While it played a crucial role in liberalising the economies of the communist bloc, it now appears to support heavy-handed regulation and price controls in a developing country like Pakistan. Such inconsistencies raise questions about the adaptability and relevance of IMF programmes in different contexts. In our case, the domestic market continues to influence the pace, pattern and level of gro
MAYBE this is a good time to recall the Reko Diq judgment delivered by one of the most exalted and hailed chief justices of the Supreme Court. Or should we recall the Dam Fund instead, along with threats to charge with treason those who dared to criticise the effort? Remember that fiasco, run by a chief justice who probably relished the limelight more than any of his predecessors? Or maybe an a
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told Reuters that Pakistan is targeting around $1 billion in a formal request for funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) facility that helps manage external shocks. “We have formally requested to be considered for this facility,” Aurangzeb said in an interview on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank autumn meetings in Washington. The IMF agreed
The foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased, but the holdings of commercial banks fell during the week ended on Oct 18. The details provided by the central bank showed the SBP reserves rose by $18 million to $11.040 billion. The surging SBP reserves are ensuring exchange rate stability. However, commercial banks’ forex holdings fell $112m to $4.976bn, indicating
Bringing an ongoing bickering within the regulator to the public domain, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Thursday announced an 85 paise per unit negative fuel cost adjustment (FCA) for electricity sold to consumers of power distribution companies (Discos) in August at a higher rate. The decision, reached by a majority vote of 4:1, followed an unprecedented month-long