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Tuesday, 13 December, 2022 I 19 Jamadi Awwal, 1444 I Rs 40.00 | Vol XIII No 164 I 76 Pages I Islamabad Edition
ICE MELTING
PM Shehbaz SayS ready for talkS with Pti chief for country’S Sake g
says will take 100 stePs forwarD but it takes two to tango
g
Confirms Dar helD talks with PresiDent alvi with his Permission
iSLAMABAD
P
Mian abRaR
rime minister shehbaz sharif on monday offered an olive branch to the former premier imran khan, saying he was ready to move forward and sit with the opposition for talks for the country’s sake. addressing a press conference here with a coterie of federal ministers, the prime minister said finance minister ishaq Dar had held talks with President arif alvi with his permission. “we will move 100 steps forward for the country’s stability. but it takes two to tango. we have to sacrifice when nation faces such a situation [as we are in],” he said. the prime minister told the media that the incumbent government inherited a shaken economy and that they had to beseech the international monetary fund (imf), which was not ready to trust Pakistan after the previous regime had deviated from the commitments. he said by passing the burden of the oil price surge to the masses, the incumbent government sacrificed its politics in the state’s interest as the previous regime had laid a trap for their government by not raising the prices. Prime minister shehbaz said the government had disbursed rs 70 billion among the flood-hit families through bisP (benazir income support Programme) and spent billions of others through the nDma (national Disaster management authority) to supply food packages, tents, and mosquito nets. besides, rs 400 million were also given in form of compensation for the life losses, he added. “with the onset of the winter season, a huge challenge is still ahead. Don’t know where the money will come from (to support the reconstruction),” he added. he said instead of spreading a rhetoric of
Pakistan becoming another sri lanka, imran khan should give an account for the sugar mill and wheat scandals. to a question, the prime minister said finance minister ishaq Dar met President arif alvi with his permission. “we will move 100 steps forward for the country’s stability. but it takes two to tango. the nations face such a situation when we have to sacrifice. but what kind of talks can be held with an egoistic and liar person who even defames the army … i want to tell the people that this person is a fraud having nothing to do with the nation’s future,” he said and called for setting aside the differences for the country’s progress. he said the previous government ridiculed his idea of the Charter of economy and misconstrued it as a desire to seek an nro. he said the unconditional apology by the british publication Daily mail was a vindication of the 220 million Pakistanis, which also thwarted an anti-state conspiracy hatched by
imran khan and his cronies. “finally, after three years, they (Daily mail) tendered an apology, not to me but all of you. it was an apology to 220 million Pakistanis, and to millions of those mothers and children who were benefiting from the DifD projects to support their food and health,” the prime minister said addressing a press conference here along with his cabinet members. apprising the media of the allegations levelled by the previous government through the Daily mail article, he said the onslaught was only meant to defame him, nawaz sharif and the Pakistan muslim league-nawaz. “he (imran khan) was so callous to never think that it will not only malign nawaz sharif or shehbaz sharif rather it will hurt Pakistan’s reputation,” he remarked. the newspaper also published its apology in sunday’s print edition, he added.
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Pakistan expects multibillion-dollar support from Saudi Arabia profit report ReuteRs
iSLAMABAD Pakistan will likely secure a multibillion-dollar financial support package from long-time ally saudi arabia this month, two sources said, as the country’s ninth review of a $7 billion imf bailout ran into snags. the two finance ministry officials said the saudi package would include deposits boosting the country’s foreign reserves and oil on deferred payments. finance minister ishaq Dar said earlier he hoped talks with saudi arabia would happen soon. “we are expecting that we will, god willing, get financial support from saudi arabia, most likely this month,” one of the senior officials told reuters, adding it would be around a $4 billion package. “some of that package will go to our reserves and the rest is
oil and some other commodities on deferred payments,” he said. “Pakistan has brotherly relations with saudi arabia. both countries have helped each other in times of need,” a finance ministry media official told reuters, without elaborating or giving any further details. Pakistan’s economy is facing a balance of payment crisis. the central bank reserves have fallen to $6.7 billion — barely enough for a month of imports. the fiscal deficit has already
touched 1% of the gDP in the first quarter of the current financial year against 0.7% of the gDP agreed with the imf. with the imf’s ninth review pending since september, Pakistan has desperately been scrambling to secure financing to meet external payment obligations for the current financial year. ahead of the review, Pakistan has been trying to approach allies to seek financial support, and Dar had said that he would ex-
pect to get $3 billion from a friendly country. “the imf has asked for more information to complete the ninth review,” Dar said on monday, adding it was “unusual” because islamabad had met all the requirements already. he said the imf wanted Pakistan to explain as to how the countr y will fund the cost for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the devastating flood, which this summer was estimated to have insured over $30 billion in losses. the minister and the imf have said that discussions continued online over the review. there is no date yet for a physical review by the imf. the imf approved the seventh and eighth reviews together in august of Pakistan’s bailout programme agreed upon in 2019, to allow the release of over $1.1 billion. Pakistan secured a $6 billion bailout in 2019 that was topped up with a further $1 billion earlier this year.
Sponsors of MCB buy 5.49pc stake in MCB profit report LAHore a change in ownership took place on monday in mCb representing 5.49% of the shareholding in the bank. bugis investments (mauritius) Pte ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of fullerton financial holdings (singapore) Pte. ltd , sold off all of its 5.49% stake in mCb to the major sponsors of the bank. the announcement was made on the Pakistan stock exchange (PsX) by mCb on monday, the day of the transaction. the company notice read, “mCb has undergone a change of ownership representing approximately 5.49% of its voting ordinary shares as per the details set our below: bugis investments (mauritius) Pte ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of fullerton financial holdings Pte ltd, has transferred and sold all of the 65,020,947 ordinary shares of par value Pkr 10/- each held by it in mCb, which are equivalent to 5.49% of mCb’s issued share capital, to seven existing mCb shareholders, comprising three companies and four individuals, namely nishat mills limited (7,111,360 shares), adamjee insurance Company limited (4,029,204 shares), nishat Paper Products Company limited (3,000,000 shares), mrs ammil raza (4,842,812 shares), mian raza mansha (12,933,084 shares), mrs naz mansha (21,254,887 shares), mian umer mansha (11,850,600 shares).” mrs naz mansha is the spouse of mCb’s founder and chairman mian mohammad mansha while mian umer mansha is a director on the board of mCb. the transaction was completed on monday at Pkr 115 per share for a cumulative total of Pkr 7.48 billion. this is the largest investment made in mCb by its existing shareholders in the past few years. according to suleman maniya, head of advisory at vector securities, “this deal was in the making for the past 2-3 months. bugis is a foreign investor. a lot of foreign investors in Pakistan’s equity markets are making a beeline for the exit currently. and so the sponsors decided this is a good price to buy in. they have been buying in slow quantities over the past few months, but this is perhaps the largest and biggest addition made by the mansha family in the past 5-6 years in mCb. it also shows the sponsors’ confidence in the bank and they feel the valuations have bottomed out making it a right time for investment.” mCb bank is one of the oldest banks of Pakistan, incorporated in the private sector in 1947. it was nationalized in 1974 and privatized in 1991. mCb bank’s major shareholding is owned by nishat group, a prominent business conglomerate, having diversified interests in textiles, Cement, banking, insurance, Power generation, hotel business, agriculture, Dairy, auto manufacturing and Paper Products. in 2017, fullerton financial holdings (international) of singapore through bugis investments (mauritius) Pte ltd acquired 5.49% stake in mCb under merger scheme of nib bank with and into mCb bank limited. mCb is the first Pakistani bank which incorporated a wholly owned islamic banking subsidiary, mCb islamic bank limited, to meet requirements of a significant segment of society for financial solutions that conform to shariah rulings. the bank operates a strong and vast network of over 1400 branches and over 1450 atms in Pakistan and 11 branches overseas with a footprint in uae, bahrain and sri lanka. with a customer base of over 7 million, mCb is a leader in the banking & financial services sector in Pakistan.
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