All is not well beyond budget numbers
The budget was a non-event. It was presented as a yearly routine. In the last decade or so, budget-making has increasingly become an exercise to plug in the revenues for…
Medium-term budgetary strategy
The Medium-term Budgetary Strategy paper (MTBS) has been released recently by the Federal Ministry of Finance following its approval by the Federal Cabinet. The Minister of Finance and Revenue, Shaukat…
Fighting inequality in Asia and the Pacific
Inequality is increasing in Asia and the Pacific. Our region's remarkable economic success story belies a widening gap between rich and poor. A gap that's trapping people in poverty and,…
Constitutional violations in taxation
The federal government unlawfully and exorbitantlyenhanced rates of sales tax on different petroleum products with effect from October 1, 2015 through statutory regulatory order (SRO)-693(I)/2015 dated September 30, 2015-issued under…
Pakistan’s energy sector woes
Pakistan is facing a severe energy crisis. The gap between demand and supply is estimated around 7,000MW at present. This results in loadshedding of up to 20 hours in certain…
Pakistan’s energy sector woes
Pakistan is facing a severe energy crisis. The gap between demand and supply is estimated around 7,000MW at present. This results in loadshedding of up to 20 hours in certain…
Simpleton’s handbook on companies
This one is a whopper; a company is a person. Nope, this is not a line out of a political manifesto to be ignored completely; a company is a legal…
Ramshackle policies and compromises
Why is Pakistan under siege? If this siege is to be done away with what is likely to be the outcome for the population. Has the political system any role…
