A GOOD deal of excellent comment has appeared recently on the geopolitics of the Iran-Pakistan (IP) natural gas pipeline. But what about the economics of it?
Published22 Mar, 201305:10am
“FISCAL Neanderthals”. This is how a friend used to describe the finance and FBR bureaucracy — and their parliamentary “handlers” — after each bout of resistance to tax reform and the introduction of the value-added tax between 2008 and 2010.
Published08 Mar, 201312:15am
NEW estimates indicate that Pakistan’s informal economy is larger than previously approximated, and is expanding at a rapid pace. On the other hand, the formal sector appears to be on the retreat.
Published22 Feb, 201312:15am
THE early morning mist hangs heavy. Seemingly light and ephemeral, it smothers the ground — and hangs heavy on the soul too. No one knows when it will lift its burden. Perhaps later in the day? Perhaps later in the
Published24 Jan, 201309:03pm
AT a recording last year for a PTV programme on the state of the economy, Gen Hamid Gul, a fellow co- panellist, argued for the repudiation of Pakistan’s external debt, as these were “odious” loans. In response to
Published28 Dec, 201203:04am
THERE has been a sliver of good news recently on the public debt front — but more bad news too. In response to points of order by some members, the honourable speaker of the National Assembly constituted a special committee to examine all loans taken in t
Published13 Dec, 201210:04pm
A SEISMIC shift is under way in global affairs. At its most potent, this dynamic could conceivably upset the accepted wisdom of where the ‘centre of gravity’ of the world economy will lie two decades from now.
Published30 Nov, 201212:15am
AT this time of the year, Pakistan’s rural heartland begins to throb with frenetic activity. The harvesting of each major crop — especially cotton, wheat, and sugarcane — brings to life the entire countryside.
Published15 Nov, 201209:04pm
RISING inequality of virtually every sort — in incomes, access to opportunity, gender-based, or in terms of quality of life — appears to have made a brief appearance yet again as a topic of debate in the developed countries.
Published02 Nov, 201212:15am
