KARACHI – Pakistan’s trade deficit – the gap between exports and imports – widened by 55.5% last month compared with a year earlier, putting further pressure on the government is it seeks to pay back loans to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) secured during its earlier 2008 debt crisis.

The trade gap widened to US$2.17 billion in November, as exports fell to $1.55 billion from $1.72 billion a year earlier – and down 18.2% from the previous month – while imports grew to $3.72 billion from $3.12 billion. The deficit was $1.71 billion in October, according to the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS). For the first five months (July-November) of current fiscal year, it widened 36% to $9.06 billion from $6.6 billion in the same period last year.

Increased foreign inflows from home remittances failed to contain the current account deficit, which widened to $1.55 billion during the July-October period from $541 million a year earlier.
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KARACHI – The government of Pakistan’s Balochistan province has rejected an application by Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) to mine for copper and gold at the multi-billion dollar Reko Diq project after a committee formed to examine the company’s feasibility report said it was incomplete. The mine and related works has the potential to be biggest foreign-financed project in the country’s history.

TCC, a joint venture between Antofagasta of Chile and Canada’s Barrick Gold Corp, submitted its feasibility report in February. The Balochistan Mining Committee (BMC), which rejected the report, is headed by the director general of the Mines and Mineral Department in Balochistan. TCC recently filed a “notice of dispute” with the provincial government, which had refused to meet its executives or extend a deadline for it to respond to objections raised over the lease.

The rejection may clear the way for Chinese companies to secure a lease for Reko Diq, whose gross value could be as high as US$250 billion. Any such involvement could be delayed if TCC follows through on a suggestion that it might take the matter to the International Court of Arbitration.
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