Politics over economics
This is the second of a two-part series on Pakistani administration’s focus on domestic factors while ignoring external factors which have a much greater relevance in formulation of our domestic…
Neoliberalism, IMF’s exceptional financing & recidivist behaviour of programme countries—I
Traditionally, Pakistan has been infamously called a ‘one-tranche’ country, which although is correct in the context that it has left International Monetary Fund (IMF) programmes after receiving a few initial…
Debatable debate
IS leadership about oratory, rabble-rousing, long marches, or dharna in our context? Although political campaigns worldwide rely on debating ability, so do debating societies; these are forums for expanding discourse.…
Basic structure, again
EVERY few years, questions regarding the limitations of parliament’s power to amend the Constitution, and the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction to review, and if necessary, strike down constitutional amendments, become issues…
Review of the IMF programme
This is the appropriate time to review progress on implementation of the reforms committed to the IMF in the new IMF Extended Fund Facility of 5,320 million SDRs, equivalent to…
The fault is not in our stars but in ourselves!
Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has consistently pledged implementation of all agreed reforms in the twenty fourth (7 billion dollars thirty-seven months long) ongoing Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme –…
Lack of awareness of IMF conditions
Pakistan’s private sector elite in industry and the farm sectors, major non-institutional recipients of budgeted expenditure and an influence behind the continued reliance on indirect taxes as a revenue source…
Beyond the numbers
In its last meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to cut the policy rate by 250 basis points to 15 per cent. Per the MPC Statement, “Taking into account…
Pakistan’s housing crisis needs innovation
Pakistan's explosive population growth over the past five decades presents a pressing non-traditional national security concern. With ripple effects on water, food, and energy security, this demographic surge threatens social…
Modern facsimiles
MUSTAFA Kemal Atatürk was born in Turkey, in 1881. Since then, facsimiles have been spawned many times: Soekarno in Indonesia, Lt-Col Rawlings in Ghana, Col Nasser in Egypt, Field Marshal…
