IT has now become a routine question. Every TV anchor and people I meet in any gathering all want to know: is it true that the economy is ‘improving’? The short, and best, answer here is ‘yes and no’. Yes, because the deficits that plagued it have been plugged. No, because growth remains a far-off dream. The proper term to use is ‘the economy is stabilising’, but it is not yet, and will not be
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal emphasised the need for political stability and policy continuity to promote export-led growth, aiming to make Pakistan a competitive economy. Speaking at a seminar on the National Productivity, Quality and Innovation (PQI), the minister said the efforts to revive the national economy started in 2022 were now bearing fruit. “Today, the stock market is rising, ex
oreign investments in treasury bills (T-bills) sharply fell as outflows were four times higher than the inflows in the first week of November. Data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday showed that foreign investors had lost their interest in domestic bonds as withdrawals surged to $46 million against an inflow of $10.5m during the first week of this month. The government
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the relevant authorities on Thursday to ensure third-party validation and quality insurance in all government procurements. Presiding over a meeting to review good governance and public procurements, the prime minister also directed the authorities to bring reforms in the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and purge the authority of any influen
As part of the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) transformation plan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday announced a cash reward of Rs5 million in recognition of an officer’s efforts to pre-empt a fraud. An FBR team, led by its Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial, briefed the premier on the performance of tax officials who uncovered sales tax fraud. As part of the drive, the government ha