The real value of charitable giving this Ramazan in Pakistan appears to be on par with or marginally less than last year, as prolonged economic stagnation has strained household finances, limiting how much people can afford to donate. The financial strain appears to have hit the more popular consumptive giving (food supplies providing immediate relief) harder than transformative causes (healthc
They say politicians won’t make a promise they could deliver on. The recent so-called sugar price ‘crisis’ has once again proved this saying right. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose own family owns sugar mills in Punjab, had promised not to let the sweetener’s rates go up beyond Rs140 a kilo when his administration allowed a portion of the alleged unsold surplus stock from the past two years to
Has Pakistan’s agriculture sector — particularly its two major crops, wheat and cotton — attained a level of crop yields that allows it to compete globally without government subsidies or market intervention? The government seems to believe so, as reflected in its recent policies. But is this confidence well-founded, or a miscalculation that could jeopardise the backbone of the nation’s economy?
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) considers the passage of the law for the introduction of agricultural income tax by all four provincial assemblies a landmark step and says that the Fund and Pakistan have agreed that a lot needs to be done on the ground for effective recoveries starting next year’s budget. The two sides will remain engaged over the next couple of months to address technical a
Pakistan’s economy is like a runner on a treadmill whose pace is controlled by the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) conditions. With each bailout, the treadmill speeds up, and our poor runner sweats blood in the form of reduced subsidies, indirect tax hikes, and tariff increases. The real question does not circle around the speed of the treadmill; it now focuses on how to get off. Unfortunat