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More Of The Same?

More of the same?

As one may recall, while the budget for the Financial Year 2011-12 was being presented in the National Assembly, the opposition members from the PML-N had presented the finance minister…

Why Cut The Rate?

Why cut the rate?

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has cut its Discount Rate by 50bps to 9 percent, but has not cut its Reverse Repo and Repo rates implying that the rates…

Dar’s The Die-hard Optimist

Dar’s the die-hard optimist

Dar, a certified chartered accountant, very smartly used creative accounting to falsely take the credit for slashing the fiscal deficit by 2.5 percent of GDP in the upcoming first year…

A Thrust Towards Macroeconomic Stabilisation?

A thrust towards macroeconomic stabilisation?

The budget for 2013-14 disappointed general public expectations with the newly installed PML (N) government - expectation that were focused on relief after a five year steady erosion of the…

The Willing Lender

The willing lender

Pakistan and the IMF have started discussions for a fresh round of IMF financing. This will be the twelfth IMF programme in over two decades. Pakistan holds the unique distinction…

An Ambitious Budget

An ambitious budget

Turning to current expenditure, debt servicing is expected to increase by Rs125 billion, defence by Rs57 billion, grants by Rs3 billion and civil administration by Rs23 billion. On the other…

An Ambitious Budget

An ambitious budget

Budget 2013-14 has been announced on time by the PML-N government – only five days after the swearing in of the cabinet. This clearly shows a great sense of urgency.…

Bullish On Pakistan

Bullish on Pakistan

ALTHOUGH the Karachi Stock Exchange has risen over 50pc over the last year, financial analysts have not rushed to declare Pakistan a `bull market`. The reasons for their caution are…

Promises Galore

Promises galore

The Federal Budget presented by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is a week old now, and has evoked mixed reactions, mostly critical and highly suspicious of government's ability to meet the…

Poverty Status: Another Dilemma For The New Government

Poverty status: Another dilemma for the new government

Announcing an official higher or lower poverty number by the country sends the following kinds of signals to the international stakeholders, ie, foreign governments, multilateral and bilateral donors, international NGOs…