Rise of the yuan
It was only natural for Beijing to partner with time-tested allies to float the yuan as a possible international reserve currency. But it’s not...
The gas bomb
With the new year, just days away the prediction of the soothsayers seems to be materialising now faster than ever. ‘2012, will mark the...
‘Black year’ for agriculture
Identifying rock-bottom stage is tricky enterprise, hence age-old wisdom that “no matter how bad things are, they can always get worse”. But when a...
Trade not aid
Sri Lanka Expo 2011 comes at an opportune time for Pakistan, when donors and friends alike are raising disturbing questions regarding resource mobilisation. Unfortunately,...
Revenue mobilisation
Half way through the fiscal, it is clear that revenue mobilisation is a more political than economic/financial process. The world bank is right in...
World Bank, donors and PSDP
The World Bank Group’s decision to support Pakistan’s poverty reduction and development agenda comes at a crucial time for Islamabad, where senior government officials...
Dr Sheikh and the president
Seemingly, Dr Sheikh has become an economic convert. Not the worst of practices in times of widespread political switching. But not the best either...
Human capital, liabilities and GDP
Though, for obvious reasons, the government’s newfound liking for ‘capitalising on human capital’ cannot be taken at face value, it touches upon a central...
Testing trade diplomacy
And so the Iran-sanctions effect begins presenting itself. UN restrictions barring Pakistani goods from the neighbouring market, compromising $30 million in selected fruit-export losses,...
Rupee under pressure
Not much is pleasant on the economic front. The rupee touching 90 against the dollar on Monday reflects an out of control current account....
Alive to challenges?
Not admitting a problem makes it worse. So when government spokesmen claim being “alive to economic challenges”, one cannot be faulted for foregoing any...
Washington’s paranoia and Pakistan
Modern real politik dictates that economic/financial interests lay the foundations of political alliances, hence the rush to safeguard and nurture trade alliances even as...
Unacceptable
It does not reflect too well on relevant ministries that the prime minister – furious at ‘slow pace of utilisation’ of ADB financing facility...
Economics of oil
Despite fundamental growth problems in the global economy, geopolitical tensions in the Persian Gulf seem set to trigger yet another round of nervous hikes...
Dr Sheikh and the tax net
While the finance minister’s revelation of netting 700,000 tax evaders during the ongoing fiscal is appreciated, we will need to see visible, on ground...
Railways collapse
A Rs25 billion subsidy and still Railways’ annual loss adds up to Rs45 billion. Everything about the current state of the enterprise – wrecked...
Rupee sounds alarm bells
Financial markets anticipating a rupee fall to 92 against the dollar by Jun ’12 does not bode well for the economy as a whole,...
