WITH Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar having clawed his way back to the centre of economic policymaking, a tussle between two competing viewpoints — one represented by him, the other by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb — was inevitable. Mr Aurangzeb believes that Pakistan’s economy can no longer bear the burden of state-owned enterprises, which need to be privatised as early as possible. On t
THE consistent contraction in the size of the federal Public Sector Development Programme for the past three years is yet another sign of Pakistan’s lingering financial and economic crisis. New official data shows that the government has squeezed federal infrastructure development to Rs353bn — less than 0.4pc of GDP — during the first 10 months of the ongoing fiscal year to April, as the cash-s
Pakistan’s external economy is plagued primarily with two structural problems. First, a high level of public external debt and second, overreliance on further external borrowings that not only increase the external debt stocks but also push the future cost of debt servicing. All other issues are ramifications of these two conundrums. Our fragile and malleable democracy makes it too difficult fo
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has not asked Pakistan to hike up energy prices but does want it to withdraw subsidies granted in various sectors, including energy, according to Senator Saleem Mandviwalla. IMF official Esther Perez Ruiz informed Dawn.com that a delegation from the lender will meet Pakistani authorities next week to discuss the “next phase of engagement”. “A mission tea
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday expressed Pakistan’s resolve to advance cooperation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on security and development, the Foreign Office (FO) said. The development comes as the foreign minister met with SCO Secretary General Ambassador Zhang Ming in Beijing, where he arrived earlier today. According to Radio Pakistan, Dar reaffirmed Pakis