IMF bests Dar
A visibly crowing Dar sat next to Jeffrey Franks, staff member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) claiming that the Fund had agreed to extend a 5.3 billion dollar package…
Predictable programme
So the inevitable has transpired. Heralded by some chestthumping theatrics on `negotiating only on our terms` we have signed our 20th IMF programme since the late 1950s. Although the IMF…
Finance Act 2013: Apathy of Parliament
The adoption of Finance Bill 2013 on 27 June 2013, with a number of amendments proposed on 24 June 2013, was a disgrace for the National Assembly. There was no…
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.…
Confronting economic challenges
Pakistanis are entitled to congratulations on their courage and will to install a democratic government in Pakistan. Despite all threats people from all walks of life participated in elections and…
Seizing the moment
It’s been almost a month since Nawaz Sharif took oath and we’re still waiting. The first big opportunity for the new government to demonstrate its tough new approach was the…
Finance Bill 2013: Some half-hearted positive steps
Fiscal laws are difficult to implement and to be accepted for they work towards extraction of money, albeit for the betterment of society. As it is said "Tax is the…
A shambolic budget
The budget was passed with a majority vote this Thursday which, given the PML (N) strength in parliament as well as the constitutional amendment stipulating that a national assembly member…
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…
Japanese divided over ‘Abenomics’ despite global acclaim
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned from the G8 meeting in Northern Ireland a happy man, saying the leaders of the world's biggest economies had endorsed his own economic programme.…
