Finance and a donor-distracted SBP on August 15, 2017In 2008 financial overzealousness led the global economy over a precipice but it did not kill the romance of finance. In particular donors love finance and love to offer financial inclusion as a panacea for all societal ills. DFID and the IFC have made the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) run programs for financial inclusion […]
Pakistan missing another reform moment on August 5, 2017Pakistan is once again in the news with the dismissal of its prime minister, Nawaz Sharif,by the Supreme Court over a corruption case. This development is not unusual in a country with a history of democratically-elected governments being hobbled by incompetence and corruption. Pakistan has also seen three military coups and has been under military […]
The biggest myth of Pakistans democracy on July 14, 2017Raza Rumi argued recently that there are five myths in Pakistani discourse that need to be put to rest. In his view these are the ‘doctrine of necessity,’ ‘strategic depth,’ ‘use of proxies’, ‘ummah’ and ‘China will fix all’. Raza is right. A large part of our national intellect is consumed by discussing these myths. […]
The media, society and development on December 26, 2011A reporter from a local English daily called me to tell me that I am scheduled to talk against the nuclear programme at the National Defence University (NDU) on December 26. I told him the factual position that I had scheduled a conference at the NDU on the 26th on the Planning Commission’s (PC’s) New […]