Governor Sindh speaks to Altaf Hussain

KARACHI: Governor Sindh Ishratul Ebad spoke to MQM chief Altaf Hussain on the telephone.

During their conversation Ebad inquired about Altaf Hussain’s health and conveyed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s well wishes.

Governor Sindh also informed the MQM chief about the emotions of people and MQM workers.

Around 2,500 people feared dead: Badakhshan Governor

MAZAR-I-SHARIF: More than 300 people were killed and hundreds of others feared dead after a landslide buried an Afghan village, officials said, as rescue teams on Saturday rushed to the scene in the hope of finding any survivors.

Local people used shovels to search for anyone trapped under a massive river of mud and rocks that engulfed the village in Badakhshan province, leaving little sign of the hundreds of homes it destroyed.

The United Nations confirmed that 350 people were dead, and provincial officials said more than 2,000 were still missing more than 20 hours after the disaster.

Emergency workers arrived at the scene on Saturday morning to be confronted by the enormous scale of the landslide, hundreds of homeless families and the risk of more earth sweeping down the hillside.

Badakhshan governor Shah Waliullah Adeeb told AFP that 2,500 people were missing. "Our initial findings based on local people´s reports show around 2,500 people, including women and children, might be dead," he said late Friday. "It is difficult to get confirmed information from the scene and we are seeking to determine the facts.

"Provincial officials said that two successive landslides hit Aab Bareek village within one hour. Villagers were at Friday prayers in two mosques when they were entombed by a tide of debris, and the second landslide hit many who had rushed to assist those in need.

"The number of deceased has increased to 350," the UN mission in Afghanistan said. "A response is being mobilised for those who survived but were displaced, with some partners already on the ground."

The NATO military Regional Command in the north (is) in contact with the Afghan National Army in regards to search and rescue efforts.

"Badakhshan is a remote, mountainous province in northeast Afghanistan bordering Tajikistan, China and Pakistan. It has been relatively peaceful since the US-led military intervention began in 2001, but has seen increasing Taliban activity in recent years.

President Hamid Karzai expressed his condolences to those affected and said immediate action was being taken to find any survivors. Local officials said that the landslides occurred at about midday (0730 GMT) in the Argo district of Badakhshan after days of heavy rain. Between 350 and 400 houses were destroyed, they said. "It is a disaster.

The landslide has affected around 1,000 families," Sayed Abdullah Homayun Dehqan, provincial director of the Afghan National Disaster Management Authority, told AFP. "Around 300 families are missing, that could involve around 2,000 people. People are working to remove the rocks. "Around 700 families were rescued, we have sent in some basic assistance such as tents and blankets.

"The UN was helping to coordinate relief work, but warned that roads to the area could not take heavy machinery. "The foremost priority at the moment is saving as many lives as possible of those still beneath the rubble," Mark Bowden, UN humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan, said.

US President Barack Obama described the deaths as "an awful tragedy" and pledged to help the relief effort. The landslides follow recent severe flooding in other parts of northern Afghanistan, with 150 people dead and 67,000 people affected by floods in Jowzjan, Faryab and Sar-e-Pul provinces. Nearly 3,500 houses were damaged and destroyed by the floods, creating an urgent need for shelter, clean water, medical supplies and food. Flooding and landslides often occur during the spring rainy season in northern Afghanistan, with flimsy mud houses offering little protection against rising water levels and torrents of mud.

In the last major flooding in Afghanistan, 40 people died in August in flash floods in eastern and southeastern provinces and some districts of the capital Kabul.

Wathra appointed SBP governor

ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday appointed Ashraf Mahmood Wathra as Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for a three-year term. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed to The News the appointment of Wathra.

Pakistan and the IMF are scheduled to hold the next round of review talks from May 1, 2014 so Ishaq Dar was keen on having a new governor of the SBP before the April 30 deadline. The finance ministry moved a summary on Monday and the prime minister, as well as the president, granted their assent the same day. The Finance Division is all set to issue a formal notification to this effect anytime on Monday night or Tuesday morning.

On the other hand, the IMF has made it part of its conditions under the $6.64 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) that the government would submit amendments in the SBP Act in order to strengthen the central bank of Pakistan.

Earlier, the government had appointed Wathra as acting governor of the SBP with effect from January 31, 2014. Under the SBP Act, the government was bound to appoint a permanent governor of the central bank till April 30, 2014.

Wathra had assumed the charge of the office of Deputy Governor (DG), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), on March 11, 2013. The government had notified Wathra’s appointment as DG SBP on March 5, 2013 for a period of three years from the date he assumed the office.

Wathra brings 35 years of commercial and investment banking experience to his new assignment. Prior to joining the SBP, he served the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) as its Senior Executive Vice President and Group Chief, Credit Management Group, since October 2012.

Before joining the NBP, Wathra served the Habib Bank Limited from April 1999 to September 2012 in various responsible positions such as Regional General Manager (Bangladesh), Executive Vice President & Regional General Manager (Singapore), Executive Vice President, Group Executive and Risk Manager & Senior Credit Officer, Asset Remedial Management Group. He was attached with the Faysal Bank Limited from May 1992 to March 1999 in senior positions such as Executive Vice President & Country Risk Manager, Executive Vice President & Regional Manager and Senior Vice President & Chief Manager. From 1978 to 1992, he had been associated with the BRR Capital Modaraba, Emirates Bank International, American Express Bank Ltd. and ANZ Grindlays Bank. He also served as director at Habib Finance International, Hong Kong, and Habib Finance, Australia.

Holding Master’s degree in Business Administration, Wathra has attended a number of seminars, conferences and courses at home and abroad including Wharton/SMU General Management Programme, Operational Risk Management and Asian Bonds Summit, etc.

Wathra holds extensive experience in restructuring and reorganisation of business units. He has an extensive knowledge of investment banking and commercial banking operations, trade finance products and underlying delivery systems. Well conversant with the Islamic modes of finance, he has extensive marketing experience of a cross section of corporate, government and aid agencies, including syndication of large facilities for corporate and public sector. He also has experience in line management, audit and risk review, credit and risk management.

Sardar Mehtab Abbasi sworn in as new KP Governor

PESHAWAR: Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi on Tuesday took oath of new Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Chief Justice Peshawar High Court (PHC) administered the oath to Sardar Mehtab.

President Mamnoon Hussain had signed the summary of Sardar Mehtab as new governor moved by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

Earlier, Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi had resigned from his provincial assembly seat.

Sardar Mehtab replaces Engineer Shaukatullah who resigned from the post on April 8.

Former president Asif Ali Zardari had appointed Shaukatullah on February 11, 2013 by removing Barrister Masood Kauser.

Indonesian vote to set governor on course for presidency

JAKARTA: Polling stations opened in Indonesia early Wednesday in legislative elections expected to boost the main opposition and move their popular presidential candidate a step closer to becoming the country´s next leader.

Jakarta governor Joko Widodo, known by his nickname "Jokowi", is a fresh face in a country long dominated by aloof ex-military figures and tycoons from the three-decade rule of dictator Suharto.

The 52-year-old former furniture business owner has been a political phenomenon since his meteoric rise to the capital´s top job in 2012, with his common touch -- he regularly visits Jakarta´s slums in his trademark checked shirt -- winning him a huge following.

"We see him as a success and we see him as honest... We believe he will bring a new dawn to Indonesia," said Deni Ardiansyah, a 25-year-old Jakarta shop worker.

Buoyed by his popularity, Widodo´s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has long been ahead in opinion polls for the legislative elections, and the party extended its lead after nominating him for president last month.

The polls, spread across three time zones, opened in heavy rain in the easternmost region of Papua at 7:00 am (2200 GMT Tuesday), but logistical hiccups there may force some 30 districts to delay their votes for up to three days, an election official said.

"The polls are open in the main towns, like Jayapura, but last night planes still couldn´t reach some districts in the mountains," Papua province election official Betty Wanane told AFP.

She added that the local election body was not given a large enough budget to deliver all the ballots and boxes, and that several deadlines for logistics had been missed.

Local media reported cases of candidates making last-ditch attempts to buy votes with cooking oil, sugar and other handouts in a widespread but illegal practice.

Almost half a million police officers will secure the polls, with the help of more than 20,000 soldiers and more than a million civil officers, said National Police Chief Sutarman, who goes by one name.

Pre-election violence has been largely concentrated in the western province of Aceh, where deadly shootings and arson attacks have occurred.

The day is expected to be a bad one for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono´s ruling Democratic Party, with polls putting it in fourth place after a string of corruption scandals.

The legislative elections, the fourth in Indonesia since the end of authoritarian rule in 1998, are important because they decide who can run at presidential polls on July 9.A party or coalition of parties needs 20 percent of seats in the 560-seat lower house of parliament or 25 percent of the national vote to field a candidate.

The PDI-P is the only one out of 12 parties running nationwide seen as having a chance of achieving this on its own. Others will have to form coalitions to get over the threshold and nominate a candidate.

The eastern part of the vast archipelago of 17,000 islands was the first to vote, with polling stations opening later in central and western Indonesia.

Indonesian vote to set governor on course for presidency

JAKARTA: Polling stations opened in Indonesia early Wednesday in legislative elections expected to boost the main opposition and move their popular presidential candidate a step closer to becoming the country´s next leader.

Jakarta governor Joko Widodo, known by his nickname "Jokowi", is a fresh face in a country long dominated by aloof ex-military figures and tycoons from the three-decade rule of dictator Suharto.

The 52-year-old former furniture business owner has been a political phenomenon since his meteoric rise to the capital´s top job in 2012, with his common touch -- he regularly visits Jakarta´s slums in his trademark checked shirt -- winning him a huge following.

"We see him as a success and we see him as honest... We believe he will bring a new dawn to Indonesia," said Deni Ardiansyah, a 25-year-old Jakarta shop worker.

Buoyed by his popularity, Widodo´s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has long been ahead in opinion polls for the legislative elections, and the party extended its lead after nominating him for president last month.

The polls, spread across three time zones, opened in heavy rain in the easternmost region of Papua at 7:00 am (2200 GMT Tuesday), but logistical hiccups there may force some 30 districts to delay their votes for up to three days, an election official said.

"The polls are open in the main towns, like Jayapura, but last night planes still couldn´t reach some districts in the mountains," Papua province election official Betty Wanane told AFP.

She added that the local election body was not given a large enough budget to deliver all the ballots and boxes, and that several deadlines for logistics had been missed.

Local media reported cases of candidates making last-ditch attempts to buy votes with cooking oil, sugar and other handouts in a widespread but illegal practice.

Almost half a million police officers will secure the polls, with the help of more than 20,000 soldiers and more than a million civil officers, said National Police Chief Sutarman, who goes by one name.

Pre-election violence has been largely concentrated in the western province of Aceh, where deadly shootings and arson attacks have occurred.

The day is expected to be a bad one for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono´s ruling Democratic Party, with polls putting it in fourth place after a string of corruption scandals.

The legislative elections, the fourth in Indonesia since the end of authoritarian rule in 1998, are important because they decide who can run at presidential polls on July 9.A party or coalition of parties needs 20 percent of seats in the 560-seat lower house of parliament or 25 percent of the national vote to field a candidate.

The PDI-P is the only one out of 12 parties running nationwide seen as having a chance of achieving this on its own. Others will have to form coalitions to get over the threshold and nominate a candidate.

The eastern part of the vast archipelago of 17,000 islands was the first to vote, with polling stations opening later in central and western Indonesia.

Appointing the State Bank governor

Despite the restructuring of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) over a decade ago, its autonomy question remains unresolved. During the PPP government, two governors resigned due to differences with the then executive. Salim Raza and Shahid Kardar both had to quietly resign rather than resist the temptation of the political executive to spend beyond the monetary policy parameters. The third governor, who recently resigned due to personal reasons, continues the trend.
There is a strong argument that elected governments have to deliver on their promises of patronage, given how the political system works. However, without generating sufficient revenues and reforming the taxation system, the expenditures emanate from reckless deficit financing, i.e., printing of notes. This is why Pakistan has witnessed some extraordinary bouts of inflation. Price levels have been rising since the present government took over and only recently they have stabilised. Whatever the finance minister may have said (e.g., hoarding causes price hikes), it is well known that fiscal improvidence and monetary expansion are contributing to inflation. One way to tackle this trend is to enhance the policy rate but this impacts the credit needs of the private sector.
Borrowing nearly Rs2 billion a day from the SBP cannot be a prudent or sustainable option. Of course, in the short term, raising revenues may not be possible but the government has to set limits. This is what the SBP has been prescribing. Pakistan’s recourse to the IMF in recent years has resulted in a situation where nearly 25 per cent of the annual budget is reserved for IMF debt repayments.
The erosion in the value of the rupee has further increased the value of foreign debt close to Rs500 billion. Each time the government intends to tighten the monetary policy, it increases its domestic debt burden as it happens to be one of the biggest borrowers from the central bank. There is no option but to pursue a tighter fiscal policy with a controlled monetary expansion. Therefore, a robust and an autonomous SBP is vital for economic management.
The departure of the SBP governor is not a good sign. There seems to be a regulatory void in the country as the key appointments in various regulatory authorities are vacant. Few are disputed in courts and the ‘loyalty’ test is being applied on potential candidates. It would be a travesty if the SBP is treated as just another government office, for it simply is not.
The SBP’s primary role is to issue notes, act as a regulator of the financial system, as the bankers’ bank and as banker to the government, as well as setting the monetary policy. It is also a key actor in managing public debt, foreign exchange and acts as policy adviser to the government on its economic relationships, especially that with international financial institutions. By no means is it a commercial bank as many — including those in the political elite — view it to be. The Musharraf government imported a good commercial banker as the finance minister. This betrays a limited understanding of the way economic policymaking works and why it is important to have professional and experienced economists who can think beyond the imperatives of balancing the books and marketing brands of their ‘success’. The Musharraf bubble burst even before it could be branded and today, many of our economic woes are directly linked to what happened during the period 1999-2007.
Dr Ishrat Husain, as a competent manager of the central bank, turned it around and its internal restructuring remains one of our recent success stories. By attracting good professionals and encouraging many to pursue higher education, the SBP has a good team available. This is why its next governor needs to be an economist, and not a financial wizard, to lead the institution and furnish pertinent advice on macroeconomic policy to the government. The SBP is not an attached wing of the finance ministry nor is it a platform to reward a loyalist. Its governor has to provide independent advice, as well as regulate the financial system’s operations. It is hoped that the government would resist the temptation to treat it as just another appointment.