In defence of the provinces
In recent months, the provinces have become the favourite punching bags of Islamabad, donors and commentators alike. They are being chastised for failing to generate adequate resources to fund their…
Reading the IMF
It begins innocuously enough: “[t]he economy is showing signs of improvement”. Programme performance was “mostly positive”, the balance of payments is “improving, but remains delicate”. Reserves have also improved, although…
Learning from the Gospel and something from Lenin
Prime Minister Saab has once again taken serious notice of loadshedding in the holy month and has ordered immediate steps to remedy the situation. Half of Ramazan is already over.…
Inequality is not inevitable
"One of the leading economic stories of our times is rising income inequality, and the dark shadows it casts across the global economy - many would argue that we should…
Education and recent budgets
There are four big problems that we have to resolve if we are serious about addressing issues linked to education in Pakistan. First of all, there are an estimated 20…
Finance Act 2014 Apathy continues
The adoption of Finance Bill 2014 on June 21, 2014 using the crude tool of majoritarianism, ignoring sound tax policy needs, once again confirmed disrespect of the rulers for a…
What is economic development?
Nobody can disagree with the emphasis of the government on accelerating economic development both in its official documents and in public statements by leaders. But there is a major problem…
Public debt: then and now
Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar never tires of comparing the performance of key macro-economic indicators during the five-year tenure of the PPP-led coalition government with his own one year's performance.…
Destroying tax appellate system
The Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar, in the Finance Bill 2014, ignored the demand that tax appellate system should be made independent, free from the administrative controls as directed by the…
The same old story
Because the announcement of the Federal Budget 2014-15 coincided with Altaf Hussain's being placed in police custody in London, stakeholders' focus shifted away from the budget. That's why Pakistan's trade…
