Financial accountability in Balochistan
On November 14, Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry made an incorrect statement about Balochistan on the floor of the Senate. While criticising the alleged corruption of the opposition, he…
PMDC uncovers Rs200m financial blunder in postgraduate programmes
After realising a financial blunder amounting to Rs200 million, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has begun deliberations on how to recover the amount from institutions that started postgraduate…
Unaccountable Big Brother
TWO revelations this week have highlighted the gaps in privacy rights and data protection in Pakistan. One is the news that the personal and sensitive data of millions of Pakistanis…
Circular debt debacle: financial fixes cannot solve the problem
The much-hyped plan to reduce Pakistan’s power sector circular debt by a staggering Rs1.3 trillion has hit an all-too-predictable obstacle: Chinese independent power producers (IPPs) are balking at waiving late…
Austerity, current account surplus, & economic resilience
Recently, the Prime Minister reportedly lauded economic performance with regard to country achieving current account surplus. In a developing country, which is facing gross external financing requirements on average of…
UBS, Goldman passed on opening bank accounts for US-backed Gaza aid foundation
UBS declined a request by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to open a bank account in Switzerland while Goldman Sachs did not set up a Swiss account for GHF after…
Climate accountability
The term ‘climate accountability’ refers to holding accountable all entities causing climate change. This also includes developed nations accelerating the climate change phenomenon due to their unsustainable development practices and…
Public Accounts Committee perturbed by HEC’s failure to recover Rs1.5bn from defaulters
The Auditor General’s office on Wednesday raised alarm over the Higher Education Commission’s failure to recover more than Rs1.5 billion from scholarship defaulters. Calling it a critical matter, the issue…
Financial crimes
FOLLOWING the 26th Constitutional Amendment, the criteria for appointing high court judges have been framed under the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (Appointment of Judges) Rules, 2024. This has provided an opportunity…
How the ADR tax distorts the financial sector
The tax on Advance-to-Deposit Ratio (ADR) was introduced through the Finance Acts of 2021 and 2022 approved by Pakistan’s National Assembly and these provisions are being enforced by the Federal…
