The toll from over 80% of sick units has significantly impacted all key sectors nationwide. The escalating closures of these units have left millions of skilled and semi-skilled workers, along with professionals, jobless due to the high costs of doing business, including steep gas and electricity tariffs. The proliferation of sick units has stunted industrial growth and eroded the quality of li
The government is preparing to negotiate a new Extended Fund Facility (EFF) loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and intends to reach a staff-level agreement within the next two to three months. The IMF asserts that the primary responsibility for selecting, designing and implementing policies lies with borrowing from member countries, not the IMF itself. It is also claimed that the o
The rising expectation of an interest rate cut following a steep deceleration in inflation and a stable rupee on surging remittances drove the benchmark KSE 100 index to an all-time high in the outgoing week. Optimism about a further deceleration in CPI inflation in the current month and the expectation of positive talks with the IMF team next week, which would mark the start of formal negotiat
Pension reform is again a hot topic, but this time, bureaucrats will make it appear as if it is intended to benefit top officials. The reforms go beyond just raising the retirement age or taxing pensions. Instead, a series of actions, similar to those that were done in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), should be seriously considered to reduce the cost of pensions to the government exchequer. The nationa
The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has issued warnings to 12 beauty product manufacturers for deceptive marketing that made false and misleading claims. A preliminary probe revealed that these companies were prima facie engaged in advertising their products as “natural, organic, sustainable, pure, and chemical-free” without any scientific evidence supporting their claims. Such unsu