China pivot from US farm imports bolsters it against trade war risks
China’s push to shift its food import sources since 2018 has put it in a better position to impose tit-for-tat tariffs on US farm goods with less harm to its…
Reducing smog through bio-diesel
Smog has been causing major problems in country’s social and economic life. There is no need to describe the extent of losses and suffering that are being caused. Unfortunately, smog…
Managing energy imports to save forex reserves
Pakistan relies on imports for 49 percent of its primary energy supplies, which strains its already limited foreign exchange reserves. As of April 2023, Pakistan’s total net reserves were US$…
LNG imports test EU resolve to quit Russian fossil fuel
Political pressure is building within the European Union to tackle the daunting challenge of closing a loophole in its efforts to stop using Russian fossil fuels: liquefied natural gas (LNG).…
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…
Reducing C/A deficit
The rupee has taken a real beating last week, falling by 8 percent with respect to the dollar. There are both structural and short-term reasons for this precipitate fall. The…
Reducing the primary deficit
Reports on the on-going negotiations between the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the IMF reveal that among the many steps and reforms being discussed a heavy emphasis is being placed…
What’s in Budget 2023-24?
The editorial published in this paper yesterday (‘Budget 2023-24: nobody’s budget’, June 9) correctly pointed out that the finance minister’s attempt to please everyone while preparing the federal budget for…
Gross financing, and medium-term economic strategy
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Country Report No. 22/288, released in September 2022 – the last such report released, since there have been no successful programme reviews completed since then, given…
Pakistan’s import mania
The recent decision by the government to lift the ban on import luxury vehicles shows that our ruling elite has a tendency to squander taxpayers’ money. News reports on this…
