There is a tendency in Pakistan’s economic discourse to swing between despair and denial. One week we are a failing agrarian state crushed under inefficiency, the next we celebrate short-term macro stability as if structural transformation has already arrived. The truth, as always, lies somewhere far more nuanced-and far more promising. Beneath the noise of […]
Pakistan’s Hidden War Economy
Wars are often imagined through images of missiles, fighter jets and frontlines. Yet the most powerful battles rarely appear on television screens. They unfold silently in markets, fuel stations and electricity bills. For millions of Pakistanis today, the conflict unfolding across the Middle East-particularly tensions involving Iran, Israel and the United States-is already shaping daily […]
Signals Beyond the Storm
Rising fuel prices, stock market volatility, and growing geopolitical tensions across the Middle East and South Asia have dominated headlines in recent weeks. Energy markets have reacted nervously to conflict risks, while investors in emerging economies-including Pakistan-have remained cautious. Yet beneath this turbulence, another story is quietly unfolding. Even as regional uncertainty and economic pressures […]
The World Is Rearming — Who Will Pay the Bill?
For three decades after the Cold War ended, wars never truly disappeared. From the Balkans to Afghanistan, from Iraq to Syria, armed conflicts remained a recurring feature of global politics. Yet despite these wars, the international system was largely shaped by economic globalisation rather than sustained military rivalry between major powers. Defence budgets in many […]
Pakistan’s Energy Lifeline Runs Through a War Zone
In Pakistan’s fragile economic equation, one geographical chokepoint thousands of kilometres away can ignite inflation, derail fiscal targets, and destabilise an already vulnerable recovery. The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow maritime corridor between Iran and Oman, has once again become the world’s most dangerous economic pressure point. For Pakistan, the risks are far greater than […]
Pakistan’s Economy Is Built for Survival, Not for Scale
Pakistan is not a failed economy. It is a deliberately small one. That sentence will offend some, anger others, and unsettle many. But it is closer to the truth than the endless debates about IMF programmes, exchange rates, or budget deficits. Pakistan does not lack money. It does not lack talent. It does not lack […]
Why Ramadan Feels More Expensive Every Year?
Ramadan has already begun across Pakistan, and with it has returned a familiar anxiety that has little to do with fasting and everything to do with affordability. Markets are crowded, fruit vendors are busy, grocery stores are full, yet beneath the visible activity lies a quiet concern shared by millions of households: why does Ramadan […]
Five Economic Lies We Tell Ourselves
Nations rarely decline because they lack resources. They decline because they become comfortable with illusions. Pakistan’s economic crisis is not merely fiscal, monetary, or structural-it is psychological. For decades, we have constructed convenient narratives that allow us to delay reform, shift blame, and avoid difficult conversations. These stories are repeated in drawing rooms, television studios, […]
Pakistan Isn’t Poor. Pakistanis Are Being Made Poor
Walk through any bazaar in Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad, or Multan, and you will hear the same story repeated in different accents: salaries finish before the month does, groceries are bought in smaller quantities, children’s school fees are delayed, and medical bills are avoided until they become emergencies. This is not an abstract economic crisis. It […]
Rs 5,000 Is the New Rs 500: How Inflation Has Shrunk Pakistani Lives
There was a time, not that long ago, when Rs 5,000 felt like real money. It could cover a week’s groceries, a family outing, fuel for several days, and still leave something behind. Today, Rs 5,000 disappears before you even realise where it went. You walk into a supermarket, pick up milk, bread, cooking oil, […]