Optimists refuse to surrender to the evident negatives and risks in a world plagued by lingering conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. Despite politically rooted challenges, they envision stronger UK-Pakistan relations, driven by high trade potential in services. As Pakistan’s economy gains breathing space with a three-year $7 billion International Monetary Fund deal, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ple
Life for ordinary Pakistanis may continue to be challenging not only through this fiscal year but for the next two years as well due to the high levels of taxes that will remain in place and the additional services that will be brought into the tax net during these three years to meet the Internal Monetary Fund’s (IMF) demands. The recently negotiated $7 billion IMF loan package, whose final ap
Under the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) influence, the federation and the provinces have committed to taking appropriate measures to remove distortions in fiscal federalism. Provincial revenues are to be significantly improved while renewed efforts are made to balance federal and provincial spending. Though it is a challenging agenda, as past experience shows, one expects that serious eff
Pakistan is the 7th largest producer of sweetener in the world, and sugarcane is the country’s second most important cash crop after cotton. The country produced 7.8 million tonnes of sugar in the crop year 2021-22 (the highest-ever volume). Its per hectare cane yield is 46 tonnes, around 14 tonnes less than the world average of 60 tonnes. Sugar output in the country declined year-on-year from
Deep, structural economic reform is an important and continuous process. In the face of economic headwinds and geopolitical challenges, China understands that well. Pakistan doesn’t. It was not, therefore, surprising to see the recent Communist Party of China (CPC) conclave, or the third plenum, set out a blueprint for reforming the country’s economy last week. The adoption of a reform resol