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Opinion » Articles

Fiscal mess - straighten the priorities
Articles

Fiscal mess - straighten the priorities

Budget-making is in the process. This one is a tough budget to make. Covid-19 demands stimulus; but the fiscal deficit is already too high. The government is asking for no new taxes and demanding stimulus for industries and vulnerable. The government want
Updated 31 May, 2020 08:04am
The challenge of SOEs
Articles

The challenge of SOEs

The 190 State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) comprising Public Sector Companies (PSCs), Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and Authorities, employing a total of over 425,000 personnel, incur a colossal loss of around Rs 500 billion a year. In other words,
Published 30 May, 2020 12:06am
A tale of two horses
Articles

A tale of two horses

Unfortunately, the exact quote, which by the way succinctly brings out the message, cannot be published - blame it on the censor board. Be that as it may, the more refined version comes out thusly: you cannot ride two horses with one behind.
Published 30 May, 2020 12:06am
Global policy post-Covid-19
Articles

Global policy post-Covid-19

There were already discussions gaining momentum since the Global Financial Crisis 2007/08 in many policy corners of economy and politics globally - but still remained far from reaching any meaningful threshold in terms of consequences on three main areas
Updated 13 Jun, 2020 09:49pm
Tripartite social dialogue
Articles

Tripartite social dialogue

According to ILO's definition, Social Dialogue means the practice of Tripartism between governments and the representative organizations of workers and employers to achieving solutions and to building up social cohesion and the rule of law through, among
Published 29 May, 2020 12:05am
Agricultural autarky via atoms
Articles

Agricultural autarky via atoms

What is common between the disinfected mummy of Ramses II, and a well acclimatized shiny spike silver boll of cotton? Nothing much, apparently. But if one scraps the surface a little, one can find both benefitting from radiations in some way.
Published 28 May, 2020 12:03am
Lockdown - A tale of other diseases
Articles

Lockdown - A tale of other diseases

Lock down or die. Lockdown or economy. Lockdown or jobs. Lockdown or lives. These were the debates prevalent. World over and in Pakistan, from experts to individuals, the over whelming discussion was on the necessity of lockdown to defeat a virus that was
Published 28 May, 2020 12:03am
The GDP growth rate
Articles

The GDP growth rate

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has revealed the final estimate of the GDP growth rate for 2018-19 and the preliminary estimate of the GDP growth rate for 2019-20. This is contrary to the past practice whereby GDP estimates were included in the Pa
Published 27 May, 2020 12:06am
Housing - a fundamental human right
Articles

Housing - a fundamental human right

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes the right to housing as part of the right to an adequate standard of living. Article 11(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) also guarantees th
Published 27 May, 2020 12:06am
Sugar inquiry: Fix the illness not the symptoms
Articles

Sugar inquiry: Fix the illness not the symptoms

The sugar inquiry report did not focus on the structural problems creating the 'economic rents'. Rather the energies are expended on chasing the rentiers. And the media eyes are on personalities. The study dealt with the tactical issues - nothing on fixin
Published 24 May, 2020 12:01am
The final step of your business's journey!
Articles

The final step of your business's journey!

Running a business on any scale requires careful planning and the ability of its managers to capitalize on all opportunities presented, while also finding the best solutions to all the challenges that arise in the business landscape. Every economy in the
Published 24 May, 2020 12:01am
What's up?
Articles

What's up?

WhatsApp is a pun on What's Up, in case you didn't get it yet - actually, that was a sudden but rational guess made whilst dreaming up the title for today's write up; now it is knowledge confirmed from WhatsApp web page. Cool!
Published 23 May, 2020 12:06am
Will Covid-19 deal US malls a mortal blow?
Articles

Will Covid-19 deal US malls a mortal blow?

As they gradually reopen, US shopping malls are requiring masks and implementing social distancing policies in hopes of convincing customers that they can shop safely in the coronavirus era.
Published 23 May, 2020 12:06am
Pakistan's human capital conundrum
Articles

Pakistan's human capital conundrum

In 1986, the Journal of Political Economy (JPE) published a paper ('Increasing returns and long run growth') by a relatively unknown economist. The same person, Paul Romer, got another one published in 1990 ('Endogenous technical change'), which had manag
Published 23 May, 2020 12:06am
Budgets 2020 amid Covid-19 crisis - II: Need for paradigm shift
Articles

Budgets 2020 amid Covid-19 crisis - II: Need for paradigm shift

In the present circumstances, in the forthcoming federal budget, the need for a fair and simple tax system, as elaborate in Towards Flat, Low-rate, Broad and Predictable Taxes [PRIME Institute, 2016] and referred to in PIDE Policy Viewpoint [16:2020] Doin
Published 22 May, 2020 12:03am
A looming debt crisis
Articles

A looming debt crisis

In his article in the New York Times on April 30, 2020, Prime Minister of Ethiopia and the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmed highlighted the fact that the temporary debt relief provided by G20 group of countries, however a welcome step, it was not
Published 22 May, 2020 12:03am
In the name of the poor
Articles

In the name of the poor

How easily our worldview mutates. How quickly our hierarchy of ambition gets rehashed and reset. All it takes is an invisible microbe.
Published 21 May, 2020 12:09am
Digital transformation in the time of Covid-19
Articles

Digital transformation in the time of Covid-19

Digital and IT transformations are the only way forward. Before the on-going pandemic, technology adoption was the only way ahead and this will not change once the world emerges from this crisis.
Published 21 May, 2020 12:09am
Europe's Franco-German 'motor' sputters back to life
Articles

Europe's Franco-German 'motor' sputters back to life

President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel have jump-started the Franco-German "motor" at the heart of Europe by jointly pitching a hugely ambitious economic recovery plan, even if it faces a bumpy road ahead.
Published 21 May, 2020 12:09am
Food security in the age of Covid-19
Articles

Food security in the age of Covid-19

There never was any lockdown in the country's agricultural sector. And from the way the NCC and NCOC have been carrying out, their respective efforts over the last two months at meeting the challenges of Covid-19, it appears that for lack of enough testin
Published 20 May, 2020 12:05am
Economic policy choices beyond immediate crisis - I
Articles

Economic policy choices beyond immediate crisis - I

The economic policy response to the coronavirus crisis by Pakistan has been significant. On the monetary policy side, the State Bank of Pakistan has taken aggressive action to loosen monetary conditions and provide desperately needed liquidity to business
Published 20 May, 2020 12:05am
The forthcoming budget
Articles

The forthcoming budget

The Federal and Provincial Budgets for 2020-21 are expected to be announced in the month of June, starting with the presentation of the Federal Budget on the 5th of June. These budgets come at a time when the economy has been badly hit by the COVID-19 and
Published 19 May, 2020 12:02am
Hedging oil
Articles

Hedging oil

.Oil prices have touched zero and became even negative recently. A debate has ensued in Pakistan that we should have bought cheaper oil. It is a different matter that around the same time, there was news of diesel shortages. Petroleum Division, probably,
Published 19 May, 2020 12:02am