Institutional autonomy in Pakistan
The recent kerfuffle about central bank autonomy in Pakistan is unraveling some basic fissures in Pakistan’s economy, confronting which our economic managers and political leaders have continually tried to ostrich…
Caveats and reform proposals
The government has announced its plans to increase the power tariff by Rs5.65 per unit – an estimated 40 percent increase. Gas utilities have asked for the same, or an…
Reforms: theory and practice
Institutional reforms are basic to good governance, and Pakistan is in dire need of such reforms – political to bureaucratic to the public sector. Pakistan has seen multiple phases of…
Governance deficit, institutional deterioration resented
Resenting unchecked governance deficit and institutional deterioration in the education sector, especially higher education, senior academics and experts have feared that failure to address these issues will be detrimental to…
Reform the system
In a recent tweet, I had said that in a civilized society protection to women is given outside the home, and this is called “successful policing”. If a woman’s honour…
Band-aid or real reform?
Although past IMF support prevented serious foreign exchange shortages, their ‘band-aid’ conditions enabled Pakistan’s irresponsible rulers to postpone fundamental reforms. The IMF became a willing lender of first resort. This…
Governance reform
Pakistan is a resourceful country and has immense potential for growth, progress and prosperity. Our people are diligent, capable and ingenious. We have a natural resource base richer and more…
Case for All-Pakistan Unified Tax Service: PTI & innovative tax reforms
Generally the taxation system in developing countries witnesses low tax-to-GDP ratio owing to several factors such as high compliance costs, complex tax rate structures, multiple tax agencies and narrow tax…
Improving institutional quality determinants
Pakistan recently entered into an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme with International Monetary Fund (IMF). The programme has a medium-term (39-month) horizon, and in terms of goals and supporting conditionalities…
Pakistan capital market reforms: The road ahead — I
With the Pakistan stock market rebounding over the last several weeks there is a sense of euphoria amongst market participants. And rightly so, as the long doldrums in the market…
