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The road to self-sufficiency

While reiterating Pakistan’s renewed commitment to implementing the agreed programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb made a significant observation at the Atlanta Council think tank: “We know what to do to rebuild the economy.” Realising that the IMF stability programme is squeezing, though not closing, the space for inclusive and sustainable econ

Normalising trade with India

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar’s recent statement about consultations with stakeholders on the resumption of trade ties with India marks a significant stride towards revitalising the economy and fostering peace in the region. For decades, it has been evident that major political parties on both sides have advocated for normalising trade relations, but some important stakeholders had reservations. H

Remittance dependence in a changing world

Export of manpower has brought it the welcome buoy of remittances that supports it balance of payments. Ramazan led the quantum of remittances to increase to nearly $3bn in March, its highest level since April 2022 and more than twice the amount of Pakistan’s top export of textiles. However, changes in host countries of the bulk of Pakistan’s immigrants have not been kind in recent years. Take

Oil prices stabilise... for now

There is a sigh of relief in the oil markets, at least for the time being. The ‘limited’ Israeli retaliatory strike against Iran early Friday morning provided the space for Tehran to label the attacks as almost a non-event. The Israeli response was regarded as so weak that Israel’s hawkish national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, conceded he wasn’t happy with his country’s response. “Weak”,

Finance: Economy in need of sobriety

The situation of street crimes in Karachi is better than Washington and Paris, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon boasted last week. Quoting updates from the International Crime Index, he said at a presser that Karachi ranked 78th out of 333 cities in various countries, according to a Dawn report. Had the staff of the learned minister looked at the right page of Numbeo.Com (the one that