Dealing with the IMF for 25 years
In a television interview a few days ago, Pakistan’s current finance minister boasted that he has been dealing with the IMF for 25 years....
Imports: necessary, and not evil
In a country whose government is as obsessed with the exchange rate, the current account deficit, and thus every single component that goes into...
The case against a six-day work week
After a week-long constitutional crisis, a new government is finally in place. One of the first decisions taken was a rushed one, devoid of...
Dear banks – It’s time to go ‘digital first’
The talk of a digital Pakistan is not just talk. We do not say this because there has been some seismic shift in the...
Interest Free Economy
Pakistan is no stranger to debt. It currently has total debt of PKR 50 trillion, of which roughly PKR 33 trillion is domestic debt...
News bites — Khan saab’s glorious U turn, Advice for Miftah Ismael, Chopping education and more
The Great U Turn
He came. He saw. He left. After leading a frenzied mob all the way from Peshawar to Islamabad to demand the...
The only constant is change
The old adage, “the only constant is change” is truer today than perhaps ever before. Businesses are grappling with inflation, economic instability, political volatility,...
A case of exploding tomatoes
The extreme fluctuations in prices of tomatoes amongst other staples over the last few weeks have induced a weird kind of panic. Yesterday the...
Case of missing aircraft, mismanagement, cronyism, indiscipline, kickbacks, & pilferage haunts PIA
PIA is a statutory state-owned organisation, subject to the regulatory control of Pakistan CAA and every other country whose airspace it overflies or lands...
Gaslight at the end of PSX tunnel
The week ending on October 14 had been precarious for the PSX and investors as political tensions gave the market a good old hammering....
Slow rockets and fast feathers: Why exports fall fast but increase slowly after exchange rate changes
There’s no exportable surplus.
That is the typical response you get from private sector and policy makers alike when you ask why Pakistani exports don’t...
Careem plots move into delivery sector, will this strategy crystallize?
Pakistan’s technology sector remains nascent, but dynamics of the industry will follow global patterns and see replication at a scale which could be unprecedented...
Pakistan needs to get out of the comfort zone, end cycle of borrowing
Pakistan is stuck in a repeated cycle of borrowing to pay back money it already owes to other countries. The scary part - it seems like it has become too comfortable with it.
The last days of Governor Baqir
"His term is about to end and we will not retain him," said Khawaja Muhammad Asif while speaking about Dr Reza Baqir’s term as...
The cost of surplus power
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi recently said that the country would experience an electricity surplus in the region of 2,400-3,400 MW by February next...
