Pakistan’s ongoing economic challenges appear insurmountable today. The burgeoning current and fiscal accounts deficits present a dismal picture requiring exigent interventions both in the short and long run. Generally, short term economic measures are immediately taken while long term economic planning is ignored in Pakistan. The most convoluted component in economic planning is the formulation […]
Replicating Jacinda’s doctrine in Pakistan
The massacre of fifty Muslims in Christchurch, by a white supremacist, is undoubtedly a lugubrious incident in New Zealand’s history. However, the way in which the Labor Party government, led by the Prime Minister(PM) Jacinda Ardern, handled the crisis deserves best accolades. In terms of economics, she was successful in redefining the soft determinants of […]
Vertical expansion and economic growth
Prime Minister Imran Khan has recently vowed to encourage vertical expansion of Pakistani cities paving way for the growth of high-rise buildings across the country. As per media reports, he presaged not to let cities grow horizontally with a view to protecting country’s food security, green areas and environment. This kind of policy approach requires […]
The fiscal dimension of Indo-Pak war – II
It may be deduced that any war between India and Pakistan will inherently bring economic uncertainty with it. This uncertainty will inhibit the capabilities of the federal and provincial tax collection agencies such as the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the provincial tax collection authorities. This suggests that uncertainty and insecurity needs to be […]
The fiscal dimension of Indo-Pak war – I
The soaring tension over the Pulwama attack, according to media reports, may trigger a full scale war between Pakistan and India. The ongoing military stand-off between the two countries is reflective of new heightened levels of uncertainty and insecurity in the South Asian region. A sense of insecurity can adversely affect, and even occlude, the […]
Business, gender and cultural impediments
Pakistan’s ranking on the Ease of Doing Business index, according to media reports, has improved an enticing 11 points from 147 to 136 for the year 2019. The observation has been made on the basis of the World Bank’s 2019 Doing Business report, comparing business regulation for domestic firms in 190 economies across the globe. […]
Power, conflict and growth of Lahore
Cities can act as engines of economic growth in a country- provided their urban planning is smart enough to intelligently respond to various economic, social, spatial, political, cultural and environmental challenges in a holistic manner. Some analysts have recently argued that the vertical expansion of Lahore is in the offing in terms of increasing high […]
Gender parity and economic growth
Religious commandments have been interpreted differently by various sects and cultures. Broadly, the religious culture of people living in the mountains is different from the people living in the plains, the deserts and the coastal areas. Similarly, the level of women’s freedom is way different in urban and rural areas. The living style and development […]
Gender parity and economic growth
The World Economic Forum (WEF), a Geneva-based organization, has recently released its annual report entitled Global Gender Gap Index 2018. According to this report, Pakistan is the second worst performing country on the gender parity front acquiring an embarrassingly low 148th position out of 149 countries. That means Pakistan is the second last country in […]
Creating new jobs
The Ministry of Finance has recently unveiled the government strategy to create 10 million new jobs in different sectors during its five year tenure. According to the media reports, these new jobs will be created after the implementation of various government projects. For instance, the ministry foresees the creation of two million new jobs, once […]