Deficits in our lives
There is this quotation from Einstein that I was surprised to discover: “The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax”. And for that matter, it is…
Counting our deficits
With this week’s advent of Ramazan, our lives have changed in some tangible ways. Our daily routines have acquired a new rhythm. At least in these initial days of the…
Economic and social survey for Asia and the Pacific 2018: mobilizing finance for sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth
Asia and the Pacific remains the engine of the global economy. It continues to power trade, investment and jobs the world over. The two-thirds of the region's economies grew faster…
Runaway budget deficits
The last three years witnessed a steady decline in the consolidated budget deficit during the tenure of the IMF program. The deficit was 6.4% of the GDP in 2012-13, excluding…
Deficits on other fronts
We are aware of the debate that was prompted by the speech made by Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa at a seminar held in Karachi more than…
Strengthening growth with social equity
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has developed a new metric of national economic performance as an alternative to GDP - the Inclusive Development Index (IDI) - which focuses on living…
Pakistan’s daunting deficits
Problems in the short term that affect day-to-day life are quite naturally given centre stage by both policymakers and the government’s critics. How much fiscal deficit is real, how much…
US deficits will have to wait as Congress moves on
Congress just wants the US budget wars to be over. If any more evidence was needed, 12 Republican senators swallowed their principles and voted to propel a "clean" one-year debt…
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…
Ambitions are affordable for Asia and the Pacific
Three years of implementation of the transformative 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific shows the region has some catching up to do. Despite much progress, the…
