What sustainable macroeconomic stability?
The fall in inflation (to be precise CPI inflation) to single-digit in August –stood at 9.6 percent – meant that it was almost after three years that inflation had come…
Privatisation for economic recovery
A COMMON refrain of donors is that Pakistan needs to raise its tax-to-GDP ratio substantially to achieve macroeconomic stability on a sustainable basis. It has earlier been argued in these…
Economic crises
WE face today our worst economic crisis in decades, with inflation at its highest since 1975. Such crises are a way of life for us with 25 seen since 1947.…
Pakistan’s economic potential
AS Pakistan approaches its 75th independence anniversary, it is sad to witness the economy again mired in difficulties. One could argue that it’s a global phenomenon, with Covid-19 and the…
Economic governance framework
BEFORE proposing solutions to the economic governance challenge, it is useful to briefly review the current position. Loans, deferred payments, lowering currency value etc can give temporary relief but it…
The economic cost of mismanaged spending
There is no worse way to manage public finance than what the government of Pakistan has done for over a decade. My last column (‘Pakistan’s IMF experience’, September 9) made…
Lasting economic ties
Pakistan and the US share an intricate history of high and low relations. The US established diplomatic relations with Pakistan on August 15, 1947, making the US one of the…
Some economic advice for the PM
The first thing perhaps that the PM needs to understand is that the over-board monetary austerity – over-emphasis on policy rate to control inflation – is more a cause than…
Kenya clashes and Bolivia’s failed coup show perils of economic hardship
Deadly Kenyan protests that scuppered tax hikes and a failed coup amid fading economic prospects in Bolivia this week are violent reminders of the dangers posed by faltering economies and…
Economic policy, federal budget and role of opposition
‘…the existence of the opposition is ‘nearly the most distinctive characteristic of democracy’. In parliamentary democracies, since government and parliamentary majorities often coincide, the opposition is expected to function as…
