Speculations over army and civilian government hit the KSE; Local Equities down at four-month low

Speculations over army and civilian government hit the KSE; Local Equities down at four-month low

Karachi (December 16); amid the speculation of a deteriorated relationship between military and the civilian government over the memo-gate issue, the investors in the KSE have expressed their concerns by showing a lower interest
in trading as the local equities have been reported to be at a four-month low mark.

Besides the everyday rumors coming out from the capital, the prolonged absence of President Asif Ali Zardari from the country under the shroud of having a medical checkup is also adding to the suspicion of the investors.

The country’s top court is examining a petition demanding an investigation into a controversial memo accusing the military of plotting a coup, which could damage the president and has led to the resignation of Islamabad’s ambassador
to Washington.

The country’s army chief has said the memo was an attempt to damage national security, newspapers said.

"There was a lot of concern amongst investors as to what would happen next in the memo issue, as there are growing signs of increased tension between the government and the military in this regard," said Asif Qureshi, director
at Optimus Capital Management.

Businessman Mansoor Ijaz, writing in a column in the Financial Times on Oct. 10, said a senior Pakistani diplomat had asked that a memo be delivered to the Pentagon with a plea for U.S. help to stave off a military coup in the
days after the raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May.

Ijaz later identified the diplomat as Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s former envoy to the United States.

The Karachi Stock Exchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-share index ended down 1 percent, or 111.38 points, at 11,1028.14, its lowest close since Aug. 29, on light turnover of just 47.64 million shares.

The ruling lot, matter of fact, has been into a panic and is making frantic efforts to salvage its stronghold in the country. Even if the memo-gate scandal, which apparently seems to be a strong case against the incumbent president
and the other big-wigs of PPP, is decided in favour of the ruling lot by the court, the issues of rampant corruption which have eaten up its support in the masses will certainly undermine its credibility among the people further and will encourage the parties
like PML-N to use all options, including resignations from the assemblies, to confine the current incumbent’s rule in the country.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=6379

Posted by Fayyaz Yaseen on Dec 16 2011. Filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry