‘Economy’ Archives

Related : Most favourite nation? S Akbar Zaidi With Thanks : First Post India In a bid to ensure more people to people contact, India is contemplating easing visa regulation for Pakistan nationals. With the cabinet note on the issue set to be tabled in a few days, it might be a couple of weeks before visa regulations are eased. The new [...]

At daylight of December 27, 2007, I perceived the change in the shade of the blue - then; the world gave a vision of the mountains, stooping in veneration and in admiration of someone. Later, all the gesticulates of the oceans stood tranquil-The marvels were quite conspicuous, though, the day was to bring something too ruthless, yes, too hard to [...]

  Most of the time, history is recorded and told from perspective of powerful and elite, we are told about princes, kings, generals, thinkers and the leaders, what is mostly ignored is those who were enslaved, plundered and lived under the king, those who cultivated lands to feed the kingdom and provided labor to build cities and castles, [...]

  ہمالیہ کو خاصے بڑے ماحولیاتی مسائل کا سامنا ہے، آبادی میں اضافے اور مواصلات میں بہتری کی وجہ سے آلودگی پھیل رہی ہے جس کا اثر پورے ماحول پر پڑا ہے، عالمی درجہ حرارت میں اضافے کی وجہ سے [...]

Rants against the economic performance of the current government have become such a common and recurrent feature of our political discourse that the statement “this PPP government has ruined the economy” has assumed the properties of an axiom or a self-evident truth which does not require any more substantiation by way of rational and [...]

In a country like Pakistan, where every decision (either good or bad) is looked at with scepticism, a number of commentators and analysts have decried that the reduction in interest rates to 12% will lead to inflation; whereas the overall reduction in inflation (the basis for this reduction) is because of rebasing of the Consumer Price [...]

When former general, dictator and president Pervez Musharraf was telling a packed audience at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington Wednesday that he may return to lead his country again, a well established Pakistani entrepreneur sitting next to me cringed and whispered “there goes any hope of doing business with [...]

Published: Express Tribune,  October 17, 2011 Hajj is a big business not just for the arrangers of the pilgrimage but also for the Saudi Arabian economy. However, the impact of Hajj on Pakistan’s economy and how much it can cost an individual is never deliberated. This year, private Hajj group organisers will manage 50% pilgrims while [...]

  The State Bank of Pakistan has surprised the market by reducing the discount rate by 1.5% to 12%. This is the second rate cut in three months bringing the total reduction of discount rate by 2%. A number of analysts were expecting a reduction of 0.5% to 1% at the most. It may be noted that the earlier reduction of 0.5% in July was [...]

Source: The Express Tribune, September 5th,  2011 The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) closed fiscal year 2011 with a near 29% growth in equity values. Though highly skewed due to the price movement of certain heavyweights, the growth makes a good headline number. How many people benefited from the growth is another matter entirely, but if [...]

Is overpopulation the root cause of all ills in Pakistan, such as poor governance, terrorism and shortages? So argue Mr. Cowasjee and Mr. Irfan Hussain in recent articles in Dawn. Both have been towering intellectual figures on the Pakistani landscape for long.  Thus, I dispute their viewpoint with reluctance and, of course, utmost respect. [...]

Having failed to ignite a revolution with their fiery speeches, the fierce, self-appointed defenders of Pakistan's interests are now focusing their energies on preaching the virtues of national self-reliance. Their definition of self-reliance remains vague. However, their ire has focused mostly on portraying foreign aid, especially US and IMF [...]

Pakistanis tend to be dreamy romanticists. Our favorite dream relates to the sudden emergence of a knight in shining armor from heavens to rescue everyone through able governance. Unfortunately, this is a pipe-dream, for leaders emerge from within societies, from among stronger classes, and embody the worldviews of their parent class and allies. [...]

  A recent book on Pakistan calls it a hard country, which it is. However, a better characterization is that it is a hardy country, able to withstand massive shocks simultaneously without collapsing completely. Since 2006, Pakistan has experienced a series of serious simultaneous shocks that few countries have experienced: monumental [...]

Source: Express Tribune, July 4, 2011 With fiscal year 2011 ending, Pakistan’s main stock index, the KSE-100 Index showed impressive growth of 28.53%, closing at 12,496 points. The other component of capital markets, the debt side, saw Engro Corporation breaking barriers and coming up with a Corporate Bond for retail investors. Buoyed by [...]

Related Articles: Budget coverage misses the mark: What on earth is ‘relief’? – By Farooq Tirmizi In a very good roundup of how budgets are reported in Pakistan, Aakar Patel has rounded up how people who do not understand economics, taxes, savings and overall finances are ready to pounce on giving fatwas on budget speech and the overall [...]

  Source: Express Tribune By Farooq Tirmizi Published: June 6, 2011 For the journalists who cried themselves hoarse that the federal government’s budget for fiscal year 2012 contained no ‘relief’ for the masses, I have a few questions: what on earth is ‘relief’, why should the government provide it, how should they provide [...]

Source: The Express Tribune Published: June 6, 2011   The last few weeks have been disappointing as well as hysteric for a majority of Pakistanis. Disappointing because a high value target was found and killed in Pakistan and hysteric because the chants of “attack on national sovereignty” and “breaking off relations with USA” have [...]

On June 3, 2011, the fourth budget of the current government was presented in the National Assembly by Finance Minister, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. The main opposition party, Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz’s members raised slogans throughout the speech of the Finance Minister which at times made the impact of the speech diluted. The budget speech [...]

As expected, a recent World Bank report has confirmed Pakistan’s graduation to the ranks of middle-income countries. However, this elevation has generated little national euphoria and even the beleaguered government has forgotten to take credit.  Does this elevation represent anything significant? The per capita gross national income (GNI) [...]

The dismal situation today is feeding nostalgia for Musharraf. Was his rule worth it? Not for democracy-idealists like me! However, since many people can tolerate dictatorships if they deliver, I consider this question pragmatically. Even pragmatically, dictatorship cannot be a permanent feature in Pakistan—more polycentric than Africa where [...]

With thanks : Tribune Islamabad : In a major move to reassure international investors about security of their investment, President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday signed “Arbitration (International Investment Disputes) Bill 2011” into law. At a ceremony held at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, Zardari said, “This is a giant leap forward to create [...]

Pakistan’s economy is currently afflicted by two problems requiring diametrically opposite remedies: economic stagnation, which dictates expansionary policies, and inflation caused by a fiscal gap, which requires contractionary policies. Pakistan thus suffers from stagflation. Given their conflicting remedies, should Pakistan prioritize economic [...]

Pakistan is probably the country whose demise is predicted most frequently and nervously. David Kilcullen, an American-based guerrilla warfare expert, wrote the most apocalyptic (and inaccurate!) obituary back in 2009: collapse within months. Political scientists, wiser than narrowly-focused warfare experts, are less impetuous. However, while [...]

With Thanks : Daily Times Experts say gain is fragile in face of uncertain security, unending power crisis, rising oil prices, high fiscal deficit KARACHI: After a year of unemployment and wondering if his family would be better off if he died, Pakistani textile worker Murad Ali has got the spring back in his step. One of thousands laid off [...]

Source: The Express Tribune There are two broad types of decisions – a decision that yields good results or a decision that goes bad. When a decision yields good results, the management reinforces it strategies to ensure continuation. In case of a decision that doesn’t yield the right results, corrective action is taken. There is, [...]

Source: http://tribune.com.pk/story/132249/becoming-a-part-of-the-solution-how-to-sell-our-country/ On my recent visit to California, I was asked what in my opinion was the biggest problem facing Pakistan these days?” “There isn’t just one” I replied. “Already under a lot of stress due to deficits, our country is facing compounded [...]

Relevant Reading: Differentiating between Propaganda and Facts I – Exports show biggest growth in history Differentiating between Propaganda and Facts II – Remittances touch USD 6.96 billion, up 20% If one reads the newspapers, watches the news, listens to our right wing media anchors and follows the proceedings in the courts, it seems that [...]

If one reads the newspapers, watches the news, listens to our right wing media anchors and follows the proceedings in the courts, it seems that Pakistan is sliding on fast pacing downhill slope. On the other hand, there is consistency of healthy financial data coming in which is good enough to confuse the pessimists into a conclave. On March 10, [...]

If one reads the newspapers, watches the news, listens to our right wing media anchors and follows the proceedings in the courts, it seems that Pakistan is sliding on fast pacing downhill slope. On the other hand, there is consistency of healthy data coming in. The latest was yesterday when the Federal Bureau of Statistics released export figures [...]

Published: Express Tribune, February 28, 2011 From the very outset, let me be very clear that corruption, kickbacks, facilitation money etc are not condonable; however, being realistic, it cannot be done away so easily through either a law or simply pursuing individuals. If one takes a rational look at things, financial corruption can be [...]

The aim of this post is to highlight the possible financial impact of the matter of Raymond Davis’ immunity and the worsening of relations between the USA and Pakistan. A leading Investment Bank of Pakistan, InvestCap has come up with their report which is being posted below. Though we have not sought their permission on the same, we [...]

Dawn, February 4, 2011 THE problem with making arguments and stating opinions which go against the grain of what passes as current conventional wisdom is that this comes with a huge baggage of issues. Often, contrary views are misconstrued, sometimes deliberately, because they suit someone`s interests. More often, they are simply [...]

Related articles: Let’s agitate for regime change in Pakistan: Tunisia and Egypt style Let’s have a revolution in Pakistan: Yeh, Yeh, Yeh! – by Razzak Memon I once heard someone quoting someone from the past to explain revolution as a society pregnant with new one. It is pretty impressive quotation and I must admit its damn [...]

Express Tribune Published: January 31, 2011 Pakistan has a large number of offenders in jails who can be put to good use. DESIGN: S.JAMAL When I was in university nearly a decade ago, we could use China in a SWOT analysis in any way we felt like. It was a Strength and a Weakness as well as an Opportunity and Threat. China easily allowed [...]

I had not been following the Riko Diq Project hoo-haa simply for the fact that it was “scooped” by none other than novelist Shaheen Sehbai in The News. Titled “$260 billion gold mines going for a song, behind closed doors” it was another attempt by living in cuckoo land journalists like Shaheen Sehbai to prove their credentials as people [...]

'Hussain said the feudal system was damaging the country’s roots and that the Pakistani nation should stand up against it and get rid of it. “Inflation has affected the people and we oppose the imposition of Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST). Instead, agricultural tax should be imposed on land owners,” Hussain added.' MQM chief has [...]

RGST has turned out to be an explosive issue which is likely to alter the political landscape if not overturn it entirely. Meanwhile, the public as well as the stakeholders who are doing politics around it remain ignorant about the nature of the tax and how is it likely to impact Pakistan’s economy. In an interview with The News on Sunday, [...]

This is an interesting article that is praising the government in the way it is trying to handle the RGST issue. It is also tracing the history of efforts on revenue generation. http://tribune.com.pk/story/93231/rulers-and-taxes/ Things were not going well for Pervez Musharraf during the first year of his rule. The earlier part of the year 2000 [...]

Don’t believe the hype. This is not about protecting the poor from inflation, or stopping corruption. This is about one thing only: blood. Let me explain. The opposition to the government’s attempts to introduce a value added tax (VAT) in the country has grown in proportion to the IMF’s public insistence that this tax is essential to [...]