Challenge of a reset
PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s foreign policy actions and pronouncements have created geopolitical upheaval at an already unsettled time in the world. It has sent countries scrambling to find ways to navigate the new…
Both welfare and growth
LAST week on these pages, Khurram Husain wrote about the rapidly diminishing viability of Pakistan’s bailout-dependent economic strategy. Global political realignments under the new Trump administration may very well usher…
Rich and powerful
“…POWER, freedom, a cushion, the root of all evil, the sum of blessings” was how Carl Sandburg, who died in 1967, described money. Decades later, one look at the world…
Polio challenge
POLIO has emerged as a major challenge in Pakistan. It is not simply a challenge in the health sector, but has also become both a security and political issue. It…
India & Trump 2.0
THE recent Modi-Trump meeting ended with many predictable outcomes and a few surprise announcements. The predictable outcomes include the India-US willingness to cooperate on strategic affairs and mitigate irritants related to economic…
Beyond inflation: the hidden risks in Pakistan’s economic recovery
Pakistan’s economy is addicted to debt. Lavish government spending, recklessly financed through borrowing has resulted in a precarious debt trap, a depreciated rupee, escalating inflation, and an economy on the…
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.…
Back in the fold, Saudi becomes dealmaker for US, Russia
A pariah under the former US administration, Saudi Arabia has returned to the diplomatic fold, hosting breakthrough US-Russia talks and an Arab leaders’ summit on Gaza in a complete reversal…
Macroeconomics of empty promises
The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP’s) foreign exchange reserves have dropped by nearly a billion dollars in just eight weeks, from December 13 to February 7. This decline occurred despite…
Where did MoF go so very wrong?
Prime Minister Imran Khan has replaced Asad Umar as the finance minister for one would assume poor performance. The question is how and when did he perform poorly? The state…
