News

Cost of living sees big jump in first two days of new set-up

The cost of living has gone up significantly during the first two days of the current interim government as the prices of sugar and steel bar have witnessed sharp spikes. Rising transportation cost due to a jump of Rs20 per litre in diesel rate, the rupee’s depreciation against the dollar and hoarding, have all combined to torment an already hard-pressed consumer. According to sugar dealers,

Stocks shed 419 points on weaker rupee

Profit-taking dominated trading on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday. Topline Securities said the shares market commenced the day on a positive note and hit an intraday high of 49 points. However, investors soon chose to book their gains in energy and fertiliser stocks. Consequently, the KSE-100 index erased its morning gains and slid into the negative territory to close on the

The coming inflation

I HATE to be the bearer of bad news all the time. But circumstances don’t permit otherwise. In the last monetary policy statement of July 31, the State Bank said “inflation is likely to remain on downward path over the next 12 months”. But it is difficult to see how this will happen. There are a couple of reasons to believe why inflation may have peaked. First is what they call the “base effect

Will the next Aug 14 see a stable Pakistan?

Economic growth must be driven by private investment to be stable and sustainable. Little wonder Pakistan has never been able to institute sustained growth due to insufficient investments. In order to make up for lower investments, successive civil and military governments have pursued policies that encourage consumption, mostly imported consumption due to lower domestic productivity, through l

The lost path to prosperity

The nation is commemorating independence today. An informal limited survey indicated that the number of individuals questioning these celebrations has increased this year. In addition to the usual sceptics and some segments of impoverished population, millennials and Generation Z (aged 11 to 40) have joined those in doubt in big numbers. This negativity feels peculiar at this juncture. The econ