PARIS: The world’s biggest passenger jet, the Airbus A380, made its first commercial flight to Paris on Tuesday when a Singapore Airlines flight arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport.

But the official welcoming ceremony was cut back because of the reported loss of an Air France jet over the Atlantic.

The missing aircraft, an Airbus A330 carrying 228 people, had been due to arrive at the same airport on Monday morning on a flight from Brazil. French Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo, who is in charge of transport affairs, cancelled his planned appearance at the arrival ceremony for the A380.

Singapore Airlines already runs A380 flights from Singapore to Sydney, London and Tokyo.

The flight left Singapore on Monday at 2140 GMT and arrived in Paris at 0440 GMT on Tuesday and was to return to Singapore later in the day. Singapore Airlines says it plans daily Singapore-Paris flights using A380s, of which it was the first airline to take delivery in October 2007.

Courtesy: The News

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KARACHI: Privatisation of the House Building Finance Company Limited (HBFC) has been in abeyance as the Prime Minister Secretariat has sought report from Federal Finance Secretary in this respect. A seven-member delegation of the joint action committee of HBFC met Ahmad Mushtaba Gilani, sibling of the PM and also the chief of POMP office, Multan region, to discuss the matter.

A delegation, led by Ghulam Shabir, a senior committee member, highlighted core issues pertaining to the privatisation of HBFC and has also expressed resentment in this connection. Talking to Business Recorder on Tuesday, Shabir said they discussed several problems as the fate of the decision, which would deprive the needy of having their own shelters for their families.

They requested Ahmad to ensure that the decision to privatise HBFC be reversed. He said the delegation also pointed out that HBFC has so far disbursed around Rs 18 billion to the middle and lower income groups for construction of around 0.7 million housing units. He said the delegation has brought to his notice that the decision of privatisation was aimed at earning huge amount as commission.

He said that Ahmad has ensured the delegation that positive measures would be taken to facilitate the masses because it is the prime objective of PPP government to provide shelters to everyone. He said the representation against privatisation of HBFC, consisting of suggestions for making the company a commercially strong and socially responsible institution was moved to the PM Secretariat for consideration.

Shabir further said the PM Secretariat has recently issued a letter to the Finance Secretary in response to the representation, asking him to submit report in consultation with HBFC, shortly. It is worth mentioning that the issue was in limelight when the debt equity swap of two overdue instalments of SBP credit line swelled to Rs 3.2 billion.

Therefore, HBFC, with the consent of Ministry of Finance (MOF), took IFC technical assistance for preparation of a Business and Capacity building plan in 2005-06. IFC after an international bidding appointed Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to undertake the exercise.

CMHC after a detailed study of Pakistan's mortgage market and due diligence of HBFC prepared and submitted a detailed Business Plan in February 2007. CMHC recommended for financial restructuring and financial support to be provided by the government and had also suggested providing fund based support for its restructuring and privatisation. Therefore, the concerned authority has decided to float some 41 percent (282 million shares) in the market.

The corporation has planned to offer pre-IPO to International Finance Corporation (IFC) of 69 million shares (Rs 0.68 billion), which would be 10 percent of total number of shares, while around 179 million shares, amounting Rs 1.79 billion, some 26 percent of total shareholding, would be divested to strategic investors and remaining 5 percent shareholding, around 34 million shares, would be offered to HBFC employees.

Courtesy: Business Recorder

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LONDON: Abu Dhabi sold an 11 per cent stake in Barclays on Tuesday, making $2.5 billion from an investment that helped the British bank through the financial crisis and raising fears that the rally in bank shares may be over.

Traders said the Abu Dhabi government-owned International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) was selling about 3.5 billion pounds worth of instruments that are due to convert into Barclays shares by end of June.

The sale price near 267 pence a share, according to dealers, represents a 16 per cent discount from Monday’s close of 316.25p.

Shares in Barclays fell 15 per cent to 268p by 0922 GMT to be the biggest FTSE 100 faller. Other bank shares fell too as the sale soaked up demand for stock.

The sale also raises fears that other big Barclays investors may also look to take profits, and that other sovereign wealth funds might be looking to exit the investments they have made. Barclays raised funds from Qatar, China, Japan and Singapore investors last year.

“This tactical move brings into question any foreign investment in major companies in particular investment from the Middle East,” said Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at London spread betters ETX Capital. “I would expect further falls from companies with similar exposure.”

“It’s clearly a negative signal for the banking sector,” said David Thebault, head of quantitative sales trading at Global Equities in Paris. “After stepping in at the beginning of the credit crisis to buy stakes in troubled banks, these guys (Abu Dhabi’s IPIC) are now saying: ‘the recovery rally in financial stocks is over and the shares are now ripe for profit taking’.”



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ISLAMABAD: The National Economic Council (NEC), which will meet on Thursday, is to approve 3.3 per cent GDP growth projection for next fiscal year 2009-10.

Sectors, like agriculture with projected growth of 3.8 per cent, manufacturing (1.8 per cent) and services 3.9 per cent, would contribute to GDP growth. Keeping in view the economic scenario in the next financial year, the GDP at market price would inflate by 12.9 per cent. According to the working paper for the proposed annual plan for 2009-10, the agriculture sector is projected to grow by 3.8 per cent with major crops growing 3.5 per cent, livestock 4 per cent, fishery 2.4 per cent and forestry 1 per cent.

The manufacturing sector, the paper showed, is projected to achieve a growth rate of 1.8 per cent during 2009-10, which is based on the assumption that energy sector shortages will ease to a certain extent and export competitiveness will improve through appropriate incentives and policy measures.

Based on growth in agriculture and manufacturing, combined with expected contraction of 5 per cent in real imports, the services sector is likely to grow by 3.9 per cent with wholesale and retail trade growing by 3.3 per cent and finance and insurance by 3 per cent.

Inflation for 2009-10 has been projected at 9 per cent against expected CPI inflation of 20 per cent in 2008-09.

This projection has been made keeping in view the improvements in macroeconomic indicators and weakening in international oil and commodity prices.



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Etisalat holding back $399m as Punjab and Sindh not transferring properties to new owner


ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP) on Tuesday asked the Centre to negotiate with Punjab and Sindh for resolution of the issue of PTCL’s property transfer to the company’s new management in order to get the three withheld instalments of $399 million from Etisalat.

The committee, which met here with Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Economic Affairs, Shaukat Tarin, in the chair, also approved the reference price for privatisation of National Power Construction Company (Pvt) Limited (NPCC).

Etisalat has so far paid about six bi-annual instalments totalling about $801 million whereas it had to pay nine instalments worth $1.2 billion.

Official sources attending the meeting told The News that negotiations were at an advanced stage and soon Etisalat would pay the remaining amount to the government.

According to the Share Purchase Agreement (SPA), the government is required to provide clear titles of 100 per cent of PTCL properties (3,384 in number) by January 12, 2008. A balance of 161 non-transferred properties (including 71 in Punjab and 45 in Sindh) remains outstanding.

Etisalat withheld payment of instalments to the federal government due to the issue of property transfer from provinces to PTCL’s new management.

In 2006, the government gave the PTCL to the private sector and signed a deal with UAE telecom giant Etisalat for sale of 26 per cent shares at a cost of $2.6 billion along with management control.

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NEW DELHI: More than 100 million people have joined the ranks of the chronically hungry in South Asia in the fallout from the global financial crisis, bringing the figure to a 40-year high, a UN official said on Tuesday. The region’s poor, who have borne the brunt of the economic trouble, desperately need governments to spend more money on food, health care and education to alleviate the crisis, said Daniel Toole, a regional director

for the UN Children’s Fund, or UNICEF.

At least 405 million people in South Asia suffered from chronic hunger in 2007-2008, up from 300 million in 20004-2006, according to a UNICEF report on Tuesday.

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