Arguing over Russian reserves: $400bn or half that?
Defending the rouble has cost Russia around $80 billion this year, and depending on who's doing the calculations, its usable hard currency reserves are now either starting to run low,…
Audit report on Punjab government accounts
Report of the Auditor General of Pakistan on the Punjab government accounts for audit year 2013-14 make quite interesting, alarming as well as concerning reading to say the least. Besides…
Big things in ‘small’ packages
Summer in Pakistan brings with it budget season with a total of seven budgets to be presented before parliament and the provincial assemblies for debate and approval. Starting with the…
Privatisation: good, bad or suspect – II
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has ideologically supported privatization not only with the objective of reducing the annual drain due to large bail out packages to inefficiently run state-owned entities (SOEs)…
Sequencing issues
For sometime now, the indicators of growth and investment appear to have acquired permanence at a low level of equilibrium. Compared with growth rates of 5.5pc throughout the 1980s and…
Miracles as state policy
Dire situations bring desperate responses. Charlatans roaming India have marshalled armies of boon-seekers. Blind faith is a virtue of poverty, or fear of it. Which means the rich and the…
The balance of payments outlook
In response to questions by journalists about the costs and benefits of entering into a new loan arrangement with the IMF, the finance minister rightly pointed out that the country…
The balance of payments outlook
In response to questions by journalists about the costs and benefits of entering into a new loan arrangement with the IMF, the finance minister rightly pointed out that the country…
‘Qarz burhao, mulk bigarho
In 1997 the slogan of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) was 'Qarz Utaro, Mulk Sanwaro' [retire debt, adorn country], which is reversed in 2013 as all efforts are underway to increase…
Power tariffs: role of competition and transparency – II
Solar PV generation tariff: We should have an appetite for solar PV of around 100 MW at the prevailing PV prices, which compares with a corresponding figure of 1000 MW…
