The SBP autonomy
Wathra the acting governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) was confirmed the day before Ishaq Dar left the country on a two-country tour - the UK with the…
Dar good at procuring foreign loans
If the relevance of a budget is premised on the accuracy of data of the outgoing fiscal year then budget 2014-15''s relevance would expire on 1 July 2014, the first…
Pre-budget exercise
The budget-formulation exercise in Pakistan rarely generates any interest from political parties in general and the general public in particular. However, major financial and industrial entities as well as cartels…
A complex matrix
A NUMBER of events in the last two weeks in the southern part of Fata and renewed militant attacks in northern Fata and the urban centres seem to have apparently…
Tougher challenges ahead
The relatively peaceful presidential election and unexpectedly high voter turnout marks a hopeful beginning to the many transitions Afghanistan has to negotiate this year – political, security and economic. What…
Regulation, Pakistani style
GETTING the government to be an enabler rather than a disabler is the real challenge. The weaknesses of our economic system(s) can be traced to a deficiency of governance at…
Consequences of economic indoctrination
Pakistani students of economics are indoctrinated by the teachings that they have acquired in the west. This has a peculiar effect on the thought process. Any one who is indoctrinated…
PTI’s indecisiveness
When the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) wrested away power from the Awami National Party (ANP) in KP in general elections last year, it had been hoped that the politics of expediency…
Bourses a barometer?
On Thursday this week past Reuters published a story which reported an ongoing investigation after whistleblowers accused senior stock market staff of benefiting for years if not decades through unauthorised…
The economy at the end of 2013
The PML-N government has completed six months. The IMF, on December 19, 2013, concluded the first quarterly review of the economy under the Extended Fund facility (EFF). The IMF has…
