A blueprint for Pakistan’s public sector companies beyond privatisation exists
Loss-making Public Sector Enterprises (PSE) and privatisation have been a national obsession for the last three decades. Successive governments, military and civil,...
With Raast, context is Key
Raast by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has received a lot of excitement and interest from the financial payments industry, particularly...
The bitter aftertaste of FED on Pakistan’s juice industry
In face of the need to broaden our tax net, the government imposed a flat 20% Federal Excise Duty (FED) on fruit...
Daraz.pk : Let it live or let it die?
Rumour has it that Alibaba wants to buy Daraz.pk from Rocket Internet for $150 million (approx Rs 1500 crores). If the transaction...
Why ban Tinder?
Banning Tinder changes nothing, except giving its ‘halal’ competitors an edge.
If equity injection is a drug, Microfinance Banks are an addict
Sponsors step in as MFBs grapple with capitalization crunch
The case for E-bikes
We’ve all heard the saying. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, you teach a man how...
Automotive industry feels the pinch
Pakistan’s auto industry is the quintessential oligopoly, with only three major players assembling a handful of automobiles: Honda, Indus Motors (Toyota) and...
Fixing pay and pensions
250 million people exist to pay the salaries of government employees
Three eCommerce ideas gaining mainstream traction in Pakistan
The pandemic led boom in eCommerce has changed a lot
Flipping the script
Devolving political and economic powers to local level can treat what ails Pakistan’s fledgling economy
Fiscal Federalism
Let me start with a question. What does the first article of the Constitution say? Is it about Islam, democracy or fundamental...
Foreign Direct Investment – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The sort of FDI we need and the sort we don't
The SBP has failed to manage its own investments. How can it manage Pakistan’s?
The story of SEPL is a story of inefficiency, contradictions, and the typical problems of public companies in Pakistan
Too much growth?
Policymakers have done little to try and prevent Pakistan’s economy from overheating