World’s Largest Gold Mines In Pakistan

Pakistan have the Largest Gold and Copper Mines. Largest Gold mine has been discoverd in PAKISTAN.

But we need to utilize them to fulfill the Basic needs of Pakistan. We don' t need money from any Country, we just need to work hard...

Business Indicators

With an overall score of 5.82/12, Pakistan is progressing toward standard on the economic, legal, and political indicators that make up our Business Index. Pakistan is a market-based, mixed economy. According to the 2008 Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom Index, Pakistan's government spending, which include the figures for consumption and transfer payments, is low. As a percentage of GDP, government spending totaled 18.2%. Pakistan encourages foreign investment and provides significant tax incentives in certain sectors. However, a few formal restrictions on foreign investment impede investment. Although property rights are protected by law, the legal system functions poorly. Corruption is extensive, as reflected by its ranking of 134th out of 180 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.

US’s $1bn Islamabad home is its castle

ISLAMABAD – The ambitious US$1 billion plan of the United States to expand its presence in Pakistan’s capital city of Islamabad underscores Washington’s resolve to consolidate its presence in the region, particularly in pursuit of the endgame in the “war on terror”.

This marks the beginning of direct American handling of “war and peace” diplomacy in the region, following the forging of a seamless relationship between the Pakistani military establishment and the US military. (See Pakistan-US plan falls into place Asia Times Online, July 24, 2009.)

Standing in the way are Pakistan’s restive tribal areas and the seemingly never-ending – and escalating – Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan’s Pashtun provinces.

According to reports, the US will spend $405 million on the reconstruction and refurbishment of its main embassy building in the diplomatic enclave of the capital; $111 million for a new complex to accommodate 330 personnel; and $197 million to construct about 250 housing units.

For this purpose, the US Embassy has acquired about 7.2 hectares of land at what is widely considered a mark-down price of 1 billion rupees (US$12 million), courtesy of the state-run Capital Development Authority. A Turkish firm has already built a 153-room compound for the embassy.

The fortress-like embassy will eventually accommodate close to 1,000 additional personnel being sent to Islamabad as part of the US administration’s decision to significantly raise its profile in the country. The new staffers will augment the current 750-strong American contingent already based in Pakistan; this against a sanctioned strength of 350.

Suicide bombing in Pakistan kills 3 soldiers, injures 3 others

In another act of violence on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, a suicide bombing in Waziristan has killed three soldiers and injured three others.

A suicide bombing in Northern Waziristan has killed three security personnel and seriously injured three others on Tuesday, according to CNN.

Pakistani intelligence officials confirmed that a car with explosives ran into a security checkpoint in Miran Shah, which is a town in northern Waziristan. Bombing, shootings and general violence has increased in that part of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Cross border cell phone signals – AirTel removes some towers

This story caught our eye because we’ve experienced something very similar in Lahore. If you are in the Bedian, Mughalpura, Harbanspura or other areas close to the border with India, you will find that your GSM cell phone will pick up at least a couple of Indian cell phone networks! In particular, AirTel seems to be the one with the best chances of connecting. We experimented with a phone configured for global roam, and sure enough, AirTel actually works for both voice and GPRS data. Now, at least across the LoC, AirTel has decided to remove 10 cell phone towers to avoid this loophole.

Pretty interesting when seen within the conventional context of “Secure communications”. It is technically possible for someone to be in Pakistan when they are actually in India and vice versa. Moreover, any attempts to “introspect” voice or data communications done in this “over the border” manner will also not work. (more…)

Tagged with: airtel, border, cell phone, GSM, india, loc, Telecom

Pakistan’s forex reserves rise to $11.15B, KSE rockets 24% since Dec 31st 2008

It was only back on the 30th of January that we covered the foreign exchange reserve position. At the time, the reserves stood at $10.2B and we had projected that this number would continue to rise very rapidly due to import reduction, healthy export performance and other expected inflows. Well, our projection has been borne out to quite some degree. In only 90 days, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserve position has improved by $1B and it currentlystands at $11.15B.

In addition to the progress on the forex reserve front, the Karachi Stock Exchange, Pakistan’s largest stock exchange, has also been staging a healthy recovery from the bearish trend it succumbed to during the second half of 2008. The KSE is up 24% from its Dec 31st close. And this is after a recent technical correction; the KSE actually peaked at 7,902 or a 36% increase over the Dec 31st close.

Through slightly more subjective information gathering, we’ve also determined that the real estate market is showing signs of very strong acceleration once again. While the mortgage crisis never really hit Pakistan since much of the privately owned property is owned outright, demand had receded somewhat through the second half of 2008. This is, however, no longer the case. The property business is picking up in a healthy way in Lahore and Islamabad, and prices are continuing to rise. One benchmark that we obtained specific information on is the price of plots in Lake City. A reference home that was available for Rs. 13.4M 18 months ago is now priced at Rs. 16M, showing 12% appreciation in just a year and a half. As compared to most international property markets, this is phenomenal growth, even if it is slow by historic Pakistani standards.

With the recent 1% cut in the State Bank’s interest rates, credit is on its way to becoming cheaper. There is still lots of room to go, but easing the rate certainly indicates that the inflationary threat is receding.

Pakistan, Forex and Musharraf

With the current account deficit widening, inflation boiling at over 24% and foreign reserves dieing out at the rate of $1 billion a month. Pakistan’s economic indicators seem to have taken a nose dive. Where did it start and when will it end?

The dollar today stands at over Rs.80 in the open market. Citigroup calls weak rupee ‘a legacy of flawed economic policies’. Economic policies put in place by a generous gift to Pakistan, from Citigroup itself, the MBA-cum-economist Mr.Shaukat Aziz. The other Shaukat, Tareen our latest in the line of Finance ministers boldly throws all the blame on the previous government and it’s “Short-term” aimed policies.