Security meltdown
Shocking as it may be, despite the uncontrollable spiral of militant violence threatening to push the country beyond the brink, we do not have a coherent strategy to counter the…
Negotiating a new IMF programme
Two weeks ago (June 11), I suggested that it was time for Pakistan to go to the IMF for balance of payments support as the country’s foreign exchange reserves had…
Why cut the rate?
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has cut its Discount Rate by 50bps to 9 percent, but has not cut its Reverse Repo and Repo rates implying that the rates…
The willing lender
Pakistan and the IMF have started discussions for a fresh round of IMF financing. This will be the twelfth IMF programme in over two decades. Pakistan holds the unique distinction…
Invigorating the civil service
The buzz word these days is governance. Some political analysts have argued that governance (or for that matter bad governance) was the main determinant of the 2013 election results. Where…
Hard facts of friendship
US President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang have little in common. The first is the leader of the “free world”, albeit with feet of clay, with security services…
Chaudhry Nisar’s choices
The deliberations on a national security policy being held under the aegis of the interior ministry in Islamabad today will bear fruit only if the truth is faced squarely and…
Mysterious world of the matrix
If this column has a theme, it would seem to be an interface between human and cyber culture – the internet and other networks that flow into it described as…
Trade and industry
There were quite a few surprises in the 2013 elections, with a number of bigwigs falling from grace. Post-election, about one-third of the representatives in the assemblies are new –…
Balochistan cauldron
The latest blood bath in Quetta is yet another grim reminder of Balochistan’s dangerous slide into anarchy. The gruesome killing of women students and the subsequent siege of the Bolan…
