ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif faces the first formal test of his economic policies this week during a visit by the International Monetary Fund. He has a long way to go. Sharif swept to a landslide victory in May after promising to fix a sluggish economy whose growth has averaged 3 percent over the last five years. Voters are hungry for jobs. Power cuts and minimal social services trigger frequent violent protests. Last month, the IMF saved Pakistan from a possible default by agreeing to loan it $6.7bn over three years, but its condition of quarterly reviews means the cash is not guaranteed. A team led by the IMF’s regional adviser, Jeffrey Franks, is visiting this week to see if Pakistan is trying to meet conditions intended to promote reforms. The government has begun to tackle Pakistan’s fiscal problems, but diplomats say true success will come only when tax evaders are punished. Eleven of 12 IMF programmes since 1998 have been scrapped or abandoned because Pakistan failed to institute reforms. This time round, Sharif has promised the IMF to privatise loss-making state industries, reform a faltering energy sector, expand Pakistan’s tiny tax base and cut government borrowing.
Etisalat’s Q3 profit drops 18pc
DUBAI: Etisalat reported an 18 percent drop in third-quarter profit yesterday, missing analysts’ estimates as capital spending and operating expenses each rose by about a third. The UAE former monopoly, which operates in about 15 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia and is in exclusive talks to buy a controlling stake in Maroc Telecom, made a net profit of Dh1.83bn in the three months to September 30, according to a statement to Abu Dhabi’s bourse. This compares with a profit of Dh2.21bn dirhams a year earlier. Third-quarter revenue was Dh9.59bn, up from Dh8.01bn year earlier.
Kish gas field to come on stream by March
DUBAI: Iran’s second-largest gas field is expected to start producing at a rate of about 100 million cubic feet per day (mcf/day) by March, the project’s operator told oil ministry news website Shana yesterday. Kish has an estimated 66 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, making it Iran’s second-largest behind the South Pars field it shares with Qatar. However, slow progress in tapping Iran’s share of South Pars threatens serious gas shortages in a country where demand has grown rapidly over the past few years, oil minister Bijan Zanganeh warned this month. Although the start of the first production well at Kish will supply only about 2.8 million cubic metres (mcm) per day in a country that consumes around 430 mcm/day, Zanganeh is applying pressure on developers for output to be ramped up rapidly to at least ten times that volume. Agencies
