The legitimate tobacco industry in Pakistan faces a severe crisis, with heavy taxes on tobacco products leading to a significant decrease in production and substantial tax losses. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, legal cigarette production has plummeted by 40% in just five months due to the widening price gap between legal and illegal cigarettes, primarily attributed to increased
The inflows of workers’ remittances sent home by overseas Pakistanis reached a three-month high at $2.39 billion in January 2024, instilling confidence in the domestic economy following the disbursement of the second loan tranche of $700 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the same month. According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), remittances surged by 26% to $2.39 bil
Pakistan’s total debt and liabilities have peaked at Rs81.2 trillion – a figure that grew at a faster pace of over 27% during the past year, posing emergent management challenges to the newly elected government. The bulletin released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday showed that the country’s total debt and liabilities increased by another Rs17.4 trillion as of the end of December c
PAKISTAN is facing enormous macroeconomic challenges, as evident in its fragile balance-of-payments, weakening growth, and soaring prices. The new government is expected to quickly set about dealing with these issues. Its most pressing challenge is to formulate a longer-term financing plan to meet Pakistan’s growing external debt obligations, beginning with negotiations for a longer and larger
Pakistan’s polarised elections that followed nearly two years of unrelenting political turmoil and ongoing economic crisis have intensified uncertainty. That the manipulated outcome of this election would have serious consequences for the future of Pakistan, its citizens, democracy and civil-military relationship is known to all; it would also have a bearing on the nation’s fragile economy.