News

Finance: Economy in need of sobriety

The situation of street crimes in Karachi is better than Washington and Paris, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon boasted last week. Quoting updates from the International Crime Index, he said at a presser that Karachi ranked 78th out of 333 cities in various countries, according to a Dawn report. Had the staff of the learned minister looked at the right page of Numbeo.Com (the one that

Brewing troubles

Even though Israel and Iran have signalled their intention to walk back down the escalation ladder following their limited but direct ‘tit-for-tat’ strikes against each other since April 13, the world remains on edge due to concerns about the conflict swarming the entire Middle East. A crucial energy supplier and a key shipping passageway, the region has been in the headlines since the beginnin

Fragility amidst global turmoil

Beyond conventional diplomatic efforts, Pakistan has yet to undertake a comprehensive national-level initiative to meticulously monitor, analyse and prepare for the potential ramifications of the escalating cycle of retaliation in the Middle East. These potential effects encompass a surge in oil prices, displacement of the Pakistani workforce in the Middle East, deferment of work on the already

Aurangzeb expects PIA privatisation by end of June

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurang­zeb has stated that the process of privatising PIA will be finalised by the end of June or early July, with Islamabad airport potentially following suit shortly after. “The government has no business being in business,” the minister declared at a Saturday afternoon news briefing, explaining the government’s plan to divest from state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

Ministries, divisions ordered to return surplus funds by May 15

In the run-up to the finalisation of the federal budget for 2024-25, the Ministry of Finance has asked all ministries, divisions, departments, and self-governing entities to surrender by May 15 the funds that they think cannot be utilised within the current fiscal year, ending June 30, 2024. Under the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) of 2019, all entities established or operated with public