Shame of inequality
Javed’s mother insisted that we, the owners/managers of a motorcycle repair shop, hire her son as an apprentice even if it was with no pay. We refused as Javed was…
Response to the IMF
The staff report on the eighth review of Pakistan's on-going program with the Fund was released a few days ago. This was followed by a long conference call by the…
Euro zone showing signs of recovery
Moribund. Decrepit. Sclerotic. Popular words to describe the economy shared by the 19 countries of the euro zone - but perhaps no longer apt. Very slowly - and primarily because…
Fbr Collection: Startling Facts
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), in its Biannual Review (January-June 2014-15), claims that "despite several challenges like poor law and order in the country, energy shortages and compression of…
Optimizing tax collection
The governments, both federal and provincial, have shown a lukewarm attitude towards optimizing tax collection. Reliance on easily-collectable indirect taxes with weak enforcement, reluctance to tax the rich and mighty,…
Understanding current account balance
There is a general perception among economic reporters and economic analysts in both print and electronic media that surplus in current account is highly desirable and a sign of economic…
SBP On Deflation
The readers would recall that I wrote two articles (February 17 and August 21, 2015) on the subject of deflation published in this newspaper. Perhaps these two articles, to the…
The Economy Of Terror Financing
The ever-expanding size of the black economy, which is said to have outpaced the sluggish growth of our white economy by a significant margin, serves as the safest and securest…
Fiscal reforms agenda
Taxation, a potent instrument to shape and influence the socio-economic policies of a country, has not received due attention in Pakistan. The foremost objective of a rational tax policy is…
Fair taxation
"The Laffer Curve, by the way, was not invented by me; it has its origins way back in time. For example, the Muslim philosopher Ibn Khaldun wrote in his fourteenth-century…
