Contribution of Services Sector in the Economy of Pakistan

The services sector has provided steady support to Pakistan’s economic growth. It share in GDP now stands a more than 50 percent. The paper analyses its continuation in the growth of the economy in general and the development of trade and genera tion of employment in particular. The study identifies the bottlenecks in its growth and suggest measures to remove them. A set of policy reforms has been suggested to make the sector more effective in the growth of the national economy.Services Sector, Industry, Employment, Financial Institutions and Pakistan’s Economy

A Simulation Analysis of the Debt Problem in Pakistan

The current debt situation in Pakistan and the resulting financial crisis require serious attempts to find a sustainable indigenous solution. As such it is essential to search ways and means to reduce dependence on external borrowing over medium to long run.1 External debt is usually created to sustain a growth rate of the economy, which is otherwise not feasible with the given state of domestic resources, technology, consumption propensity and economic management practices. However, the success of economic growth financed by external borrowing depends on two factors, namely the domestic saving rate and productivity. A country with lower saving rate needs to borrow more to finance a given rate of economic growth. In Pakistan the flow of external loans is likely to have adversely affected the compulsion for savings. For example, no serious attempts have been made to improve tax collection or to control non-development government expenditure unless forced by the donor agencies.

The Response of Karachi Stock Exchange to Nuclear Detonation

Stock markets are highly reactive to internal and external developments. News of major events take no time to impact, the Stock Exchange that quite often serves as a barometer of the good and bad for the market. The importance of particular events and their effect on the stock market has been a subject of study in financial literature. Such studies attempt to assess the extent to which stock markets’ performance stray’s from the normal around the time of the occurrence of subject events. The stock market crash in the USA of October 1987 and related crash in the Far East later in January 1998 led to several studies of the event. On October 14, 1987, the US stock market began the steepest decline of its history, culminating in the crash of October 19, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 508 points (22.6 percent). Certain aspects of the event of Black Monday as it is called emphasised the need for research to explore what fundamental economic factors triggered the large decline and the institutional and structural factors that were inherent in the trading strategies of investors. Michell and Netter (1989) have presented evidence that a tax bill containing anti takeover provision proposed by the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee of Oct. 13, 1987 was the economic event that triggered the October 19 crash. Other events and economic conditions during October 14–16 have been cited in the literature including higher than expected trade deficits, rising interest rate and increased worries about the government deficit and fear of inflation by many studies. Certain trading strategies such as index arbitrage and portfolio insurance has been cited by the Report of Presidential Task Force (1988). Roll (1988) has argued the crash did not begin in US since many other world markets experienced a severe decline on October 19 before US markets opened.

Joachim von Braun and Rajul Pandya-Lorch (eds.). Food Policy for the Poor: Expanding the Research Frontiers: Highlights from 30 Years of IFPRI Research. Washington, D. C.: IFPRI, 2005. 253 Pages. Price not given.

The research of the past 30 years at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is highlighted in this volume. The topic is food and nutrition security. Of related concern are the development strategies that impact on technologies for agricultural production, resource management, conflicts and natural disasters, subsidies and safety nets, gender roles, and health. The book consists of nine chapters. The first chapter discusses a changing IFPRI in a changing world. The current and future world food situation is analysed and ways are suggested to increase agricultural production and to explore policies for improving production, trade, and distribution of food so that an increase in the quantity and quality of food would be available for all people. IFPRI has heightened its efforts to raise the awareness about emerging food security issues. In particular, its “2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture, and the Environment” initiative is aimed at promoting policy actions that will lead to food and nutrition security

The impact of owners’ education and work experience on the growth of handicraft SMEs in Hyderabad region Pakistan

A thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Science by research of the University of BedfordshireThe general purpose of this study is to investigate factors that positively affect growth in the small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). Preliminary research highlighted the fact that few (if any), past studies had focussed on the owners of SMEs and in particular if educational attainment and work experience had had any effect upon business growth. The author had a particular interest in Pakistani SMEs and coming from Sind, was interested in investigating these factors in Handicraft SMEs currently operating/located in Hyderabad, as (despite being significant local employers), handicraft SMEs in the Hyderabad region have (due to socio-political and socio-economic reasons), long been neglected by local and regional government. In this study (after undertaking secondary research and following the literature review stage), the author concluded that a face-to-face structured interview with the owners of SMEs in the handicrafts sector, combined with a short questionnaire approach to data collection, would yield the best results given the limited budget and short timeframe. The results of this (albeit small-scale and limited) study, indicate that there was indeed some evidence of a positive link between the level of education (as well as the experience), of Hyderabad SME owners and business growth. At the very least, this highlights the need for further study, whilst at the same time making Hyderabad’s policy-makers aware of the potential benefits of investing in educational support for owners of local SMEs

Size selectivity in antibiofilm activity of 3-(Diphenylphosphino)propanoic acid coated gold nanomaterials against Gram positive Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mutans

Abstract Biofilm formation by pathogenic bacteria is one of the major threats in hospital related infections, hence inhibiting and eradicating biofilms has become a primary target for developing new anti-infection approaches. The present study was aimed to develop novel antibiofilm agents against two Gram-positive bacteria; Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 43300) and Streptococcus mutans (ATCC 25175) using gold nanomaterials conjugated with 3-(diphenylphosphino)propionic acid (Au-LPa). Gold nanomaterials with different sizes as 2–3 nm small and 9–90 nm (50 nm average size) large were stabilized by LPa via different chemical synthetic strategies. The nanomaterials were fully characterized using atomic force microscope (AFM), transmission electron microscope, ultraviolet–visible absorption spectroscopy, and Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy. Antibiofilm activity of Au-LPa nanomaterials was tested using LPa alone, Au-LPa and unprotected gold nanomaterials against the both biofilm-producing bacteria. The results showed that LPa alone did not inhibit biofilm formation to a significant extent below 0.025 mM, while conjugation with gold nanomaterials displayed manifold enhanced antibiofilm potential against both strains. Moreover, it was also observed that the antibiofilm potency of the Au-LPa nanomaterials varies with size variations of nanomaterials. AFM analysis of biofilms further complemented the assay results and provided morphological aspects of the antibiofilm action of Au-LPa nanomaterials

A Simulation Analysis of the Debt Problem in Pakistan

The current debt situation in Pakistan and the resulting financial crisis require serious attempts to find a sustainable indigenous solution. As such it is essential to search ways and means to reduce dependence on external borrowing over medium to long run.1 External debt is usually created to sustain a growth rate of the economy, which is otherwise not feasible with the given state of domestic resources, technology, consumption propensity and economic management practices. However, the success of economic growth financed by external borrowing depends on two factors, namely the domestic saving rate and productivity. A country with lower saving rate needs to borrow more to finance a given rate of economic growth. In Pakistan the flow of external loans is likely to have adversely affected the compulsion for savings. For example, no serious attempts have been made to improve tax collection or to control non-development government expenditure unless forced by the donor agencies. The adverse effect of borrowing on savings has recently been observed in [Ali et al. (1997)]. The evidence also does not support the proposition that higher rate of economic growth results in higher saving rate [see Ali et al. (1997)]. The saving rate in the private sector of Pakistan has remained low because of low real interest rates and the lack of legitimate and safe investment opportunities. Furthermore the poor and middle-income classes have been burdened with high inflation tax and no serious efforts have been made to tax the rich. Saving rate in the government sector has been deteriorating due to exponential growth in the size of this sector and extraordinarily low productivity. Government has ventured in the territories where it had no business in the first place

Prevalence of risk factors of acute kidney injury in a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of preventable risk factors of acute kidney injury in a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan. All patients admitted at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi with diagnosis of acute kidney injury were included out of which 134 were selected via random sampling. Patients with existing CKD were excluded. Data was then collected retrospectively from medical records of these patients. Mean age was 60±11.7 years while mean serum creatinine on admission was 2.4±1.3 (mg/dl). Sepsis played a role in almost half of the patients [60 (45%)]. Other factors included diarrhoea [23 (17%)], nephrotoxic drug use [25 (19%)] and cardiac pathology [24 (18%)]. It was found that most cases of AKI were due to preventable factors (infections, diarrhoea, and drug toxicity) and concerted efforts to eliminate them would be vital in reducing mortality caused by AKI in developing countries