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Friday, 7 April, 2023 I 16 Ramzan, 1444
Rs 15.00 | Vol XIII No 279 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
NSC huddle todAy to diSCuSS wAy out of PolitiCAl CriSeS Govt to accept decision of fullcourt bench of SC: PM Shehbaz
ISLAMABAD
A
staFF report
mId rising the political heat, prime minister shehbaz sharif has summoned an extraordinary meeting of the national security committee (nsc) for friday (tomorrow) at the prime minister’s house. Informed sources have told pakistan today the top civil and military leadership of the country will participate in the meeting while the heads of the country’s intelligence agencies will brief the participants on national security situation. top military and civilian leadership will participate in the nsc meeting scheduled to take place at 11am on friday at the prime minister’s house including ministers for defence, interior, information, finance ministries besides other important of-
ficials. chief of army staff General syed asim munir and chairman Joint chiefs of staff committee General sahir shamsha mirza besides chief of naval and air staff would also attend. the huddle of the powerful body comes against the backdrop of a deepening constitutional crisis in the country as the federal government has refused to accept supreme court’s decision on punjab elections. Earlier in the day, the national assembly (na) passed a resolution against the top court’s declaration that the Election commission of pakistan’s (Ecp) decision to postpone elections in punjab was “illegal”. the three-member bench — headed by chief Justice of pakistan (cJp) Umar ata bandial and comprising Justice munib akhtar and Justice Ijazul ahsan — had also fixed may 14 as the date for the poll in the province.
ISlAMABAd: prime minister shehbaz sharif on thursday said the government would accept the decision of the full bench of the supreme court in the case for elections in punjab and khyber pakhtunkhwa (kp). speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Islamabad lawyers complex here, he said however, those judges who had earlier recused themselves should not be made part of that bench. he recalled that Justice munir was the creator of the doctrine of necessity which took pakistan down to a certain direction. he said, “we respect the supreme court and justices and their decisions should apply on everyone”. talking about proceedings of the supreme court in the case for elections, he mentioned that a nine-member bench was formed which was later shrunk to three members as some judges recused. In the same case, political parties were not made part of the proceedings despite requests, he noted. the prime minister said if the demand for a full bench of the supreme court was accepted in the case for elections in punjab ad khyber pakhtunkhwa then everybody would have accepted the decision. he said the decision of supreme court Justice Qazi faez Isa was invalidated through a circular in a case. then a six-member larger bench was formed for the same case.
fiqah-e-hanfia lahore sehr: 4:21 aM iftar: 6:28 PM
islaMabad sehr: 4:23 aM iftar: 6:36 PM
karachi sehr: 5:01 aM iftar: 6:51 PM
fiqah-e-jafaria lahore sehr: 4:11 aM iftar: 6:38 PM
islaMabad sehr: 4:13 aM iftar: 6:46 PM
karachi sehr: 4:51 aM iftar: 7:01 PM
Saudi Arabia commits financial support to help Pakistan secure IMF deal: minister g
Islamabad also In talks wIth UaE to sEcUrE assUrancE for dEposIts
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NA passes resolution rejecting SC’s judgment on Punjab, KP polls ISLAMABAD staFF report
MQM-P advises govt to avoid a ‘clash’ with the judiciary ISLAMABAD staFF report
a delegation of the muttahida Qaumi movement (mQm) on thursday called on prime minister shehbaz sharif and advised the coalition govt to avoid a ‘clash’ with the judiciary. matters pertaining to the ongoing population census and overall political situation in the country were also discussed during the meeting. the delegation comprised federal Information technology and telecommunications minister aminul haq and former member of national assembly farooq sattar. federal Economic affairs minister sardar ayaz sadiq also attended the meeting, a pm office statement said. ministers including prime minister shehbaz sharif have been opposing the decision of the supreme court of pakistan regarding holding elections in punjab on may 14. according to media reports on wednesday’s meeting mQm-p opposed confronting the supreme court. “we should not take any step that creates ‘clash’ with the apex court,” mQm-p ministers were quoted as saying during the meeting.“mQm-p is advising not to confront but not telling the way out,” pdm leaders said as per sources and added there may be differences of opinion on the matter but mQm-p is a coalition party.
the national assembly on thursday passed a resolution rejecting the supreme court of pakistan’s judgment on punjab and khyber pakhtunkhwa elections. the resolution, moved by khalid magsi, called upon the prime minister and the federal cabinet not to implement this judgment as it is contrary to the constitution. It said the house considers the conduct of general elections simultaneously across the country as the panacea to all the problems. It noted that this is in accordance with the procedure laid down in the law and constitution for political and economic stability. the house expressed concerns over interference in political matters saying the judgments of the minority are creating anarchy in the country and paving the way for division in the federating units. the resolution also voiced concerns over the wrong interpretation of article 63 (a) of the constitution and demanded formation of a full court of the supreme court to review it. the national assembly also passed a resolution unanimously strongly condemning the recent Israeli attacks on al-aqsa mosque. the resolution moved by the ppp leader naz baloch said the attacks on women and children are a gross violation of human rights. the resolution said this house stands in solidarity with the people of palestine. It further said that the attacks have hurt the sentiments of muslims around the world. the house urged the international community including human rights organizations to break silence on this violence. Earlier, the national assembly informed that the government is engaged with various countries to enhance export of pakistani workforce abroad. minister for overseas pakistanis and human
pRofIt reUters
resource development sajid hussain turi told the house during Question hour that these countries include belgium, denmark, Germany, Greece, Iraq, Italy, kuwait, lebanon, libya, portugal and romania. minister for parliamentary affairs murtaza Javed abbassi infomed the house that measures had been taken to ensure security and safety of people in the public parks of Islamabad. he said the government plans to build two new parks in the federal capital. responding to a calling attention notice, minister for parliamentary affairs murtaza Javed abbassi said seven sasta bazaars have been established in the federal capital territory to ensure provision of essential commodities to the people at reduced rates during the holy month of ramadan. he said there is a mechanism to determine the prices of essential items and then magistrates monitor the implementation of the rate list. the minister said during the holy month of ramadan, action has been taken against the profiteers and 67 people have been arrested and heavy fines have also been imposed on them. murtaza Javed abbassi said it is for the first time that free flour is being provided to the deserving families. he said despite difficult economic situation, the government is trying its best to provide relief to the common man.
saudi arabia has conveyed to International monetary fund its commitment to provide financing to pakistan, state minister for finance aisha Ghaus pasha said on thursday, a critical support to secure Imf funding. saudi arabia’s $2 billion pledged in external financing support to pakistan is one of the final conditions for an Imf deal that Islamabad needs to avert a default. “apparently saudi arabia has committed to Imf, and Imf has indicated to us that there has been a correspondence from them,” pasha told reporters in Islamabad. the Imf’s resident representative did not immediately respond to a reuters request for a comment. the Imf has asked pakistan to secure assurances on external financing from friendly countries and multilateral partners to fund its balance of payment gap for this fiscal year, which ends in June. Islamabad has been hosting an Imf mission since early february to negotiate a series of policy measures to secure $1.1 billion funding for the cash-strapped economy, which is on the verge of collapse. the funds are part of a $6.5 billion bailout package the Imf approved in 2019, which analysts say is critical for pakistan to avert defaulting on external payment obligations. the deal will also unlock other bilateral and multilateral financing avenues for pakistan to shore up its foreign exchange reserves, which have fallen to four weeks’ worth of import cover, and help it steer out of a balance of payment crisis. pasha said Islamabad was also in talks with UaE to secure an assurance for a foreign exchange reserves deposits in central bank.
Analysis: Why is a Sudanese Bank interested in investing $54.5m in Silk Bank? KARACHI MariaM UMar Farooq
Why would a South Sudanese bank want to invest over $50 million in a small Pakistani commercial bank? The question was raised early on Thursday morning when a notification hit the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) announcing that the International Commercial Bank of South Sudan (ICB) had expressed its interest in investing up to 50 million euros ($54.5 million) in Pakistan’s Silkbank Limited (SILK). Silkbank’s Board of Directors (BoD) held a meeting on April 5, 2023, in which it reviewed and considered the letter of intention and granted its approval to the management to formally pursue the potential investment. But what does it mean?
What’s in it for Silkbank In short, the bank needs the money. Silkbank, formerly the Saudi-Pak Commercial Bank, is primarily focussed on the consumer segment with a portfolio of services consisting of consumer loans, and credit cards. But it has been struggling recently and has found itself in a less than desirable financial position in the last few years. The bank reported a profit of Rs 13.2 billion in 2018. Thereafter, it reported a net loss of Rs 3.95 billion in 2019 which increased to Rs 6.57 billion at the end of 2020. The bank’s return on equity (ROE), and return on assets (ROA) followed a similar suit. ROA and ROE stood at 1% and 18% respectively. In 2019, ROA and ROE deteriorated to -2% and -31% respectively. They continued to decline in 2020. In 2020, ROA
stood at -2% whereas ROE was -84%. The bank’s non performing loans have been increasing consistently. The increasing trend in the infection ratio from 6% in 2018 to 31% in 2019 and further to 40% in 2020 shows that the bank’s loan portfolio has experienced a significant deterioration in terms of loan performance and credit quality over the three-year period. Earlier this year, Silkbank said in a press release that the bank is on a growth trajectory. But annual reports have not been made available to the public. The bank did experience some positive indicators as well during this time period. Deposits increased from Rs 132.7 billion in 2018 by 12% to Rs 148.9 billion in 2019. This trend continued in 2020 where deposits increased by 8% to Rs 160.2 billion.
The Sudanese equation The South Sudanese bank in question was founded in 2011 by a group of businessmen. Now, the fact that the bank wanting to invest money is Sudanese may come with some reputational baggage. In December last year, Bloomberg had reported that a South Sudanese letter of credit system had been exploited in a billion dollar scam. However, the interest in Silkbank is nothing strange, and nor is this the first time that the Silk bank has attracted the attention of acquirers. In early 2021, Fauji Foundation, which has a stake in Askari Bank, expressed interest to acquire a major stake in Silk Bank. When it lost interest, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) became interested in acquiring Silk Bank in mid 2021. In May 2022, Park View Enclave (Private) Limited
(PVEL), owned by businessman and politician Aleem Khan, expressed interest in acquiring 51% of the stake in Silk Bank which also withdrew its intention in October 2022. Who has stakes in Silk Bank? According to Silk Bank’s latest annual report for the year ending December 2020, around 62.91% of the bank’s shares are held by associated companies and related parties. This can be further categorised as the Arif Habib Corporation holds 28.23%, Shaukat Tarin holds 11.55%, the International Finance Corporation holds 7.74%, Zulqurnain Nawaz Chattha 7.76%, Nomura European Investment Ltd 3.93%, Bank Muscat holds 3.48% and Azmat Shahzad Ahmed Tarin holds 0.22%. Separately, the directors and chief executive hold 4.62% of the bank’s shares.