WHEN I wrote my columns on the six pillars for growth, people pointed out areas I had missed, including privatisation of state-owned enterprises. Since most SOEs lose money, I thought this topic was covered under the pillar of prudent fiscal and exchange policies. Upon further reflection, however, I should have added privatisation as a separate pillar required for growth. Here it is. Before dis
PAKISTAN is one of the few countries that pushes its top talent to leave their motherland. This has been happening since independence but the year 2022 has witnessed the highest number in the country’s 75-year history. It is estimated that around 765,000 people left Pakistan in 2022, including 92,000 highly educated individuals such as doctors, engineers, computer scientists, business executive
Will Pakistan be the sixth-largest world economy by 2075? The “Path to 2075”, a paper issued by Goldman Sachs earlier this month, says yes. According to the paper, China will rank first, followed by India, the United States, Indonesia and Nigeria. As a point of reference, the US National Intelligence Council, citing Oxford Economics, predicts that by 2040, India’s economy will rank 3rd, China’s
Oil prices dipped on Thursday as surging Covid-19 cases in China dimmed hopes of a recovery in fuel demand for the world's largest crude oil importer. Brent futures for February fell 26 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $83.00 a barrel by 0430 GMT, while US crude fell 26 cents, or 0.3pc, to $78.70 a barrel. The scale of the latest outbreak and doubts over official data prompted some countries to en
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on Wednesday restricted the digital lending platforms from taking coercive measures for recoveries and barred them from shifting borrowers’ data outside Pakistan. The SECP through circular no. 15 has directed the digital lenders that the borrowers’ data cannot be stored on any cloud infrastructure outside the jurisdiction of Pakistan.