Trend in key fiscal ratios
The consistent series of the GDP with one year, 2015-16, has been estimated and released by the PBS from 1999-2000 onwards. This now enables determination and comparison of the key…
Implications of the GDP rebasing
The Governing Council of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics has approved the new GDP estimates, following the exercise of rebasing from 2005-06 to 2015-16, somewhat belatedly. The editorial of the…
Understated GDP
It's no news that informal economy is significant in Pakistan. What some would not know is that within documented economy, not everything is measured in GDP computation. It can be…
GDP rebasing: fix PBS first
Key macroeconomic ratios – debt, fiscal and current account are measured in terms of nominal GDP and feed into determination of crucial indicators on country ratings. The investment and debt…
Provincial economies: key economic ratios
This is the fourth article of a multi-part series of articles on the provincial economies. It focuses on some of the key economic ratios in these economies. These estimates have…
Have we got our narrative wrong?: Tax to GDP ratio – II
We are continuously being harangued by donors and external agents with limited knowledge of our economy with epithets like "a nation of tax cheats", "poor revenue collection", 'why should our…
Have we got our narrative wrong?: Tax to GDP ratio
Decades of fund involvement has changed the economic narrative permanently in Pakistan. Before IMF involvement we used to talk of growth and investment; now everyone talks only of tax/GDP ratio…
Fiscal discipline key to reforms
Before Pakistan can embark on the long and tedious journey of structural reforms, fiscal discipline must be embraced wholeheartedly. Fiscal discipline refers to the practice of governments maintaining sound financial…
The tax challenge
Taxation is the lifeblood of any country's economic system – as the primary source of government revenue for public services, infrastructure, and social welfare. Taxation in Pakistan dates back to…
How to galvanise our exports
If we can start from an economic policy perspective, policymakers are asking the wrong question: how to increase exports? Instead, the more pressing and immediate question that they must address…
