A real upgrade
Over the past couple of weeks, the government got some good news: Moody’s, the New York-based global ratings firm, decided to upgrade...
How valuable is your bureaucracy?
For decades now the issue monetization of perks has been on the table. No action has been taken because the powerful secretaries...
Are the banks being lazy? …or – plot twist – being responsible?
Lending to the government is not banking, Allied Bank Limited Chairman, Naeem Mukhtar told me over food at a family wedding in...
Continued myopia on energy policy
Long term policy planning is hardly something that the government of Pakistan is known for. Indeed, the short-termism is what often lands...
Why Jeffrey Sachs is wrong about Reko Diq
It started with the usual leftie / “anti-imperialism is the ultimate moral good” crowd. An article written by American economist Jeffrey Sachs...
The trader’s dilemma
The trading community and the government came to some semblance of an agreement on tax issues recently, after months of simmering tensions...
Seriousness of purpose on climate policy
It is a sad thing when one so consumed by one’s own propaganda and nonsense that one cannot get oneself to admit...
A disease Pakistan can do without
In this week’s cover story, we explore the advent of share buybacks in Pakistan’s capital markets, with major companies listed on the...
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...
Breathing room to act
After months of speculation, at least we know where Pakistan stands: by the skin of our teeth, the country remains connected to...
Tax Refunds: To obtain or not to obtain, and if so, how?
Benjamin Franklin famously said that "n this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." His words are...
Reform! What, why and for who?
Pakistan was made with a commitment to democracy and development but soon after the founding generation succumbed to greed and politically expediency...
How not to hold businesses accountable
Business publications have a natural bias: we tend to be pro-capitalism, pro-free markets, and pro-entrepreneurship. What we at Profit try to do...
Political will or bad policy and reform design?
Reform remains an elusive and little understood concept in Pakistan. The word is seldom used on TV. It is used even less...
Time to deregulate oil prices
If there is one habit we wish the government of Pakistan would try to kick, it is the insane attempts to assert...