Improving tax compliance
Tax reforms, initiated in 2000 borrowing US$100 million from the World Bank, even after 15 years, have failed to improve voluntary compliance and tax-to-GDP ratio. In fiscal year 2014-15, Federal…
Our foreign policy quagmire
So what has gone wrong? There we were patting ourselves on the back for successfully brokering talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban when the talks stood cancelled and…
Denying the acceptance of forces that shape growth and investment
By growth we mean economic expansion as measured by any of a number of indicators such as GDP. Economic growth is an increase in the production and consumption of goods…
The post-IMF agenda
In August 2016, Pakistan will complete the final review of its extended arrangements with the IMF. In the absence of major hiccups, the country would be able to heave a…
Inequality: reasons and impact
THIS writer has argued in these columns that on the one hand low rates of economic growth in the last decade have resulted in 700,000 to 800,000 youth every year…
Countering corruption
We in Pakistan are slowly beginning to realise that corruption and collusion don’t just take an economic and social toll, but that the institutionalisation of these practices now stands as…
The SBP report: facts and fiction
The annual report of the State Bank of Pakistan for FY14, released on December 10, makes for fascinating reading. It seems to oscillate between telling the truth and defending the…
China pays a price to avert stock market crash
China's Communist government has averted a stock market crash - for now - but it will take the world's second-largest economy longer to repair tarnished reform credentials and investment sentiment…
A frank response
The IMF Mission Leader to Pakistan, Jeffrey Franks, has written an article in Dawn of 15th April 2015. The article is aptly titled, 'On the right track?'. Franks says that…
Global economy
The global economy is in pretty stable shape. It's not Olympian fit, but considering the wear and tear it has suffered during the past few years it is remarkably robust…
