This week, we look at differences of opinions. Different opinions are vital to healthy debate and are at the soul of the democratic process. So when there is a twitter debate about graphs and their interpretations, Profit is there to watch and observe so we can bring it to you every week. Along with differences of opinion, we look at kachra stocks and the future of the current account.
Profit’s Ariba Shahid brings you the future of rotis, Pakistan’s livestock potential, sofas strapped on motorbikes, and more in this week’s social media roundup.
- The future of rotis
Pakistan’s gas reserves are almost over and will have to completely rely on imported LNG from 2024 onwards to meet demand for cooking gas
Pakistan does have surplus electric energy though. Is it time to switch to electric in our homes and industries?
— M.S 🪁🌲🌳🌴🚴🚉🏙 (@ShaykShack) May 20, 2021
Gas stove ovens are inefficient and waste tons of precious gas while you’re cooking. While we love it when our rotis inflate on the flame, Pakistan may need to think about going electric. The downsides of that are you might have trouble with your rotis. More importantly, you might have to just order out when there’s unscheduled load shedding and you’re just too hungry to wait. For a lot of people out there, even that may be a win. How will your parents insist that you eat ghar ka khana instead of ordering out when the ghar ka khana just cannot be eaten because there is no light to cook your rotis. In any case, if this shift does happen, we can already hear people from today’s generation telling their kids 30 years down the line “back in our days rotis were made on a gas stove and they’ve never been the same since.” Whether that’s the power of nostalgia or a genuine complaint we have yet to say.
- Ugly charts are unacceptable
Hello, I am serious analyst and I have intelligent chart to share. It’s called ‘vOt HaPpENeD tO PAkiStAn’ pic.twitter.com/ZkBVOC8wgA
— People’s Commissar (@faisal_parla) March 14, 2021
Everyday we see a chart and a chart enthusiast trying to explain it or force some pattern out of it. If you think about it very seriously, there is not that much of a difference between disciplines like literature and economics. The former try to force patterns out of texts and argue vehemently about what it means and what we should derive from it. The latter does the same thing, but with graphs and about numbers. Why then are all the jobs reserved for the economists when the literature crowd is so much cooler? You may agree or disagree with this assessment, and difference of opinion is something we encourage and uphold at Profit. And on all graphs being made and their analysis, we accept and indeed expect differences of opinion. There is one caveat however, and that is that the chart isn’t made on an obnoxious yellow background with big pictures pasted on it (hint hint, you know who we’re talking about). On that front, everyone should be in agreement.
{Editor’s note: The defence of a literature degree may or may not have been added to this section by an editor with a literature degree}
- Agricultural country
We have a serious milk production problem. The problem is with local breeds giving low quantity of milk compared to imported breeds like Holstein etc. Leads to inefficiency and makes milk expensive.
Imported = 30 to 40 litres per day.
Desi= 10 to 15 litres. https://t.co/qTLJ0NQMvi— Verisimilitude deluxe (@usmanrafim) May 18, 2021
For an agricultural country it’s important to talk about agriculture and make policies centric towards it considering the workforce employed. And no, that doesn’t mean adding a section to geography textbooks about how rich in minerals and natural resources Pakistan has. While Pakistan has its fair share of livestock, commercializing it is something it needs some help in. But before we get to that we need to make sure we bank on the right breeds for optimum output and returns. Agriculture is a science, it’s time we pick up pace. If we’re truly proud of being an agrarian economy, then we should put our money where our mouths are.
- Kachra
But mostly kachra https://t.co/h7mM7ohvwr
— Ovais (@Sabbandkardo) May 20, 2021
Kachra is a very subjective term. It could either mean stocks for underperforming companies, stocks that don’t give out generous dividends, or stocks you’ve lost out on and are holding grudges against. But the market really has a mind of its own and that said, sometimes you don’t need fundamentals to witness a rally. Sometimes all you need is luck. And if you don’t have luck, you could always resort to labeling the stock as kachra or wait patiently (hopefully not perpetually) for it to turn to gold.
- Prepare for the swarms
Current account surplus expected in FY21 after 10 years. What to expect going forward? Read details below#Pakistan #economy #currentaccount @Hammad_Azhar @Asad_Umar @razak_dawood @FinMinistryPak @MoIB_Official https://t.co/mrc07XKfIL
— Tahir Abbas (@stahir_abbas) May 20, 2021
Tahir Abbas, Head of research at AHL, shares a report by his team expecting that Pakistan is going to hit the green spot for its current account for the fiscal year 2021. This is something we haven’t witnessed for a year or so. Our only question is, how many ministers are we going to see chanting this when it comes true. That isn’t a day we’re looking forward to.
- Mr Bean moment
Bykea Business Class. ❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/dtqWDJhz2g
— Azam Jamil (@AzamJamil53) May 19, 2021
Leave it to Pakistanis to find a creative solution to any problem. So far we’ve seen goats moved around on motorcycles. A sofa is a first for us. What really takes the prize here is how nonchalant the passenger is. Kind of reminds us of some of our locally manufactured cars that don’t have airbags or seat belts. It was also reminiscent of a legendary episode of Mr Bean, in which he attempts to steer a car while sitting on a sofa strapped on top of the hood. We wonder if that was part of the inspiration.
