Miscellaneous Foreign grants: taken for granted? The term “development partners” has been in vogue for quite some time in the donor circles of Islamabad. It’s a euphemis Updated 05 Dec, 2019 11:29am
Miscellaneous Stewardship through refuge-in-a-bag Central to the criticism of genetically modified crops is the fear that weeds and pests may develop resistance against b Updated 05 Dec, 2019 08:19am
Miscellaneous All roads lead to tariffs, none to growth No dull day in international politics where U.S. President Donald Trump is involved. The President lives in a steady sta Published 05 Dec, 2019 05:44am
Miscellaneous Peaking food inflation The headline inflation stood at 12.7 percent in Nov-19, in line with the expectations. On monthly basis, the toll is up Published 05 Dec, 2019 05:32am
Miscellaneous Bt. Cotton: global experience The standard complain of Pakistan's textile industry is that cotton production is witnessing a freefall, led by a secula Published 04 Dec, 2019 07:38am
Miscellaneous The clock is ticking for FBR What should have been announced through a formal detailed data release by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) came in fac Published 04 Dec, 2019 07:28am
Miscellaneous Macro obsessions Despite the increasingly powerful reign of chicken in Pakistan, the country is unable to competitively export chicken to Updated 03 Dec, 2019 11:10am
Miscellaneous Rise of multilateral financing Amid improving macroeconomic stability and fiscal prudence, another green shoot is the healthy inflows from official, mu Updated 03 Dec, 2019 11:24am
Miscellaneous How not to write FBR’s revenue yearbook? The FBR released its FY19 revenue yearbook a few days ago. As is the case each year, the revenue yearbook is a motely mi Updated 02 Dec, 2019 11:22am
Miscellaneous Need for higher development spending With the fiscal and current account deficits under control, probably earlier than some observers had thought, there is a Updated 02 Dec, 2019 11:36am
Miscellaneous Support prices: where is the change? In the past week alone, the economic wizards of federal government have twice sat together to deliberate commodity suppo Updated 02 Dec, 2019 11:39am
Miscellaneous Price control in Riyasat-e-Madina Milton Friedman is quoted to have said that "if the federal government were put in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five Updated 23 Oct, 2019 12:59pm
Miscellaneous The future of work Businesses in Pakistan may be put into three kind of boxes: the aging legacy types, corporates or family-owned SMEs, th Updated 23 Oct, 2019 01:01pm
Miscellaneous Exports: High volumes alone won’t cut it The current account deficit for September 2019 at $259 million would have sounded extremely outlandish a year ago. But i Updated 23 Oct, 2019 01:06pm
Miscellaneous Pakistan needs PPP Governments in Pakistan, including provincial ones, do not have money to spend on development. Private sector is cash ri Updated 23 Oct, 2019 01:43pm
Miscellaneous Rising onion prices bring tears Back in January, while commenting on the rabi crop projections for FY19, SBP’s State of the Economy report had noted tha Updated 23 Oct, 2019 01:10pm
Miscellaneous On cellphone imports It’s probably a false alarm. As per central bank data, mobile phone imports came in at roughly $74 million for July 2019 Updated 20 Sep, 2019 05:57am
Miscellaneous Much ado about 5G The quest to bring 5G to Pakistan is off to a controversial start. Last month, Zong marketed itself as “the first and on Updated 19 Sep, 2019 06:01am
Miscellaneous Inflation holds the key Central banks are like ocean liners they take time to change directions. Something on those lines was the SBP Governor i Updated 18 Sep, 2019 06:41am
Miscellaneous Textbooks economics and support prices It has been repeatedly highlighted that support price mechanism create distortions in commodity markets by de-coupling p Updated 18 Sep, 2019 08:53am
Miscellaneous Is there room for movement on support price? Support prices are a tricky business. Ostensibly set to improve farm economics, support price mechanism is often upwards Updated 17 Sep, 2019 06:50am
Miscellaneous Remittances on seasonal slump As expected, the home remittances in August 2019 witnessed a dip. The decline of 17 percent month-on-month was seen as a Updated 17 Sep, 2019 06:37am
Miscellaneous Good vibes from DC If the world is looking to wait out Trump, perhaps it should pay attention to the Democratic presidential race. This goe Updated 16 Sep, 2019 07:01am
Miscellaneous D-Day for Sugar in December For several years now, commentators and experts alike have insisted that Pakistan produces white sugar in surplus, often Updated 16 Sep, 2019 07:01am
Miscellaneous Monetary policy: status quo for now likely The monetary policy is to be announced on Monday- two months after the previous policy, and a day before a high level IM Updated 13 Sep, 2019 06:20am
Miscellaneous FATF: grace period? The clock is ticking. Pakistan has now presented its last stand before FATF’s regional body. The finance ministry sounds Updated 13 Sep, 2019 06:20am
Miscellaneous Going under: prognosis negative Limited liability companies, by definition, enjoy the freedom of declaring bankruptcy if and when fundamentals of busine Updated 13 Sep, 2019 06:55am
Miscellaneous Readying for hot money The recipe sought to jack up reserves in coming quarters is to attract foreign portfolio investment in government de Updated 12 Sep, 2019 08:11am
Miscellaneous On chambers’ solutions for economic problems Last week, the All Pakistan Chambers Convention (APCC) released their White Paper on challenges and the way forward for Updated 12 Sep, 2019 05:51am
Miscellaneous Save the deal The abrupt suspension of Afghan peace talks has surprised many. Folks are wondering whether the “deal in principle” can Updated 12 Sep, 2019 05:52am
Miscellaneous Tourism – still a long way to go Be it the local or international tourists, solo travelers, families, backpackers, or travel bloggers – Pakistan has not Updated 12 Sep, 2019 05:53am
Miscellaneous Does it nudge you? Macro problems are symptoms of numerous micro frictions which are termed as transaction costs and regulatory hurdles. Wh Updated 06 Sep, 2019 06:02am
Miscellaneous Rebased CPI treats energy the right way! The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has earned applause. The long awaited rebased CPI is here and the initial impres Updated 06 Sep, 2019 05:35am
Miscellaneous A bird in hand A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Especially when the avian is a golden goose that is unwilling to yield. The Updated 06 Sep, 2019 05:46am
Miscellaneous Looming debt crisis of non-diversified mills Monetary tightening has never been a friend to industries in private sector. But it appears that the latest round of dou Updated 06 Sep, 2019 05:36am
Miscellaneous New CPI – new realities The wait is over. The rebased CPI came with a good news of almost one percentage point reduction in CPI for August, as Updated 05 Sep, 2019 07:47am
Miscellaneous Pakistan’s basmati challenge During the last decade, Pakistan’s premium rice has lost ground in the international market much like a shoreline to an Updated 05 Sep, 2019 06:24am
Miscellaneous Is unemployment really Pakistan’s big issue? In recent news, Peshawar Electric Supply Company informed the Senate that 750,000 applicants applied for just 3,200 Updated 05 Sep, 2019 06:42am
Miscellaneous Can Pakistan attract debt market flows? Foreign flows to Pakistan’s government debt market – Treasury Bills to be specific – have resumed after a hiatus of abou Updated 04 Sep, 2019 05:10am
Miscellaneous Changing sugarcane crushing cycle Appeals for timely start of sugarcane crushing have become the clarion call of grower associations for the past several Updated 04 Sep, 2019 06:46am
Miscellaneous Eyes on fiscal now There are talks of interest rates cut in the second half of this fiscal (some even are eying for doves to dominate in No Updated 04 Sep, 2019 06:44am
Miscellaneous FBR’s 2MFY20 report card This is probably the first time ever, when monthly tax collection data is scrutinised and debated within and outside eco Updated 03 Sep, 2019 05:22am
Miscellaneous Punjab urban property tax Cities develop and sustain based on financing and its service delivery. Within urban taxation domain, tax on immovable p Updated 03 Sep, 2019 06:01am
Miscellaneous First promise to the IMF broken Two months into the IMF programme and the first promise to the IMF goes for a walk. This has largely gone unnoticed in t Updated 03 Sep, 2019 07:24am
Miscellaneous HASCOL’s miserable 1HCY19 Imports-led businesses have had a bad start to 2019 (or a bad end to FY19 in cases where they follow the fiscal year). E Updated 03 Sep, 2019 05:20am
Miscellaneous Is PTI able to manage its shop? In October 2018 PM Imran Khan said he “was surprised” over the absence of macroeconomic experts and other subject matter Updated 02 Sep, 2019 05:50am
Miscellaneous All eyes on Shabbar Shabbar Zaidi, the FBR Chairman, is the man to anchor the second year of a five-year match. The first was not good for t Updated 02 Sep, 2019 05:17am
Miscellaneous Regional cooperation Commonwealth, OIC, SCO, ECO, and SAARC. The list of alphabet soup of intergovernmental organizations that Pakistan is an Updated 02 Sep, 2019 06:10am
Miscellaneous EPQL in good shape 2018 and 2019 have seen a spike in currency deprecation, which has been one key factor in determining the profitability Updated 30 Aug, 2019 06:12am
Miscellaneous Karachi, Karachi! It used to be called the City of Lights. Anyone living in Karachi over the last few decades might as well des Updated 29 Aug, 2019 05:09am
Miscellaneous Frictions in real estate There are micro frictions that are hindering major economic sectors to attain their true potential. Real estate is a maj Updated 29 Aug, 2019 04:54am
Miscellaneous Capital structure of listed sugar mills The policy rate is at an eight-year high of 13.25 percent, and prominent economists are declaring it ‘default’ seaso Updated 28 Aug, 2019 10:04am
Miscellaneous Privatisation: how green are the green signals According to media reports, the Privatisation Commission has identified ten public sector entities (PSEs) for privat Updated 28 Aug, 2019 07:23am
Miscellaneous EFUG bogged down by costs General Insurance Limited (PSX: EFUG) has recently announced its financial performance for the first six months of 2019 Updated 28 Aug, 2019 06:56am
Miscellaneous Clipped wings of Pakistan’s aviation The Competition Commission of Pakistan’s (CCP) recent report on the market and regulatory assessment of the country’s ai Updated 27 Aug, 2019 07:15am
Miscellaneous Loyalty won’t save the day Gone are the days when sticking to one product or name was the thought process of consumers. With changing preferences, Updated 27 Aug, 2019 07:00am
Miscellaneous Sindh sugarcane crop in three maps Is there a method to the madness of sugarcane landscape in Sindh? Despite its disproportionate share in newspaper headli Published 26 Aug, 2019 06:44am
Miscellaneous Rice bowls of Sindh and Punjab The illustrations of district-wise yields in Sindh and Punjab look like a patchwork. Only one district in each region ha Published 23 Aug, 2019 06:35am
Miscellaneous Sindh’s yield masks Pakistan cotton potential What is an anomaly? In 2012, Pakistan’s cotton recorded its highest-ever yield at 815 kg per hectare. According to Annua Published 22 Aug, 2019 06:45am
Miscellaneous CPEC Authority PM Khan’s decision to set up CPEC Authority for quick and judicious completion of CPEC projects is a tacit acceptance th Published 21 Aug, 2019 06:12am
Miscellaneous Micro silver linings in macro abyss The macro numbers are getting worse as the tightening measures are not reaping results – the impact is likely to come wi Published 21 Aug, 2019 06:09am
Miscellaneous Kharif crops: who’s the thirstiest of all? Bore a well in any part of Sindh, and eight out of ten times the aquifer will spurt out saline water unusable for irriga Published 21 Aug, 2019 06:04am
Miscellaneous Sindh’s water volatility During 1980-2000, the rural landscape of Punjab saw a revolution that led to over 25 percent increase in area under cult Published 19 Aug, 2019 06:14am
Miscellaneous Chasing English Next to 5 million children out of primary school in Pakistan— a number large enough itself to sound off some alarming be Published 19 Aug, 2019 06:04am
Miscellaneous Reversing trends: cane-substitution in South Sindh Unlike most of northern Indus basin where shortage of water in the canal system can be easily substituted by groundwater Published 16 Aug, 2019 06:28am
Miscellaneous Will sacked doctors in Saudi dent remittance flows? In latest dent to Pakistan’s image and possibly to remittance inflows, Saudi Arabia has asked Pakistani doctors and othe Published 16 Aug, 2019 06:02am
Miscellaneous Changing landscape of Sindh’s sugarcane Between 2006-16, 10 sugar mills came online in Sindh. During this period, sugarcane crushing by mills in the province in Published 09 Aug, 2019 07:05am
Miscellaneous Punjab Spatial Strategy Cities are engine of growth; and to attain the potential of resources, proper planning is at the core, and to plan, the Published 09 Aug, 2019 07:05am
Miscellaneous Sindh’s governance at greater risk A few weeks ago, the Supreme Court’s judge Justice Gulzar Ahmed said Sindh is the most corrupt province in Pakistan, sin Published 08 Aug, 2019 08:06am
Miscellaneous Too soon to cheer for tax filer growth According to media reports the number of tax filers for FY18 is 2.34 million – the highest figure ever. But that number Published 07 Aug, 2019 06:52am
Miscellaneous Falling economic transactions The fall in economic activities, including basic transactions, is yet to touch rock bottom. There are two reasons to sup Published 07 Aug, 2019 06:48am
Miscellaneous CPI – will the PBS get it right (ever)? The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) seems to have no response on being pointed out at the faulty calculations of gas Updated 07 Aug, 2019 07:21am
Miscellaneous What is the wheat consumption? Pakistan’s wheat demand, in the words of Winston Churchill, “is a riddle wrapped in a mystery”. But equally difficult is Updated 07 Aug, 2019 12:41pm
Miscellaneous Clean Karachi – and then? Pakistanis are charitable people. Once again, and not for the last time, they have now been lured to ‘donate’ for a nobl Published 06 Aug, 2019 05:36am
Miscellaneous CPI – correction time for PBS, again! The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) is the most important data collection and dissemination authority in Pakistan. I Published 05 Aug, 2019 07:15am
Miscellaneous FBR’s July 2019 report card FBR has missed its tax collection target for July 2019 by Rs14 billion. So went the headlines last week. Is that a huge Published 05 Aug, 2019 06:48am
Miscellaneous Inflation in double digits The last time monthly double digits CPI was in Nov 13 (10.9%) – 5 months into the PMLN tenure. In July 19, the headline Published 05 Aug, 2019 06:38am
Miscellaneous Of wheat flour consumption In ‘Is Pakistan wheat insecure?’ , it was established that per capita wheat availability in the country stands at an av Updated 05 Aug, 2019 07:14am
Miscellaneous Resetting the economy Are we subject to decimating the aggregate demand to reset the economy? The pricing adjustments are taking place more th Published 02 Aug, 2019 06:40am
Miscellaneous Is corruption Pakistan’s biggest problem? PM Khan’s container-like speeches and the ensuing actions by NAB against politicians and politically connected persons h Published 02 Aug, 2019 06:40am
Miscellaneous Indo-Pak: what next? Under PM Khan, Pakistan’s eagerness to restore normal relations with India is out in the open. But so far the overtures Updated 01 Aug, 2019 07:09am
Miscellaneous Corruption: thinking beyond NAB & politicians NAB has done this and NAB has done that. So goes the headlines these days. Or that a politically connected person has be Published 01 Aug, 2019 06:10am
Miscellaneous Sucrose ratio driving mill utilization In ‘ Set the cane market free’ , published in this space on July 29, 2019, it was surmised that installation of addition Published 31 Jul, 2019 06:26am
Miscellaneous CPI rebasing : eagerly awaited The IMF expects FY20 average inflation at 13 percent and period end at 11.8 percent, while the market is expecting lower Published 30 Jul, 2019 08:20am
Miscellaneous Friends and foes When the Khan government started its term a year ago, a number of foreign policy challenges confronted Pakistan. Erstwhi Published 30 Jul, 2019 08:16am
Miscellaneous Set the cane market free*! Some images become etched in memory. One such memory for many Pakistanis growing up in the cable TV era may be an image Updated 30 Jul, 2019 10:15am
Miscellaneous Regulating tea prices Recently there has been some noise over tea importers and suppliers planning to increase tea prices from next month espe Updated 30 Jul, 2019 09:58am
Miscellaneous Sugar export: winners & losers Sugar subsidy is a funny thing. Last year, when Sindh government announced a cumulative subsidy of Rs 20 per kg on expor Updated 26 Jul, 2019 08:52am
Miscellaneous In pursuit of exports Resolution of Pakistan’s perennial macroeconomic woes depends on growing exports and sustaining them on a high level. Al Published 26 Jul, 2019 07:10am
Miscellaneous On the basis of tax distribution That Pakistan should give lesser importance to population when it comes to the basis of distribution of taxes among the Published 26 Jul, 2019 06:57am
Miscellaneous Fertiliser off-take flattens, spending soars Farmer spent the highest ever on fertilizers in FY19. The total urea and DAP combined application in FY19 was down by 2 Published 26 Jul, 2019 06:27am
Miscellaneous Pakistan’s economy: 50 years ago Who knew a trip to library could be a depressing affair? Yesterday morning, BR Research stumbled upon a dusty old copy o Published 25 Jul, 2019 06:46am
Miscellaneous Khan’s diplomatic coup It was a high-risk, low-return scenario. But from Pakistan’s perspective, PM Khan’s White House visit could not have gon Published 24 Jul, 2019 07:10am
Miscellaneous The rusty cogs of policymaking process Pakistan’s Fisheries Exporters Association is unhappy with the “sudden implementation of fisheries policy without consul Published 24 Jul, 2019 07:07am
Miscellaneous Using food security paradigm to forecast wheat demand In a series of columns published in this space, several key conclusions about Pakistan’s current food security paradigm Published 24 Jul, 2019 06:55am
Miscellaneous Imports and the bogeyman Boo! Parents (often cruelly) use the bogeyman to scare their errant children and condition better behaviour and obedienc Published 23 Jul, 2019 06:46am
Miscellaneous Khan at Capital One: a lost opportunity That PM Khan managed to attract such a big audience in Washington deserves commendation. It has probably left his rivals Updated 23 Jul, 2019 06:56am
Miscellaneous Is Pakistan wheat-insecure? Consider following three facts. First, as per annual crop statistics, Pakistan is among world’s top 25 regions with annu Published 23 Jul, 2019 06:22am
Miscellaneous Export silver linings Many hopes were pinned on exports to help improve Pakistan’s trade deficit, especially in view of massive currency depre Published 22 Jul, 2019 06:43am
Miscellaneous Mad about Cad? Kudos to the government for chopping the current account deficit (Cad) significantly in FY19! At $13.6 billion, Cad came Published 22 Jul, 2019 06:35am
Miscellaneous Cereals for our future Outside of developed world and Middle East, Pakistan has one of the highest per capita consumption of wheat in the world Published 22 Jul, 2019 06:28am
Miscellaneous Correct diagnosis; incorrect prescription “Malnutrition costs Pakistan three percent ($7.6 billion) in GDP”, SBP quotes UN-FAO, in its quarterly report on the Sta Published 18 Jul, 2019 06:36am
Miscellaneous WPI heating up While the CPI inflation gets noticed more for obvious reasons, the oft-ignored Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is foretellin Published 18 Jul, 2019 06:24am
Miscellaneous Tanking think-tanks Congratulations! The federal government has reportedly approved project to establish a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Published 18 Jul, 2019 06:08am
Miscellaneous Mantras are nice, but common sense is nicer At a press talk two weeks ago, the federal minister for Ministry of National Food Security & Research - flanked by t Published 17 Jul, 2019 07:33am
Miscellaneous The future of Make in Pakistan The Make in Pakistan thesis has been sold well. And following the currency depreciation along with changes in import tar Published 17 Jul, 2019 07:10am
Miscellaneous Reko Diq: time to negotiate If Reko Diq indeed stands on the remains of a volcano, then it is perhaps apt that the controversial mining project in t Published 16 Jul, 2019 07:40am
Miscellaneous Of strikes and lockdowns According to a latest poll by Gallup Pakistan, public opinion on the opposition’s plans to protest against the governmen Published 16 Jul, 2019 07:16am
Miscellaneous Explaining falling farming growth The sectoral share of agriculture sector in GDP has consistently been falling since independence. From over half of GDP Published 16 Jul, 2019 07:00am
Miscellaneous Reviewing climate change Pakistan stands fairly low on the carbon footprint scale relative to its peers in the region. However, as the monsoon ar Published 16 Jul, 2019 06:46am
Miscellaneous Will the exports rise? (ever?) If you are one for reading the “bigger picture”, Pakistan seems to be doing just fine in terms of trade balance. It is n Published 15 Jul, 2019 06:41am
Miscellaneous Anatomy of cotton belt Pakistan’s largest cash crop is grown in over half of the districts of the country, from Awaran in hinterlands of Baloch Published 15 Jul, 2019 06:38am
Miscellaneous Lure of the long-shot A few days ago, the Washington Post ran a feature cleverly titled “Random Man Runs for President” quite literally descri Published 15 Jul, 2019 06:35am
Miscellaneous Fruits of fiscal Consolidation Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Reading the perennial multilateral lender’s latest country report on Pakistan, Published 15 Jul, 2019 06:32am
Miscellaneous SOEs & IMF’s conditionalities When Leonard Cohen sang Everybody Knows, he probably didn’t have Pakistan’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in mind. But Published 11 Jul, 2019 06:13am
Miscellaneous PBC’s ‘Make in Pakistan’ report card It’s difficult to say whether or not Pakistan Business Council (PBC) has given a clean chit to PTI government. PBC’s len Published 10 Jul, 2019 06:14am
Miscellaneous Cropping patterns in Punjab It is difficult to separate noise from hard facts without data, except the tradition refuses to take root in Pakistan. J Published 10 Jul, 2019 06:07am
Miscellaneous Economic assistance: China leads, US recedes The recently-released yearbook on economic assistance serves yet another reminder that it is China – not the US – whose Published 10 Jul, 2019 06:03am