Contrary to past practices, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has not approached trade and industry leadership for taking their input for the upcoming budget to be unveiled on June 9. As less than a month is left, business leaders have deplored that the PDM government has not invited them for any consultative sessions to incorporate their proposals in budget 2023-24, fuelling fears that it will be an
With an overwhelmingly Muslim majority, there’s largely a distaste towards interest which is usually equated with exploitation, and often for good reason. Yet, the financial system unsurprisingly remains entrenched in it, irking the religious factions and parties who want to rid the country from the evils of riba. For years, the issue had been under legal scrutiny with the government of Pakistan a
The current fiscal year rendered an estimated four to five million Pakistanis jobless and threw 20-30m below the poverty line. Moreover, record high inflation, hovering above 30 per cent during the year, tested consumers’ and businesses’ will to survive. We may not see as many people added to the jobless pool in the next fiscal year. We may not see as many individuals slipping below the poverty
Political violence is not new to Pakistan, but the events ensuing the arrest of Imran Khan upped the ante. In what many termed ‘a grave reaction,’ Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf zealots also targeted markers of the military during the violent protests last week. The business class believed that the total cumulative loss inflicted by the PTI protesters and the closure of mobile data service by the go
ISLAMABAD: With less than a month to present the next fiscal year’s budget, the government is contemplating holding meetings of the Annual Plan Coordination Committee and the National Economic Council on May 23 and June 1, respectively, to finalise over Rs900bn worth of federal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). And even before these events, representing both the Centre and its federa