Foreign loans/credits: re-lending mark-up rates lowered
The government has finalised the revised re-lending policy, according to which re-lending interest rate would be fixed at 12 percent against 17 percent per annum, official sources told Business Recorder. The Economic Affairs Division (EAD) had submitted a proposal for "revision of re-lending policy of foreign loans/credits", approved by the Advisor to PM on Finance on December 31, 2008 for consideration of the ECC more... (BR)

Six-month consolidated budget deficit rises to Rs 250.5 billion
The consolidated budget deficit of the federal and four provincial governments has accumulated to Rs 250.5 billion during first half (July-December) of 2008-09 fiscal year. According to a Fiscal Operations Report of Finance Ministry issued here on Monday?, total revenues of the government stood at Rs 834.47 billion and expenditures at Rs 1.085 trillion during first half of 2008-09 more... (BR)

US to move rapidly to stabilise Pakistani economy
The additional aid will be attached to a package proposing an annual assistance of $1.5 billion over the next five years more... (D)

Pakistan refuge of main terror groups: Gates
All major terrorist networks have a safe haven in Pakistan to operate creating a big "problem" to the US war against terror, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said. "I think it's the safe haven on the Pakistani side of the border, not just for al Qaeda but for the Taliban, for the Haqqani network, for Gulbaddin Hekmatyar and other affiliated groups that are all working together -- they're separate groups, but they're all working together, and I think as long as they have a safe haven to operate there, it's going to be a problem for us," Gates told a US channel on late Sunday more... (FD)

Steps against long march discussedGilani meets Zardari
President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday stressed that it is the responsibility of the government to methodically tackle political chaos, urging all political parties to boost efforts to curtail confrontation. He said this during a luncheon meeting with Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani more... (FD)

Cement exports up by 60 percent
Cement exports grew by 60 percent to 6.83 million tons during eight months (Jul-Feb) of current 2008-09 fiscal year against 4.26 million tons of last year due to easy and cheapest availability of raw material and rising international demand, industry sources said. They said that rising regional cement demand pushed the country's cement export to this level more... (BR)

Ban on current CFS Mk-II proposed
The Continuous Funding System (CFS) committee has proposed to ban the existing CFS Mk-II and Deliverable Futures in the country's stock exchanges with immediate effect. The committee has proposed to introduce Cash Settlement Futures (CSF) and other investor-friendly products of international standards more... (BR)

Circular debt swells to Rs 180 billion
The circular debt rose from Rs 159 billion in January 2009 to Rs 180 billion by the end of February, belying the claims by the government that it was focusing on reducing the debt. However this is not a violation of the Letter of Intent (LoI) submitted to the International Monetary Fund. The public sector entities in petroleum and gas sectors are facing financial crunch due to rising circular debt more... (BR)