Margins to mainstream
In the shadows of Pakistan’s booming industrial hubs, millions of women power the country’s informal economy -- often unseen and unprotected. Their labour sustains critical circular economy systems from waste…
SOEs burden on taxpayers no surprise
Conventional economic theory argues that pursuit of privatisation is to enhance service quality, attract private investment, reduce government intervention and improve accountability and transparency in the management of public assets.…
IMF programme targets: performance
This is an appropriate time to evaluate the initial performance of Pakistan’s economy in the first half of 2024-25, in relation to the IMF programme targets for the year. Any…
Powering Pakistan’s EV revolution
Transitioning to climate-friendly electric vehicles (EVs) is crucial for Pakistan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve sustainability. With a projected population of over 400 million and 70 per cent…
Policy rate caution
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the current economic team of the government of Pakistan must stop hiding behind a veil of overly cautious monetary policies. The latest Monetary…
Tax under weak enforcement
IN the wake of a Rs356 billion shortfall in targeted revenues during the first five months of the current fiscal year, the government has introduced the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill…
‘Uraan’ success hinges on unity, stability…
With limited access to external funding, government debt has increasingly been taken up by the banking sector and, as a result, banks’ holdings of domestic government debt has surged to…
Prospects for 2025
The year 2025 will come after a year which has witnessed both positive and negative trends. The GDP growth rate has shown no improvement and has remained low. Consequently, there…
Fiscal crisis and reset
Pakistan’s fiscal system has long been under immense strain due to the mounting pressure of borrowing and the substantial portion of revenue being diverted towards debt servicing, and 2024 was…
Imbalanced balance of payments
There has been celebration about the surplus of USD 944 million from July to November 2024 in the current account (C/A) of the balance of payments. Consequently, there is an…
