The illusionists
Like a doctor examining a seriously sick patient, the IMF staff is supposed to evaluate the underlying conditions of the health of the economies of its member countries. While providing…
Governance in 2014
Part-II Corruption is not just a cost; it is a curse that deeply affects individuals as well as the state system. It is the single most important obstacle to economic…
Bourses a barometer?
On Thursday this week past Reuters published a story which reported an ongoing investigation after whistleblowers accused senior stock market staff of benefiting for years if not decades through unauthorised…
Historical burden
The phrase ‘abject surrender’ has been a recurrent feature of recent discussions on the Pakistani state. Not only has it come up in conversations concerning the state’s general inability to…
No room for khokhas
When I was growing up there were small kiosks (khokhas) all over Lahore. Vendors on bicycles and on foot used to hang around our houses and schools and offered us…
Zombie idea
THE government has announced a privatisation plan to sell off state-owned entities including ones that have `blue chip` status in the Karachi Stock Exchange. The argument given is that such…
Lofty goals, little vision
The economy is in a deep mess with low rates of savings, investment and growth, high rates of monetary expansion and inflation, large budget and current account deficits, a huge…
Funds for policing
The Sindh government has decided to purchase 300 armoured vehicles, costing Rs6.5 billion, for the police. The decision reflects the government’s resolve to invest more in policing. There is no…
Economics and dithering decision-making
When the head is in confusion the heart and the body will bleed. {Pakistan is bleeding at the moment actually and figuratively}. In peacetime to be losing our uniform country…
A minister’s job
It has been reported in the press that on January 1, 2014 the federal finance minister gave a briefing to the cabinet on the state of the economy. If the…
