Debt, inequality and austerity
In most western countries, inequality is rising, and social mobility has stalled. Our citizens are losing purchasing power. They are struggling to find a decent job, to buy a proper…
Breakdown of external economic relations
The fact that Pakistan is currently operating under an IMF (International Monetary Fund) programme, under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), should have been a source of comfort to external sources…
Debt rescheduling challenge
The country is going through a very difficult balance of payment (BoP) situation. The core of the problem is growing external public debt and its repayment. A reduction in current…
Pakistan in deep debt trap
Pakistan’s precarious financial situation, persisting for the last many decades, has landed it into a deep debt trap where an overwhelming part of tax revenue is consumed in debt servicing…
Floods, debt, and SDRs
Pakistan is facing unprecedented floods of a profoundly catastrophic nature. While 3 million livestock have died in the flood-hit areas, the other mainstay of peoples’ livelihood in the shape of…
Calamities, debt crisis, growth: prospects – I
Natural disasters such as floods can have detrimental effects on growth as they depress both supply and demand, and require substantial resources to mitigate the negative consequences for economic activity.…
Floods, food & debt crises, and 77th UNGA session
The United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA’s) 77th Session from September 13-27 comes at a very crucial time for Pakistan, as the country suffers from unprecedented floods, while it was already…
Soaring public debt
The latest estimate of the stock of public debt of Pakistan by the SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) as of end-March 2022 is a staggering Rs 44.4 trillion. In effect,…
How to solve the debt crisis
A previous article (Real clear economics, BR, 24 Mar 2022) pointed out that governments of Pakistan have borrowed far more than the people, as ultimate borrowers, can feasibly repay. This…
The rising public debt burden
The public debt of Pakistan consists of the domestic and external debt of the government plus debt owed to the IMF (International Monetary Fund). Table 1 below shows that it…
