The federal grip on the KP Mining Bill
As a student, I was fascinated by Allan Quatermain, the adventurous hero of ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ (1885) by Sir H Rider Haggard, which brought the legendary Biblical mines to life.…
Rationalizing priorities for federal and provincial budgets
For a country to be among the top ten countries in the world in terms of population, and with more than 60 percent of its population below 30 years of…
Future of public examination boards
AT present, the country has more than 30 public examination boards, of which two are private. In the past, these were given a wide mandate that included consolidation, regulation, development…
Economic policy, federal budget and role of opposition
‘…the existence of the opposition is ‘nearly the most distinctive characteristic of democracy’. In parliamentary democracies, since government and parliamentary majorities often coincide, the opposition is expected to function as…
Provincial surplus and the federal budget
To formulate federal and provincial budgets necessitates engagement between the federal government and its federating units on two critical items: projected share of each province from the divisible pool and…
Federal budget and pro-cyclical policy
The federal budget, due to come into effect in the next few days, has continued with the pro-cyclical policy approach, whereby as growth continues to remain stuck in a low…
A stagflationary federal budget
Stagflation is a situation when economic growth is stagnating, and inflation is also increasing. Growth requires increase in domestic production, which, in turn, needs investment. It is only the second…
Change the political chessboard
Pakistan stands at a critical juncture in its democratic journey, grappling with a deepening political crisis that threatens to undermine the very fabric of its society. At the heart of…
Growth in federal tax revenues
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has released recently the Revenue Division Year Book for 2022-23. This is a very useful publication and highlights the trends in the level and…
Inside the federal education budget
Budget allocations should be read as reflections of the true priority accorded to sectors and programmes. Insufficient budgetary allocations to programmes incur delays, cost overruns and poor /delayed social impact.…
