The Annual Plan
The good news is that the function of Planning and Development at the federal level has been upgraded to the status of a full-fledged ministry by the PML (N) government.…
Energy relief
The government has formulated a new Energy Policy, which is yet to be announced, with focus on increasing power generation capacity to 26,800 MW within three years. Reportedly, the policy…
Online retail begins to click in Africa’s biggest market
The headquarters for this Internet start-up is cheekily nicknamed "Graceland" and its co-heads are young Harvard graduates with grand plans who have rapidly expanded the business over the past year.…
From Cairo with a caveat
“Angry about the near total absence of public security, the desperate state of the economy and an increase in sectarian tensions...” Stop! Is this Pakistan? Every word in the sentence…
Finance Bill 2013: Meaningful suggestions
Senate Standing Committee on Finance sent a number of meaningful, though unbinding, recommendations to the National Assembly on 21st June, 2013. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar ignored all of them while…
A bad start
It may seem too early a verdict on the PML-N government which is only a couple of weeks old, but if the budget is anything to go by, the signs…
Budget 2013-14: Concluding Speech
Alongside is the text of concluding speech delivered by Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Privatisation, in the National Assembly on 22nd June…
Infrastructure development: Challenges and prospects
The economy of Pakistan is presently fluctuating between 3.5 to 3.7 percent, although the country remained successful in maintaining an average GDP growth of 5 percent (1972-2013). This is by…
Possible key to a different Iran
There is something slightly surreal about the victory of the only cleric among Iran’s six presidential candidates being greeted as a moderate triumph and a sign of hope on a…
Taxing the taxed: Income Support Levy Act, 2013
In the current budget, the government has proposed to levy a wealth tax by proposing to enact a new law.1 The object of the tax is to provide financial assistance,…
