Revenue policy and administration: Building capacity
The government expects FBR collects Rs 2.8 trillion plus taxes in the next 12 months and substantially expand its tax net. Given the challenges FBR faces during the year beginning…
Policy paralysis
Pakistan’s inferred gold resources exceed 40 million ounces of gold valued at over $200 billion. Pakistan’s inferred copper resources exceed 5.9 billion tonnes of ore, implying a contained copper value…
Energy policy beyond firefighting
The power sector in Pakistan has faced a crisis for decades. Despite an ongoing energy transition, significant structural and governance challenges, such as costly long-term generation contracts, system inefficiencies and…
Policy responses
PAKISTAN is passing through a period of subdued growth shaped by stringent policies under the ongoing IMF programme. The economy has slowed to 2.7 per cent growth, while poverty affects…
Promise and peril of low policy rates
In an unprecedented policy action that has taken international markets and other domestic players by surprise, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has carried one of the most aggressive interest…
Discount rate as a policy tool
Economic stability has been achieved, and the country will not be deterred from implementing the reform agenda agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – a claim that has repeatedly…
RLNG: Supply glut or policy failure?—II
The current financial stress in the gas sector is partially obscured by elevated LNG spot prices, which are currently above Pakistan’s LNG contract price. However, with over 174 MTPA of…
3 policy decisions in the dock
Three news items this week past should be a source of serious concern to the country’s stakeholders: SBP’s decision to purchase USD 8 billion from the open market to shore…
Even as markets rally, Trump’s policymaking causes market angst
As Wall Street puts April’s tariff shakeout in the rearview mirror and indexes set record highs, investors remain wary of US President Donald Trump’s rapid-fire, sometimes chaotic policymaking process and…
Recycling budget revenues
Pakistan’s federal budget for FY2025–26 reveals more than just fiscal arithmetic. It reflects a shifting economic terrain shaped by IMF oversight, macroeconomic consolidation and the intensifying demands of climate resilience…
