An economic mishap in the making
Pakistan’s estimated population, according to the National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS), is 215.25 million with officially estimated growth rate of 1.80 percent (2020) and density of 270 per Km2.…
SOEs: sell-off or liquidation
The federal cabinet has approved the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Bill 2021 proposing governance reforms in the management and oversight of cash bleeding public sector. A detailed report titled “State-Owned Enterprises…
Acting on the plan
AN ambitious five-year National Action Plan for Business and Human Rights has been proposed by the federal human rights ministry. It stipulates the process whereby businesses across Pakistan will be…
270 days to deliver
Considering that the next elections will be held mid-May, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has 270 days to make things happen. He doesn't have a long time at his disposal,…
PTI govt’s 100-day plan: The clock is ticking – II
The following is in continuation to this writer's earlier analyses on government's first 100-day plan. The extent of the success of the government plan is determined by the extent of…
Restructuring challenge – I
The cardinal principle behind turning around an economy is to increase state revenue and reduce state costs. Pakistan is in desperate need to have this in place to be able…
Challenging the IBF model – I
During an online search on relevant topics while writing this article, the author coincidentally lands on a page where a Professor from Scandinavia, apparently disturbed by the recurring collapses of…
Revisiting macro-economic policy
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in its recent First Quarterly Report 2019-20, has stated that the policy mix adopted so far, “appears adequate to address the macroeconomic imbalances and…
IMF programme design and public
The uploading of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff report on its website this week past highlights two major thrusts of the thirty nine-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) that are…
An alarming nexus
PAKISTAN is no stranger to state-enforced censorship. Traditional media has been relatively easy to censor as most offices are based in Pakistan, and tugging licences or intimidating operators has been…
