Managing the natural gas crisis
The dual menace of power and gas shortage is a serious issue that has caused much damage to the national economy and is likely to damage more, if the right…
Pakistan and leadership transition in China
Since the 1990s, China's top leaders serve a maximum of two five-year terms. With the last batch of leaders having reached the end of their second term last year, there…
Election drum
Two aspects of the General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani's speech on Martyrs' Day that remain the subject of media debate are his belief that a competent democracy that delivers real results…
Pathways to growth
On the whole, political parties have revealed little in their manifestos of what economic philosophy will govern their policies once in power — will it be the path of liberalisation,…
Challenge of GDP growth
Lacklustre economic growth and large fiscal and external imbalances (with declining rates of growth also contributing to poor growth in revenues) have made macro-economic management a challenging task. Still-high inflation…
Pakistan’s economy – II
Lessons of experience Positive policy actionsThe above brief economic history narrative suggests several points. Political leaders, both civil and military, have had a major impact on the course of economic…
A futile debate
According to recent media reports, opinions in the Planning Commission (PC) and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) are poles apart over how to sort out the current fiscal and…
Conclusions and policy recommendations: Privatisation paradigm
Privatisation should not be pursued as an ideology, as in modern economic theory and policy there is no room for dogmatism. After the Great Recession of 2008, the neo-liberal school…
The real tragedy
The Finance Division has released its "Year Book 2011-12" which, besides citing heavy line losses, incomplete corporatisation, weak governance, costly fuel mix, and delays in bill payments, points to partial…
FX & Gold -weekly outlook – February 18-22: A weak yen policy provides comforting space to China
At the end of week market focus shifted towards the meeting of the G7 and later to the G20. The draft statement did not offer too much to the market…
