The export of raw food products recorded an upsurge of almost 111.63 per cent in December compelling domestic consumers to pay higher prices. These unchecked exports pushed the food inflation to a staggering 28.8pc in December 2023 as prices skyrocketed affecting accessibility to essential commodities, particularly wheat flour, rice, sugar, meat and vegetables. Since October 2023, the countr
Caretaker Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar has said that the country’s economic growth will rebound by 2-2.5 per cent in the current fiscal year. The economic recovery process has boosted business confidence and market sentiments while a bullish trend has been prevailing in the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for the last five months, she said. In a virtual address at the IPO Summit 2024 —E
Is the Middle East war theatre expanding? Already, the region, crucial to the stability of the global energy supply-demand dynamics, was coping with the ongoing Hamas–Israel conflict. Now it seems several other players are getting sucked into the war. Oil markets have largely been calm to the war. But that calm is now under strain. And if this happens, it will seriously impact the oil markets.
In the corridors of power in Pakistan, a financial challenge lurks beneath the surface — an issue stemming from unnecessary expenditures and an abundance of nonproductive government employees. As politicians take pride in appointing their favourites to public sector roles, the burden ultimately falls on the taxpayer, who remains voiceless in the process. Yet no one looks at what the cost of thi
While national focus on removing macroeconomic imbalances is imperative, it is not enough to build a wide range of competitive industries and economies. Reforms are needed at the micro level, for which the caretaker government has taken some initiatives. Economic reforms at the national level bring only selective productivity gains at the micro level, says Dr Khakan Hassan Najeeb, a former fina