Tag: Likely

KARACHI: Pakistan's export of Kinnow would be reduced by over 30 percent this year due to decrease in overall production, sources said. The process of exporting the fruit to Iran, Central Asian States, Middle East and some African countries has started but the markets in European countries and Russia could not be tapped by the exporters as quality standards were not up to the required level.
Another reason is the shortage of small sized Kinnows in the domestic market, which have

ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is likely to approve $36.8 million credit to the Turkish company Zorlu Enerji for its investment in constructing of Pakistan's first 56.4 megawatt (MW) wind power plant near Jhimpir in Sindh province.
According to sources the project is sanctioned by ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda and has sent to the board for approval. The loan to Zorlu Enerji will be diverted from ADB's ordinary capital resources, with interest based on London

KARACHI: The federal government is likely to extend the tenure of prominent nuclear scientist Dr Samar Mubarakmand currently serving as member of the Planning Commission (PC), and by extension, as chairman of the Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) project in Thar, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Mubarakmand's contract as planning commission member is set to expire this month, but the Sindh government fears that the venture is likely to suffer in his absence. The provincial setup had

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said Friday he was likely to be suspended from parliament, after a disciplinary probe against him refused to hear his defence.
The government in April urged action against Anwar after he criticised its "One Malaysia" national unity slogan, saying it had been copied from the "One Israel" political alliance of former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak in 1999.
Muslim-majority Malaysia has no diplomatic relations with

ISLAMABAD: In its third meeting today (Saturday), the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) will likely nominate two judges for the Supreme Court and 32 judges for the country's high courts (HCs), including the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court.
The meeting will discuss nominations for two judges of the Supreme Court - replacements for Justice Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed and Justice Rahmat Hussain Jafferi, who retired on May 5 and November 20, respectively.
The meeting is

KARACHI: Pakistan's slow implementation of key reforms may again delay the release of the sixth tranche of an $11 billion International Monetary Fund loan, a source involved with the IMF talks said on Wednesday.
An IMF mission came to Pakistan last month to review the country's performance and was due to present the country's case to its board in mid-December. Pakistan was hoping to secure the sixth tranche then. The seven-tranche programme has kept Pakistan's economy afloat

ISLAMABAD: After the implementation of key power sector reforms, the board of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is likely to approve a loan of $242 million on December 10 to help Pakistan improve its electricity transmission infrastructure in Manila.
According to official sources, the ADB board would approve financing the power distribution enhancement project, which focuses on improving electricity transmission. The financing will help remove bottlenecks in the power distribution

ISLAMABAD: The PML-Q, MQM, JUI-F and other minor political parties, who have vowed to oppose the Reformed General Sales Tax Bill 2010 in totality, are likely to boycott the voting on the recommendations finalised by the Senate Standing Committee on Finance on Friday, as experts say the parties have no other option left with them.
"These political parties, including my party, the PML- Q, who have decided to oppose the anti-poor bill, will find themselves in a fix when the report

ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is likely to approve on December 13 a private-sector loan of $100 million - with a political-risk guarantee of $50 million - for the 404-megawatt Uch II Power Plant in Balochistan.
The project involves the construction, erection and operation of the low British thermal unit (BTU) combined cycle power-plant. Uch II would be constructed adjacent to the 586 MW Uch 1 Power Plant at Dera Murad Jamali, which has been operational since 2000.

ISLAMABAD: The reformed general sales tax (GST) is not likely to get through the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance in its present form with the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) only having five members of the 17-member committee.
The committee five members from the PML-N, three from the PML-Q and one each from the MQM, the ANP, the JUI-F and FATA. The PML-N, PML-Q and MQM have already announced that they would block the passage of this bill. The ANP and the JUI-F have

LAHORE: More than half a dozen current Pakistani cricket players are likely to be dumped for the forthcoming World Cup due to their involvement in the alleged match-fixing saga.
Chances are that beleaguered Pakistan wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider would be among the cricketers that also involve wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal, leg-spiner Danish Kaneria and Yasir Hameed apart from the tainted trio of Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Aamir.
It has been learnt that the PCB

ISLAMABAD: Opposition parties in the National Assembly are all set to take on the government, which is likely to table the reformed general sales tax (RGST) bill in both Houses of the parliament today (Friday).
A well-placed source confided to the Pakistan Today that tabling a controversial piece of legislation in an already explosive situation in the lower house of the parliament could land the PPP-led government in hot waters.
PML-N senior leader and Opposition Leader

NEW DELHI: India may soon permit unrestricted exports of sugar, in a move that could push New York futures from 30 year highs by eliminating uncertainty over the exportable surplus of the world's second largest producer of the sweetener.
World markets are waiting for exports from India to fulfill rising demand from countries such as Pakistan, Indonesia and Russia, particularly when output from Brazil promises to be lower due to concerns over the weather. On Wednesday, the

ISLAMABAD: The government is likely to reduce tax exemptions in new proposed revised sales tax bill with certain fundamental changes related to enforcement and audit, Pakistan Today reliably learnt on Tuesday.
According to sources in the Law Ministry, the Federal Board of Revenue has sent the proposed bill to the Law Ministry a few days ago, proposing the withdrawal of all kinds of exemptions on sales tax, except on life saving drugs and food items.
The exemptions would help

KARACHI: The elevated price of cement during the first quarter of the financial year 2011 is likely to surge profits for the industry by 33 percent annually.
The hike in local cement prices and the improved demand outlook on the back of expected reconstruction activities has made an increase in the sector's profitability more plausible.
The cement sector's profitability underwent sustained pressure during the first quarter of the financial year 2011, led by a dwindling

ISLAMABAD
The government is likely to move an application in the Supreme Court for an early hearing of other controversial and challenged clauses of the 18th Amendment, so that parliament could re-amend it along with Article 175A in one go, Pakistan Today learnt on Sunday.
"If the constitutional reforms committee reaches a consensus on 175A under the light of the SC decision and brings it in the form of 19th Amendment in parliament for passage, the committee may have to go

GYEONGJU
The G20 finance ministers are likely to reach an outline agreement on reformation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at their meeting ending on Saturday, a reliable source said.
"We are extremely optimistic about the IMF reform as everyone has shown goodwill," the source told AFP. Ministers from a group of 20 leading economies are preparing for a summit to be held in Seoul next month.
The summit would discuss IMF reforms and address the issue of providing