Uruguay’s rules for marijuana market

Uruguay has finally released its rules for the legal marijuana market it is launching this year, detailing how the government plans to get very involved in every aspect of the business. But anyone hoping the South American nation will become a pot-smoker’s paradise should probably head to Colorado instead, President Jose Mujica suggested on Friday.

Colorado licenses sellers and producers but allows any adult to buy up to 28 grams at a time and then go down the street and buy 28 grams more. In Uruguay, consumers must be licensed as well, and each purchase will be tracked to ensure they buy no more than 10 grams a week, he said.

Mr. Mujica and his ministers plan to sign the regulations on Monday, and they’ll take effect on Tuesday.

Islamabad fruit market opens

ISLAMABAD: Following Wednesday powerful blast killing 25 and several injured, the fruit market after one-day mourning opened on Friday here, Geo News reported.

Although the usual trading activities after a day break have started, yet the gloom over the fruit and vegetable market remained overcast as the labourers and traders were seen still under a shock remembering their lost buddies.

The federal government has announced a compensation of Rs5,00,000 to the heirs of each dead and Rs75,000 to each of the injured in the powerful blast that had occurred on Wednesday as a bomb planted in guava crate went off during auction of the fruits.

Outlawed Threek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) dissociating self condemned the killing of innocents, while United Balochistan Army have accepted the responsibility, however, the interior ministry has dismissed the claim and said it is linked to somewhere else.

30 held as blast kills 24 in Islamabad Fruit Market

ISLAMABAD: Police have arrested as many as 30 suspects during a search operation following blast at the Fruit Mandi which killed at least 24 people and injured many others on Wednesday.

According to reports, four investigations team have been sent to Multan, Kabirwala, Burewala and Arifwala while police have also arrested five suspects from Kabirwala, Pakpatan and Arif Wala.

During the search operation, which was carried out in I-11, I-10 and slum areas, Afghan nationals were also arrested.


The United Baloch Army (UBA), an obscure militant group, has claimed responsibility for the attack and termed it a revenge for the security forces’ operation against militants in parts of Balochistan. However, the interior ministry has rejected the claim of the UBA.

Pakistan sells $2 bn bonds in world market

 

ISLAMABAD: After seven years, Pakistan made a historic return to the international bond market with a US dollar denominated dual tranche offering, aggregating $2 billion, raising $1 billion each in five-year and 10-year terms.
The transaction represents the largest-ever international bond offering by Pakistan, the Ministry of Finance spokesman disclosed on Wednesday.A source said it was heavily over-subscribed with the offering ranging between $5 to $7 billion but only $2 billion was accepted.

The spokesman said that against the initial expectations of raising $500 million, the investor response was overwhelmingly strong and the order-books were oversubscribed across the two tranches, consisting of over 400 orders from high quality investors.

The five-year bonds were distributed across all major geographic regions: 59pc in the US, 19pc in the UK, 10pc in Europe, 10pc in Asia and 2pc in others. Fund managers took 84pc of the five-year issue, banks 8pc, hedge funds 7pc, insurance company/ pension funds 1pc.

The 10-year bonds were distributed as: 61pc in the US, 21pc in the UK, 12pc in Europe, 5pc in Asia and the Middle East and 1pc in other regions. Fund managers took 86pc of the 10-year issue, hedge funds 9pc, banks 4pc, insurance company/ pension funds 1pc.

The Government of Pakistan conducted extensive global roadshows with two teams covering key financial centres. A team headed by the finance minister visited Dubai, London and New York and another team headed by the finance secretary visited Singapore, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston. The Pakistan government delegations met directly with a cross-section of several institutional fixed-income investors during the four days of roadshows. The teams updated the investors on the recent trends in the Pakistani economy, the government’s reforms agenda and key priorities.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has expressed his appreciation at the return of Pakistan to the international bond market and congratulated the finance minister and his economic team for attaining another milestone, says a press release.

The premier stated that re-emergence of Pakistan in the international market showed that the prudent and focused economic policies of the government were now proving successful. He added that this success also reflected the confidence of the international economic forces and institutions in the economic stability and strength of Pakistan.

He said it also proved that the economic wisdom and acumen of the government had finally won the confidence of international investors. The prime minister further added that achieving economic independence and progression was his government’s top priority and with current successes, the way ahead was clear, which would lead to prosperity and development of the country.

Reuters adds: Pakistan marketed $1 billion of five-year notes at a yield of 7.25 percent and $1 billion of 10-year securities at 8.25 percent, said an official requesting not to be named as the figures would not be officially released until today (Thursday).