Getting out of the debt-tax trap
Should the government borrow at any cost to protect its people or tax heavily those not in the tax net? Economists believe that a higher budget deficit means more taxes…
Thoughts on the provincial budgets
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) budget was announced on 25 May, two and a half weeks before the federal budget was announced on 12 June, the Punjab budget was announced a day…
Provincial budgets for FY2024-25
The provincial budgets for 2024-25 have all been presented last month in the respective Provincial Assemblies. However, they have not received much attention in the media because of the exclusive…
Regressive taxes, neglected reforms
Pakistan’s reliance on bilateral, trilateral, and friendly countries to fulfill its financial requirements not only undermines its sovereignty, but also intensifies the hardships of its citizens. Despite engaging in numerous…
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…
Equitable taxation: a precondition for meaningful economic reform
Negotiations with the IMF on the next programme are ongoing, with budget formation being an integral part of the discussions. The government is requesting a full allocation of $7.6 billion,…
Budget & tax policy
‘The impact of economic growth on the lives of people is partly a matter of income distribution, but it also depends greatly on the use that is made of the…
Low taxation of property
The recent revelation of massive investment in property by Pakistanis in Dubai of over $11 billion has not only raised issues of the exit of capital from Pakistan but also…
Towards a fairer tax system
The World Bank, in its latest report, ‘Pakistan Development Update’, issues a stark warning: in the current fiscal year, the country’s fiscal deficit is projected to skyrocket to a staggering…
Myths about taxation
Do our esteemed finance minister, prime minister, policymakers at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and economic managers know why the tax-to-GDP ratio is significantly higher in developed countries compared…
