Falling exports and imports
The February figures of exports, imports and balance of trade have just been released. They tell a story of extreme contraction in the volume of trade. Cumulatively, over the first…
Containment of imports
The latest international trade statistics for the period, July to February, 2022-23, have just been released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. They show a big reduction in the deficit…
Should the MPC meeting be preponed?
The most concerning and alarming element in the macro numbers is that inflation is growing out of control. Food inflation has exceeded 40 percent while the core inflation is close…
Breaking the IMF cycle
Pakistan has struggled with chronic economic problems and a balance of payments crisis since independence. Its history of such crises and dependence on financial support of the International Monetary Fund…
A great social and political upheaval is coming?
There are two extremely discomforting economic phenomena unfolding simultaneously in Pakistan – one is dangerously high food inflation, and the other is rising unemployment. The term economists use for such…
Is investor’s fright an investment’s flight?
Pakistan is nestled in the southern part of Asia, sitting precariously between Afghanistan, India, Iran, and below China, with the Arabian sea lapping on its southern shores and the Himalayas…
State of the economy
The first six months of 2022-23 have witnessed considerable uncertainty about country’s economic prospects. Foreign exchange reserves have dwindled sharply from $9.8 billion in end-June 2022 to only $5.6 billion…
Red alert
We now have weeks – not months – left to make a decision. Failure to act will be disastrous. To be certain, Pakistan’s economy is manageable. The current account deficit…
GDP growth in 2022-23 — II
The previous article by this writer had presented the estimate of the GDP growth rate in 2022-23 as negative 1% from the supply-side in terms of the sectoral growth rates.…
GDP growth in 2022-23
The World Bank has revised its projection downwards of the GDP growth rate of the economy of Pakistan in 2022-23 from 4% to 2%. Presumably, this reflects the negative impact…
