IT has been a pattern. Ever since it returned to power in 2022, the ruling PML-N has allocated tens of billions from public funds each year to the Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Programme, ostensibly to shore up its own and allied parties’ sagging political fortunes. SAP, as the programme is referred to, is the cover given to political development schemes sanctioned and overseen by p
THIS is perfect. The power bureaucracy has decided to go on the offensive against users of net-metering services, and decided to describe them all as a ‘burden’ and tell the rest of the power users in the country that their bills are high because a few are escaping the grid by going solar. And thanks to this misfire, this entirely unnecessary hostility, we now have the perfect illustration of w
TWENTY-FIVE IMF programmes, and at least 17 high-powered tax reform commissions, task forces and donor-funded programmes later, the country still finds itself struggling to raise revenue. Once again, another government has announced its intention to raise the tax-to-GDP ratio. The pattern of repeated failure over decades should be a moment for pause and introspection — both for the government and
Oil prices rose on Thursday after the United States issued new Iran-related sanctions and renewed tensions in the Middle East countered strength in the dollar. Brent crude futures settled up $1.22, or 1.72 per cent, at $72 a barrel. The US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) contract for April expired on Thursday, and settled up $1.10 or 1.64pc at $68.26. The more actively traded WTI May
The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) rose $49 million to $11.146bn during the week ended on March 14. Without disclosing the source of this inflow, the central bank announced on Thursday that the country’s overall reserves reached $16.015bn, including $4.869bn held by the commercial banks. The SBP reserves increased from $9.436bn in August 2024 to $12.037bn