Articles by Nishtar

Credit Squeeze Tells Nishtar COTTON and oilseeds markets present an altogether different look. They have taken a right-about-turn and moved down swiftly. Bulls who had been dominating the scene for months and had held the markets virtually to ransom

and the bureaucrat must at the same time be divorced from its influence. The politician and the bureaucrat together represent a class which Plato called the Guardians and, though we may not accept Plato's prescription all the way, it is evident that the guardians cannot guard the interests of the people unless they are themselves protected from the influence of money-power. A legitimate method of doing this is to prevent the politician and the bureaucrat from making illegitimate gains, or even where the gains are legitimate, to impress upon them the need to ensure that they are within limits of propriety. This has been attempted several times in the past, but experience shows that no closed and confidential system can be effective for this purpose. In the past, in numerous cases, the law could not break through the collusion between the three and in a few cases where it could, guilt could not he traced to its source, Therefore, a system must be devised which will be open to public gaze and scrutiny.

Permit System for Cotton Movement Nishtar FOREIGN Trade Minister Mishra's nine-point plan has not had even the slightest effect on the cotton market so far. The Indian Cotton Mills' Federation's call to mills to conserve cotton as much as possible through judicious use of existing stocks and without making fresh purchases has also gone unheeded. Scramble for cotton continues and prices have risen further by Rs 100 to Rs 150 a candy. That the market should have completely ignored the nine-point plan is more an indication of its lack of faith in the Government's ability to implement the plan than of the adequacy or otherwise of the measures proposed to deal with the situation.

No Satisfactory Explanation Nishtar NEITHER Foreign Trade Minister Mishra's announcement of Government's decision to import another 5 lakh bales of cotton in addition to 8.25 lakh bales originally scheduled, nor the Indian Cotton Mills' Federation' decision to resort to a voluntary/statutory 15 per cent cut in fibre consumption and a block closure for 15 days, which of course is subject to the Government's sanction, has had the slightest effect on the market. Cotton prices have, on the contrary, soared to new high levels. But this need not cause much surprise. One did not expect the market to respond quickly to the Government's decision on additional imports when even out of the 8.25 lakh bales quota announced very early in the season, nearly half the quantity has still to be issued and physical imports against the quotas already released had amounted to only a little over 36,000 bales up to the end of October. As for self-discipline by mills, it has always been honoured more in breach than in observance. It should be obvious that if the Federation were reasonably sure that voluntary restraint would work, it would not have urged the Government to authorise the Textile Commissioner to "issue necessary orders to bring about a statutory reduction of 15 per cent in consumption of all fibres by each mill". This speaks very poorly for the Federation.

Record 'Badla' Rates Nishtar THE stock market appears to be in a somewhat chastened mood. Bullish fervour is beginning to cool off. After striking a new all-time high on September 16, the market has staged a mild retreat under pressure of profit-taking. Unable to attract fresh follow-up support at higher levels, bulls have been inclined to cash profits. Selling has been quite heavy at times, particularly in the speculators' favourites, but with the overall sentiment sustained by the steady flow of encouraging corporate news, profit-taking has been absorbed without causing a break in prices. Trading has not been altogether without some bright spots but it is the hitherto neglected or less-popular counters which have been in the limelight. Net changes over the week present a mixed pattern with minus signs far outnumbering the plus signs.