THE first thing that incoming prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has to realise is that no matter what happens, no matter how much pressure comes his way from his own party, including from Nawaz Sharif, he must not, under any circumstances, make Ishaq Dar finance minister again. Bringing Dar in as finance minister one more time will be the worst mistake Shehbaz Sharif can make at this point. The
While approving an already allocated Rs7.5 billion subsidy package for the upcoming Ramazan, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet could not decide how to recover Rs100bn in additional money from gas consumers in the remaining four and a half months of the current fiscal year as the commerce minister pressed for reducing cross-subsidisation burden on industry. The meeting of
The prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) are estimated to go up by Rs4-11 per litre for the next fortnight (Feb 16) owing to higher international prices and import premiums, neutralising an impact of minor exchange rate gain. Informed sources said the prices of both major petroleum products — petrol and HSD — had increased in the international market over the current fortnight and the P
The World Bank, in a policy note on agriculture and food in Pakistan, has pointed out that inappropriate government policies and regulations that distort markets, inhibit competition, and discourage private investment, as well as limited and poorly implemented efforts for research, innovation and technology dissemination are the underlying causes of the price hikes in the country. The ‘Just-in-
Prominent figures from the industrial sector have raised concerns over the economic challenges brought forth by the caretaker government’s policies. In a press statement issued on Wednesday, these industry leaders said the policies of the caretaker government, whose main responsibility was to organise elections, had brought in severe economic crises, the slowdown in industrial production and an