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…
SCO, IMF & reforms
Hosting the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad by Pakistan on October 15-16, 2024 was a good omen after a long period of diplomatic isolation. The event provided a…
No surprise in the surprise visit
The only surprise in the IMF team’s surprise visit to Pakistan this week was that it took the trouble to jolt the government in person instead of simply warning, as…
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…
The burden of inefficiency
I was amazed to discover the profound lack of understanding surrounding the footprint and performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Pakistan upon joining the government. This glaring absence of data…
Running banks and airlines
THE provinces are already running banks: Bank of Punjab, Sindh Bank and Bank of Khyber. Balochistan is the only province that does not have a bank of its own, but…
Performance targets in IMF programme
The newly approved IMF Programme in the form of a 37-month Extended Fund Facility can be considered as perhaps the toughest ever for Pakistan. This conclusion is reached after a…
Privatisation and SBP
Heads should roll in the aftermath of the fiasco of the Thursday bidding of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) as there were ample prior indications that an extremely embarrassing failure awaited…
