The Karachi share market witnessed a mixed trend during the week ended on February 3, 2012, due to a low participation of local investors, and the KSE-100 index closed at 11,982.62 level, up 22.40 points. Trading remained low and local investors appeared worried to take fresh position until the affirmation by the Finance Minister to provide relief on the CGT front actually materialise.

The prices of most of the essential kitchen items like vegetables, fruits, poultry products, fuels and meat witnessed substantial increase during the week as compared to the preceding week, according to a survey conducted by Business Recorder here on Saturday.

Iran's oil minister said the Islamic state would not retreat from its nuclear programme even if its crude oil exports grind to a halt, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday. But he also called on the European Union, which accounted for a quarter of Iranian crude oil sales in the third quarter of 2011, to review its decision last week to bank Iranian oil imports from July 1.

Iran has asked Opec members not to raise oil production to compensate for a European Union embargo against the Islamic republic, Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said on Saturday. Qasemi said the request was forwarded in a letter to Iraq, the current head of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

India's beleaguered government won some rare relief on Saturday when a court threw out a corruption case against one its top ministers ahead of crucial state elections next week. The court dismissed a petition accusing Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram of signing off on the sale of telecoms licenses at below-market prices that may have cost the government up to $36 billion in lost revenues.

The Federal government is in hot water on overall fiscal deficit due to increasing current expenditure and depleting cash balance position of the provincial governments, it is learnt.

The Directorate General of Post-Clearance Audit (PCA), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), has deleted a tax fraud case tax fraud case, which shows involvement of appraisement staff of Model Customs Collectorate (MCC) Pakistan Customs Computerised Clearance System (PaCCS) Karachi and a Karachi-based contractor who wrongly obtained exemption of customs duty and sales tax on import of seamless steel pipes/tubes, causing massive loss to the national kitty.

The Special Committee of Parliament on Kashmir has prepared recommendations for convening joint sitting of Trade and Foreign Ministries with Kashmiri leadership on the issue granting India Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status for trade. Parliamentary Kashmir Committee met on Saturday in Parliament House, Islamabad, with Fazlur Rahman in the chair.

The Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has requested the government to release Rs 150 billion, urgently so that it could pay outstanding liabilities to avoid the looming default, which at present stands at Rs 188 billion. According to sources, PSO's total circular debt has almost touched Rs 400 billion mark, and if Rs 150 billion is not being provided, the entity could default.

In order to boost bilateral trade and participate in tri-nation dialogues, president of Iran will visit Pakistan in the last week of this month, said Abbas Ali Abdollhi, Consul General of Islamic Republic of Iran. Addressing a press conference, here on Saturday, he said that a high-level, 60/70-member trade delegation led by Deputy President Iran would be visiting Pakistan on February 6-7.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has selected certain cases for income tax and sales tax audit through computer balloting and the details of registered persons have been communicated to field formations.

The Federal Government has started considering using Cane Purchase Receipts (CPR) as cheques to ensure payment to the growers, sources in the Ministry of Industries told Business Recorder. The Cabinet had approved Sugar Policy 2009-12 in September 2009 but it has not been implemented due to undue influence of different powerful lobbies.