Miscellaneous - BR Research - Business Recorder

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

Miscellaneous

Reform needs strat.comm. managers

It’s the season of strikes. Traders in Karachi; APTMA; Faisalabad textile mill owners; Karachi transporters; and a few o

Published 09 Jul, 2019 06:14am

Miscellaneous

Can Khan court Donald?

Is the US-Pakistan bilateral finally getting a break? Maybe yes, maybe not – just as Donald Trump likes to say. The prem

Published 09 Jul, 2019 05:29am

Miscellaneous

The usual suspects

Kudos to the Planning Commission for standing up for development! Well, for standing up somewhat, as far as numbers are

Published 08 Jul, 2019 06:34am

Miscellaneous

Zamindar’s fixation with cane

Averages are the most brilliant invention in statistics, yet they can be used to manipulate facts in the most devious wa

Updated 05 Jul, 2019 11:53am

Miscellaneous

Tyranny of optimism

Politicians, when in power, share a unique trait with tech entrepreneurs. It’s the trait of optimism on the basis of whi

Published 05 Jul, 2019 06:09am

Miscellaneous

Roti, kapra, (and then maybe) makaan

As far as political promises go, surely Imran Khan’s Naya Pakistan Housing Plan is neither original nor entirely fancifu

Updated 04 Jul, 2019 06:42am

Miscellaneous

Bring land reforms to counter radicalism

Southern Punjab’s socio-economic makeup piqued public interest earlier this year, when news of counter-terrorism operati

Published 04 Jul, 2019 06:06am

Miscellaneous

SOEs – clueless again

Yesterday’s piece on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) ended on the note that the fixing of SOEs doesn’t appear on the hori

Published 04 Jul, 2019 06:04am

Miscellaneous

The ‘white’ elephants and the rope

There is simply no analogy between the actual elephant and the rope mindset, and the state owned enterprises (SOEs) in P

Published 04 Jul, 2019 06:02am

Miscellaneous

CPI: time to welcome double digits

Expect the PTI to boast of inflation figures, first year in office. The CPI clocked in at 7.3 percent year-on-year for F

Published 03 Jul, 2019 06:24am

Miscellaneous

Sick enterprises

The finance ministry’s latest report on the federal footprint on economy courtesy the state-owned enterprises (SOE) has

Published 03 Jul, 2019 06:19am

Miscellaneous

An ode to shadows

Politics’ love affair with the shadows is a longstanding tradition. In the past, these behind-the-scene operatives have

Updated 03 Jul, 2019 06:31am

Miscellaneous

Attn businesses: society is your biggest consumer

In late 2016, the British Council (Pakistan) partnered with Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) to launch a

Published 02 Jul, 2019 06:25am

Miscellaneous

Dazed and confused

Readers know this column has an interest in following the US presidential campaigns, for what happens in DC still has an

Published 02 Jul, 2019 06:20am

Miscellaneous

End of OTC?

As Pakistan struggles to meet FATF requirements, there is speculation that the branchless banking sector may be affected

Published 01 Jul, 2019 06:41am

Miscellaneous

Asset declaration: ambiguities, lacunae, solutions

The deadline of the ongoing asset declaration scheme is nearly upon us. With three days left, a few ambiguities and lacu

Published 28 Jun, 2019 05:55am

Miscellaneous

Naya Pakistan Housing: out of reach, out of touch?

Every promise that this government has made has been overly ambitious. Even a little venerable in its sheer ambition, th

Updated 28 Jun, 2019 01:44pm

Miscellaneous

Crop-based exports: adapt or die?

Pakistan’s status as a low-value commodity exporter is at best a misnomer. Over the past decade, consolidated share of c

Published 28 Jun, 2019 05:44am

Miscellaneous

Agri-exports: let’s not lose perspective!

What will take for Pakistani exports to pick up steam? Certainly not currency devaluation. Prima facie, that’s the verdi

Published 27 Jun, 2019 07:11am

Miscellaneous

Farming our future

Who will be the farmer of the future? The globally renowned agricultural and food expert Prof. Louise Fresco raised this

Updated 01 Jul, 2019 09:17am

Miscellaneous

Exports constant, but quality improves

Exports did not vote for change it appears. Eleven months into FY19, and they continue to be stubborn, refusing to move

Published 26 Jun, 2019 05:49am

Miscellaneous

Whither cotton emergency?

For months, PTI’s economy team hinted at revolutionary steps for cotton revival on national forums including ECC and fed

Published 26 Jun, 2019 05:46am

Miscellaneous

Want entrepreneurship? Change mindset!

Thanks to hyper changes in technology, it is one of the first times in human history when we don’t know what jobs will l

Published 26 Jun, 2019 05:41am

Miscellaneous

Gold gets going

The global geo-political atmosphere is heating up. Just a few days back, a US surveillance drone was downed near the Ira

Published 26 Jun, 2019 05:31am

Miscellaneous

How should employees Tweet?

Morality is an acquired taste. Little else can be said about it with certainty. Earlier this month, a bank employee twee

Published 25 Jun, 2019 05:43am

Miscellaneous

The fog of FATF

On an issue that may potentially leave Pakistani citizens and businesses poorer in years to come, the federal government

Published 25 Jun, 2019 05:41am

Miscellaneous

Contrasting provincial development budgets

All four provincial budgets are in. Now it’s time to examine how they fare against each other on development. It’s a que

Published 24 Jun, 2019 06:02am

Miscellaneous

Tuition time in the parliament

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lower House proposed a Charter of Economy (CoE) to the government. In the next breat

Published 21 Jun, 2019 05:38am

Miscellaneous

Budget FY20 for real estate sector

Among other taxation measures, Budget FY20 proposals for the property sector have been aimed at expanding the tax base a

Published 21 Jun, 2019 05:32am

Miscellaneous

KP: high on development

After Fata’s merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), an already under-developed province’s development needs have increased

Published 20 Jun, 2019 06:59am

Miscellaneous

Hafeez fights back!

At a post-budget conference organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan last Saturday, Dr Abdul Hafe

Published 19 Jun, 2019 06:31am

Miscellaneous

Sindh struggles for development

For development, the budget is tight across the federating units. Just as Punjab, the province of Sindh has is also faci

Published 19 Jun, 2019 06:26am

Miscellaneous

Imports pay a surprise visit

Having hit a 30-month low of $4.1 billion, imports are back with a bang. Imports for May 2019 have been recorded at a li

Published 19 Jun, 2019 06:21am

Miscellaneous

Beyond Econ 101

Professor Baqer delivered an Econ 101 lecture to journalists is his maiden moot where he explained the role of exchange

Published 18 Jun, 2019 06:40am

Miscellaneous

Punjab: Development has to wait

As opposed to the spending spree of PML-N in its later years ruling Punjab, the PTI government has been holding its fire

Published 18 Jun, 2019 06:31am

Miscellaneous

Falling livestock GDP

Last week BR Research flagged how livestock sector, which has 60 percent share in agriculture GDP has been growing at a

Published 17 Jun, 2019 06:44am

Miscellaneous

Corporate sector in Budget 2019-20

Budget FY20 is almost a 180-degree flip to what Budget FY19 looked like. Where FY19 Budget was marked largely by broad-b

Published 14 Jun, 2019 06:30am

Miscellaneous

Budget FY20: discouraging packaged meat

The central theme of proposed federal budget for FY20 is documentation; and that’s not merely lip service. Actual change

Published 14 Jun, 2019 06:30am

Miscellaneous

The revenge of agri-free market?

“Rice leads cotton in major kharif crops”, reads the headlines from 2009, when acreage under white gold trailed paddy by

Published 14 Jun, 2019 06:22am

Miscellaneous

GMO: separating fiction from fact

“GMO is no silver bullet”, agreed representatives of CropLife Pakistan’s Seed Committee, in an interview with Business R

Published 14 Jun, 2019 06:06am

Miscellaneous

A much realistic budget

The overall budget direction is right. There is a sense of paradigm shift with focus on enhancing direct taxation, penal

Published 13 Jun, 2019 06:37am

Miscellaneous

Has Islamabad really ignored health & education?

‘Federal budget ignores education and health’, wrote the Islamabad-based Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (C

Published 13 Jun, 2019 06:35am

Miscellaneous

Budget: paying to and for the unseen

The opposition has often blamed the PTI for using the backdoor to come to power, blaming an “unseen” or “third” force. T

Published 13 Jun, 2019 06:10am

Miscellaneous

Does Shabbar have a magic spell?

Until yesterday afternoon, magic and shamanism had no role to play in public finances. After the announcement of Pakista

Updated 13 Jun, 2020 01:42pm

Miscellaneous

Development: it's not enough

Never mind the tall official figures as far as next development budget is concerned. After accounting for federal and pr

Published 12 Jun, 2019 06:06am

Miscellaneous

Explainer: salary income tax

Miftah Ismail would surely have a wry smile on his face. What should actually be looked as a relief to salaried class un

Published 12 Jun, 2019 05:59am

Miscellaneous

Housing under duress

The ambitious pet project of PM Imran Khan, Naya Pakistan Housing Program (NPHP), seems diametrically opposed to the bud

Published 12 Jun, 2019 05:47am

Miscellaneous

Facts, fiction & poor press engagement

If the purpose of a press conference is to share relevant and material information with the press and answer their quest

Published 11 Jun, 2019 05:39am

Miscellaneous

The trillion rupee concessions

Two mini-budgets, industrialists and corporate bigwigs running the government affairs – exemptions and concessions were

Updated 11 Jun, 2019 05:47am

Miscellaneous

Combating climate change

If there is one sector where the current government has shown more fervour than its counterparts, it’s the focus on envi

Published 11 Jun, 2019 05:18am

Miscellaneous

CPI: All eyes on budget and energy pricing

The CPI clocked in at 9.1 percent in May, slightly lower than market expectations. The 11 month average stood at 7.2 per

Published 10 Jun, 2019 07:45am

Miscellaneous

Academics are “tweeple” too!

The phrase “I know that I know nothing” is attributed to Socrates, who when presented with the compliment of being the w

Published 10 Jun, 2019 07:37am

Miscellaneous

PSDP blues

PSDP blues As expected, “development” is the major fiscal casualty in the “austerity” budget. Reportedly, the federal go

Published 10 Jun, 2019 07:31am

Miscellaneous

Discrepancy in regional sucrose yield & recovery

A baffling level of discrepancy exists in yield and recovery levels within and between various sugarcane growing and mil

Published 03 Jun, 2019 07:22am

Miscellaneous

Some breathers

Some pressure on the exchange rate and interest rate pricing is eased, a week before the budget. Crude oil coming down i

Published 03 Jun, 2019 07:22am

Miscellaneous

GMO redux

After a two-month hiatus, reports on GMO seed technology have once again begun to do rounds in print media. Last week, a

Published 03 Jun, 2019 07:05am

Miscellaneous

Improving tourism marketing

The PTI is betting big on tourism and has identified zones in each province for development of facilities and infrastruc

Published 30 May, 2019 05:03am

Miscellaneous

Dairy trade-offs: price vs. milk quality

In a recent interview with BR Research, Sulaiman Monnoo, Senior Vice Chairman of Pakistan Dairy Association demanded tha

Published 29 May, 2019 04:55am

Miscellaneous

The climate-migration nexus

An oft ignored side of climate change is its impact on local migration. The regular environmental degradation facilitate

Published 29 May, 2019 04:44am

Miscellaneous

Urban forests: changing cities

Sometimes all it takes to solve complex problems is simple solutions. The same can be said of tackling the rising pollut

Published 29 May, 2019 04:33am

Miscellaneous

Fixing Gwadar’s governance

Soon after three gunmen attacked Gwadar PC earlier this month, some sections of foreign press started raising question m

Published 28 May, 2019 06:08am

Miscellaneous

Uncle Biden and Pakistan

Elections in India are over and Pakistanis aren’t exactly thrilled with the outcome. Onto the next election of interest.

Updated 28 May, 2019 09:39am

Miscellaneous

The taxation challenge

This is the third week after finalization of IMF programme. The first week was depressing as the as the PTI economic tea

Published 27 May, 2019 05:38am

Miscellaneous

Orange is the new black

India’s saffron revolution is nearing completion. The orange hues of BJP have managed to avoid a hung parliament, relega

Published 27 May, 2019 05:19am

Miscellaneous

Board of Investment: the missing discourse

Haroon Shariff’s decision to resign from the Board of Investment (BoI) is not good news; nor is the news of Younus Dagha

Published 24 May, 2019 06:35am

Miscellaneous

313 Grains of salt: Pak-China FTA

The Pakistan-China FTA has had its fair share of criticism. The business community has complained that many of the count

Updated 24 May, 2019 07:01am

Miscellaneous

Sizing Pakistan’s ethanol market

Numbers always manage to tell a story, even if those with a proprietary right may wish to withhold them. Pakistan’s etha

Updated 24 May, 2019 07:12am

Miscellaneous

Think import substitution

After three months of under $1 billion monthly deficit (Jan-Mar monthly CAD avg: $674 mn), the current account deficit s

Published 23 May, 2019 06:16am

Miscellaneous

Bahawalpur province: start with lands reforms!

The legendary South Punjab province! It’s a tale from Neverland – loosely based on the mythical oppression of people fro

Published 23 May, 2019 06:09am

Miscellaneous

Huawei: gloves are off

There may be a method to this madness. But Donald J. Trump is taking Richard Nixon’s Madman Theory to a whole new level,

Published 23 May, 2019 05:55am

Miscellaneous

Getting inflation right

An opposition that was supposed to be hiding in the slumbers or just fighting court cases for their respective leaders u

Published 22 May, 2019 03:44am

Miscellaneous

Demystifying food exports inertia

PBS monthly trade numbers are out, and exports don’t seem to have bought into the rupee devaluation bonhomie. While 10MF

Updated 22 May, 2019 10:04am

Miscellaneous

Exports – zero sum game

April was tipped as the starting point of export revival by a few circles. April came and went. The exports refused to h

Published 21 May, 2019 07:34am

Miscellaneous

Costly detours

The country’s airspace closure has entered a third month amid the ongoing hostility between Pakistan and India post Pulw

Updated 20 May, 2019 06:45am

Miscellaneous

A Teflon prime minister?

Nothing wastes political capital like an economic downturn. It’s not just in the West where consultants warn political i

Updated 20 May, 2019 06:33am

Miscellaneous

Tale of two amnesties

Embarrassments aside, the Assets Declaration Ordinance 2019, commonly referred to as Amnesty Scheme , is one of the bett

Published 17 May, 2019 05:10am

Miscellaneous

Reinventing office space

In an age of disruption, almost all conventional sectors have undergone a complete transformation in business model. Rid

Published 17 May, 2019 04:53am

Miscellaneous

Wheat prices: is it time to panic?

News in the media suggests that the double whammy delivered by oil prices coupled with devastating rain fall in Punjab d

Published 15 May, 2019 06:32am

Miscellaneous

Too big to break?

A social media giant finds itself under the spotlight again. Critics have previously charged that fake news, fake person

Published 15 May, 2019 06:17am

Miscellaneous

When the sky falls

A year after unilaterally pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, the Trump administration has Iran right where it wanted

Published 10 May, 2019 04:43am

Miscellaneous

People are never happy

Criticism on everything seems to be the favorite time pass; not just coming from opposition benches, but intellectuals o

Published 09 May, 2019 03:49am

Miscellaneous

From Shabbar’s lens

Shabbar Zaidi is no stranger to tax policy and administration affairs in Pakistan. The official notification of his appo

Published 08 May, 2019 06:55am

Miscellaneous

Egypt, Pakistan and the IMF

The central bank governor coming right from the IMF - managing Egypt, is fueling skepticism that the Fund has brought hi

Published 07 May, 2019 05:36am

Miscellaneous

PSDP’s April surprise

Contrary to suspicions of a slowdown in development spending, the federal government’s development ledger seems is still

Published 07 May, 2019 05:24am

Miscellaneous

Press freedom!

The World Press Freedom Day was celebrated last week (May 3). This year’s theme of Unesco’s annual conference marking th

Published 06 May, 2019 06:31am

Miscellaneous

Inflation challenges ahead

The headline inflation came down from 9.4 percent in Mar19 to 8.8 percent in Apr19; the decline was expected as the high

Published 03 May, 2019 06:42am

Miscellaneous

Thanos: the last laugh

Tickets for ‘Avengers: Endgame’ are reportedly in black trade in Karachi these days. As superhero movies go, the plot re

Updated 03 May, 2019 06:46am

Miscellaneous

Free the statistics (division)

Andrew Marshall, arguably the most respected Pentagon strategist, died a few weeks ago. One of his many feats was to fla

Published 02 May, 2019 06:46am

Miscellaneous

SYS has a good start

It’s been a good start to the year for a prominent local software house. As per a company notice sent to the stock excha

Published 30 Apr, 2019 05:22am

Miscellaneous

IMF programme: Could be very tough

The IMF team is in Islamabad to finalize the conditions for the upcoming programme. Apart from an agreement on having a

Published 29 Apr, 2019 06:50am

Miscellaneous

Top-up to lose

A judicial ruling on money matters is bound to draw mixed response, depending on how favourable the precedent is to one’

Published 29 Apr, 2019 06:49am

Miscellaneous

Agri-Plotistan

Populist notions peddled by the media often insinuate that most of Pakistan’s rural economy is landless, with land owner

Published 24 Apr, 2019 06:15am

Miscellaneous

Pakistan’s finmin curse

Asad Umar’s removal from the Q-Block is a story bigger than Asad himself; it is also bigger than the PTI and its real or

Published 24 Apr, 2019 05:55am

Miscellaneous

Selling a purge

Communist regimes in the middle-half of the twentieth century were notorious for what Western historians would later lab

Published 23 Apr, 2019 06:00am

Miscellaneous

Groundwater law: bring it in 21st century

Pakistan’s water sector legislative landscape suffers from the disease of extremes: there are either too many competing

Published 23 Apr, 2019 05:56am

Miscellaneous

Exports — betting on quantity

Exports at $17 billion in 9MFY19 – are virtually at the same level where they were in 9MFY18. For a few, it may be worri

Published 23 Apr, 2019 05:52am

Miscellaneous

Exploring NFC to boost exports

It’s not funny when a former minister expresses his helplessness, his “wounds”, over the weaknesses of institutional, or

Published 22 Apr, 2019 06:35am

Miscellaneous

Ehsaas: the good, the bad, the strange

If there is one feeling, screaming out from the government’s Ehsaas document, it is this: PM Khan’s heart may be in the

Published 22 Apr, 2019 06:33am

Miscellaneous

Hindsight is always 20-20

“Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call on the Lord to send thunder and rain, so that you will know and see what

Published 22 Apr, 2019 06:24am

Miscellaneous

Going, going, gone!

With weather around, good cloud cover, and a fast and bouncy pitch – it will always be tough batting first. Tougher, if

Published 19 Apr, 2019 06:20am

Miscellaneous

The FM sent packing

The Finance Minister Asad Umar has quit. Is it a good decision? That will depend on who replaces him. There is little

Published 19 Apr, 2019 06:19am

Miscellaneous

Fauji earnings: sunshine in a downpour

In 1HFY19, cement production and dispatches for Fauji Cement (PSX: FCCL) were down while clinker production and revenues

Published 19 Apr, 2019 06:17am

Miscellaneous

Dolmen City REIT in 9MFY19

Drawing close to its four years in operations, Dolmen City REIT (PSX: DCR) announced its financial performance for 9MFY1

Published 19 Apr, 2019 06:01am

Miscellaneous

Gold succumbs to bears

The global economy seems to have steadied ship and the jitters have given way to optimism by market participants. This s

Published 18 Apr, 2019 06:20am

Miscellaneous

Tax reforms: PTI’s plan of action

What’s PTI’s plan of action for tax reforms, and will it really work? These are some of the most asked questions by busi

Published 17 Apr, 2019 07:00am

Miscellaneous

A crowded bench

Political observers in Pakistan are concerned about the outcome of elections in India and consequences of a potential NA

Published 17 Apr, 2019 06:37am

Miscellaneous

Reading PTI’s economic roadmap

A roadmap that does not mention the distance between two points, or, as is in today’s digital world, does not tell you t

Published 16 Apr, 2019 06:55am

Miscellaneous

Trends in agricultural employment

Finally! Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has released its annual compendium (for FY18) on trends in labour market, a

Published 16 Apr, 2019 06:48am

Miscellaneous

Startups: long-term bet

The PTI gave an ambitious plan of creating 10 million jobs in the next five years. However, the economic slowdown has gi

Published 15 Apr, 2019 06:41am

Miscellaneous

(Not) dealing with zombies

If Pakistan’s social and economic problems were to be given the face of a relatable movie character, it would probably b

Published 12 Apr, 2019 07:03am

Miscellaneous

Exports refuse to rise

Imports continue the journey south – hitting a 30-month low of $4.1 billion in March 2019, registering a 21 percent year

Published 12 Apr, 2019 06:33am

Miscellaneous

CPI rebasing: no more simple averages please!

The much awaited rebasing and reassigning of weights for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has reportedly been approved by

Published 11 Apr, 2019 06:32am

Currency	Rate
USD PKR Interbank Selling / Nov 22	277.85
USD PKR Interbank Buying / Nov 22	277.65
USD to Japanese Yen / Nov 23	154.78
USD to Swiss Franc / Nov 23	0.89
Pound Sterling to USD / Nov 23	1.25
Euro to USD / Nov 23	1.04

Stock	Volume
S&P 500 / Nov 22	5,969.34
India Sensex / Nov 22	79,117.11
Tokyo Nikkei / Nov 22	38,283.85
Nasdaq / Nov 22	18,003.65
Hang Seng / Nov 22	19,229.97
FTSE 100 / Nov 22	8,262.08
Dow Jones / Nov 22	44,296.51
Germany DAX 30 / Nov 22	19,322.59

Item	Value
Karachi Cotton PKR/37.32 KG / Nov 22	17,785
Gold 10 Grams PKR / Nov 22	240,483
Petrol/Litre / Nov 23	248.38
Crude Oil USD/Barrel / Nov 23	71.24
Gold Spot USD/Ounce / Nov 23	2,716.19
Diesel/Litre / Nov 23	255.14

Stock	Price
786 Invest Ltd / Nov 23 786 Investments Limited(786)	6.82 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)
AL-Abbas Sugar / Nov 23 Al-Abbas Sugar Mills Limited(AABS)	593.76 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)
Agro Allianz / Nov 23 Agro Allianz Limited(AAL)	16 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)
AL-Abid Silk / Nov 23 Al-Abid Silk Mills Limited(AASM)	3.49 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)
Ali Asghar / Nov 23 Ali Asghar Textile Mills Limited(AATM)	70.89 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)
Allied Bank / Nov 23 Allied Bank Limited(ABL)	120.21 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)
Abbott Lab. / Nov 23 Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited(ABOT)	1,023.10 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)
Abson Ind. / Nov 23 Abson Industries Limited(ABSON)	2.50 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)
Alfalah ETF. / Nov 23 Alfalah Consumer Index ETF.(ACIETF)	12.55 ▼ 0.00 (0.00%)

Stock	Price
786 Invest Ltd / Nov 23 786 Investments Limited(786)	6.82 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)
AL-Abbas Sugar / Nov 23 Al-Abbas Sugar Mills Limited(AABS)	593.76 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)
Agro Allianz / Nov 23 Agro Allianz Limited(AAL)	16 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)
AL-Abid Silk / Nov 23 Al-Abid Silk Mills Limited(AASM)	3.49 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)
Ali Asghar / Nov 23 Ali Asghar Textile Mills Limited(AATM)	70.89 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)
Allied Bank / Nov 23 Allied Bank Limited(ABL)	120.21 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)
Abbott Lab. / Nov 23 Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited(ABOT)	1,023.10 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)
Abson Ind. / Nov 23 Abson Industries Limited(ABSON)	2.50 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)
Alfalah ETF. / Nov 23 Alfalah Consumer Index ETF.(ACIETF)	12.55 ▲ 0.00 (0.00%)

Stock	Volume
WorldCall Telecom / Nov 23 Worldcall Telecom Limited(WTL)	177,135,830 ▲ 0.00
K-Electric Ltd. / Nov 23 K-Electric Limited(KEL)	124,131,268 ▲ 0.00
Hascol Petrol / Nov 23 Hascol Petroleum Limited(HASCOL)	105,013,176 ▲ 0.00
Fauji Foods Ltd / Nov 23 Fauji Foods Limited(FFL)	77,697,371 ▲ 0.00
Treet Battery / Nov 23 Treet Battery Limited(TBL)	43,783,366 ▲ 0.00
B.O.Punjab / Nov 23 The Bank of Punjab(BOP)	36,573,763 ▲ 0.00
Sui South Gas / Nov 23 Sui Southern Gas Company Limited(SSGC)	32,719,678 ▲ 0.00
PIA Holding Co.Ltd / Nov 23 PIA Holding Company Limited(PIAHCLA)	27,969,689 ▲ 0.00
Cnergyico PK / Nov 23 Cnergyico PK Limited(CNERGY)	25,874,820 ▲ 0.00