM ($/bbl)
Nymex Crude Future	68.30	-.67	-.97
Dated Brent Spot	66.88	-.00	-.00
WTI Cushing Spot	68.77	-2.78	-3.89
PETROLEUM (¢/gal)
Nymex Heating Oil Future	174.65	-1.29	-.73
Nymex RBOB Gasoline Future	169.20	-1.29	-.76
NATURAL GAS ($/MMBtu)
Nymex Henry Hub Future	3.83	-.03	-.73
Henry Hub Spot	3.44	.07	2.08
New York City Gate Spot	3.78	.11	3.00
ELECTRICITY ($/megawatt hour)
Mid-Columbia, firm on-peak, spot	38.60	-4.22	-9.86
Palo Verde, firm on-peak, spot	30.93	-3.39	-9.88
BLOOMBERG, FIRM ON-PEAK, DAY AHEAD SPOT/ERCOT HOUSTON	27.36	-1.65	-5.69

KARACHI STOCK Market Indices

KSE Market Indices
Index	High	Low	Current	Change	% Change
KSE 100 TM Index	9,472.02	9,232.64	9,455.15	153.97	1.63
ALLSHR	6,733.11	6,572.69	6,721.29	101.78	1.51
KSE 30 TM Index	10,190.39	9,869.89	10,170.68	223.87	2.20
KMI30	13,907.72	13,465.95	13,881.65	293.22	2.11

Oil prices fall as US job losses mount

NEW YORK: Oil prices fell Friday as official data revealed a jump in job losses and the unemployment rate in the United States, the world s biggest energy-consuming nation. New York s main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery dropped 87 cents to close at 69.95 dollars a barrel. London s Brent North Sea crude for delivery in November shed 1.12 dollars to settle at 68.07 dollars a barrel. The US Labor Department reported Friday that job losses accelerated to 263,000 in September and the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, pouring cold water on hopes for strong recovery from recession. Payroll losses were far worse than expectations for a loss of 175,000 jobs and a revised loss of 201,000 in August. Employment will decline by about an additional 800,000 jobs before bottoming out in the first half of next year, said Aaron Smith, a senior economist for Moody s Economy.com. He said that a forecast for the unemployment rate to peak at 10.1 percent in the first half of next year may be too optimistic. Payrolls have now dropped for 21 consecutive months and since the start of the recession, the number of unemployed has increased by 7.6 million to 15.1 million, and the unemployment rate has doubled to 9.8 percent, according to the Labor Department. This grim picture is still measuring the fallout from the severe contraction over the past 20 months, said analyst Mike Fitzpatrick of MF Global. Investors, consumers and policymakers all have their fingers crossed that the worst has passed because there certainly is not a stream or a continuum of data that evidences a strong, sustainable recovery is underway. But he said that current economic recovery could sustain oil prices at current levels and higher.

Karachi bourse regains 154 points

KARACHI: Active short-covering on dips across the board on Friday helped the Karachi stock market recover from its recent losses. Turnover, however, further dropped below 200 million shares on the second day of Client Level Margining System. The recomposed KSE 100-share index posted a recovery of 1.66 per cent or 153.97 points and closed at 9,455.15 points. The parallel-running, 30-share index, gained 2.25 per cent or 223.87 points and ended at 10,170.68 points. Over four per cent (4.44 per cent) correction at the bourse in a one step forward and two step backward movement during the last one week provided an opportunity to buy on Friday, as lucrative stocks attracted local financial institutions on dips, said a leading analyst. On the other hand, foreign portfolio investors and local retail investors turned net sellers into the session. Almost all favourite sectors attracted institutional buyers, which included securities firms, energy, bank, telecom, cement, fertiliser, insurance, textile, refinery and others. Analysts said the beginning of announcement of results for the September quarter prompted prospective buyers to grab shares at lucrative levels, as improvement in world economies including that of Pakistan ignited hopes of positive corporate earnings. Turnover, however, further reduced to 199.77 million shares against 222.37 million on Thursday, showing a decline of over 10 per cent. Turnover in the future market also fell to 1.26 million shares as compared to 1.31 million shares changed hands yesterday. The price-recovery attracted a fund of Rs42 billion in the overall market capitalisation, which surged to Rs2,744 billion.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti said intense buying was seen ahead of September quarter results season. While expectation of capital gain in banks and brokerage concerns; renewed foreign interest in telecom, banks and oil sectors; higher oil prices in world market; and rise in foreign exchange reserves altogether played a catalyst role in positive activity at KSE, he added. Analyst Hasnain Asghar Ali said short-covering led a momentum allowed the market to register triple digit gain, mainly on technical bounce back. Positive numbers allowed the prospective buyers to improve buying limits in the main board stocks. The investment companies along with low priced stocks allowed the turnover to attain decent levels otherwise it could have lower than the recorded one. Support committed on dips in the main board stocks, mainly by the local corporate participants, confined the down side. Short covering and cautious accumulation on dips allowed the index to find technical support. While high volume activity in the investment companies kept the interest of the local participants alive besides pulling the sentiment from bearish bullish. The brokers looked busy in restructuring their positions in accordance with the newly-introduced mechanism of Client Level Margining System, Ali added. Out of total 398 actives, 227 stocks advanced, 154 stocks declined, while the value of remaining 17 stocks remained unchanged. Highest volumes were observed in JS Company at 32.52 million closing at Rs40.42 with a gain of Rs1.46, followed by AH Securities at 15.93 million closing at Rs43.34 with a gain of Rs1.42, Pakistan Telecommunication Company at 10.58 million closing at Rs20.53 with a gain of 43 paisa, Nishat Mills at 7.70 million closing at Rs66.34 with a gain of Rs3.15, and Pak Oilfields at 7.10 million closing at Rs218 with a gain of Rs4.05.

Pakistan buys 25,000 tons of white sugar

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has bought 25,000 tons of white sugar at $676 per ton cost and freight and free out (CFFO), in a tender that closed on Sept 30, a government official and a trader said on Friday. The government has approved the import of 100,000 tons of sugar to meet possible shortages. It is not known when the remaining 75,000 tons will be imported, but expectations of more purchases from Pakistan have helped underpin sentiment in futures markets bolstered by demand from neighbour India. The contract for 25,000 tons of sugar has been awarded to Al-Khaleej, which quoted the lowest price, said an official of the state-owned Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), which issued the tender. A total of five companies took part in the bidding but only four bids were found valid, the TCP official said earlier. The other offers for a lot of 25,000 tons came from Cargill ($689.00/tonne), LDC ($690.12/ton) and Bunge ($699.69/ton), a trader, who declined to be identified, said on Wednesday. Pakistan bought 75,000 tons of white sugar in a tender that closed on Aug 29, before the approval of another 100,000 tons of imports to meet possible shortages. The government has also decided to import 300,000 tons of raw sugar as officials expect the 2009/10 crop to come in at about 3 million tons, significantly less than demand. The raw sugar is not expected to be imported before December, a food ministry official said recently. The decision to import refined sugar came after domestic prices surged ahead of Ramazan. The rising price of sugar and other staples, plus power shortages, have led to anger with the government and intervention by the judiciary

Pakistan Inter Bank Forex Rates

Currency	Symbol	Bank Buying TT Clean	Bank Selling TT & OD	Charts
Australian Dollar	AUD	73.27	73.44
Canadian Dollar	CAD	76.58	77.77
Danish Krone	DKK	16.32	16.36
Euro	EUR	121.5	121.79
Hong Kong Dollar	HKD	10.71	10.74
Japanese Yen	JPY	0.92	0.93
Saudi Riyal	SAR	22.13	22.19
Singapore Dollar	SGD	58.81	58.95
Swedish Korona	SEK	11.9	11.93
Swiss Franc	CHF	80.12	80.31
U.A.E Dirham	AED	22.6	22.65
UK Pound Sterling	GBP	132.49	132.81
US Dollar	USD	83	83.2