IT is Pakistan’s moment of reckoning. Words of warning are pouring in to remind the leadership and the people that the country continues to face existential challenges. The other day, the IMF chief urged the caretaker prime minister and Pakistanis to collect taxes from the wealthy and subsidise the poor, who are being crushed under the soaring cost of living. On Friday, Najy Benhassine, Worl
THE army-backed crackdown on illegal dollar trade appears to have stopped the black market activities in the country’s foreign exchange market — at least for now. Money changers say there are more sellers in the market now than buyers as the ‘confidence in the home currency returns’, with the dollar weakening in the interbank by nearly five per cent from its historic peak of 307.10 earlier this mo
Amid the rupee strengthening and the government’s intention to bring down the dollar rate to Rs250-260 soon, the country’s auto assemblers appear a bit reluctant to pass on the benefit of the currency appreciation to the consumers. When Dawn contacted assemblers to take their viewpoint regarding any chance of price drop in locally assembled vehicles, their quick answer was “No.” Consumers wi
Slow pace of work on arrests of the power pilferers is affecting recovery of the fines in the wake of units charged and other issues in the operations continued nationwide these days. On the other hand, the power distribution companies (Discos) in Punjab continue to take lead in respect of raids, registration of cases, arrests, recovery etc across the country, Dawn has learnt. “Everything, e
Stefan Dercon, professor of Economic Policy at Oxford University, has said that Pakistan’s economic status quo is ‘untenable’ and even elites are losing because of it. Talking to journalists on Friday, Prof Dercon expressed his views on the “elite bargain” and Pakistan’s economic policies. Discussing the economics of elite bargain, he said low tax collection, high subsidies, low savings, and