Pakistan’s yearly consumer inflation rate stood at 29.7 per cent in December 2023, which means that those who earned Rs100,000 per month needed Rs 129,700 to maintain their lifestyle at a year-ago level. Obviously, most individuals and households had no opportunity to make the additional Rs29,700. Inflation numbers don’t tell us about their sufferings, let alone the sufferings of the jobless. W
Finance ministry also declines to share cost, citing IMF restrictions PM-led meeting decides to merge prices of imported and local urea, bill the extra cost to farmers ISLAMABAD: With the headline inflation already touching 30 per cent, the country braces for a fertiliser price hike of about 5pc as provinces refuse to share a Rs32 billion burden for imported urea. The Ministry of Finance
In a challenging, complex situation, one can see consensus-building surfacing on how to resolve major issues, both by design as well as by independent actions of various stakeholders/institutions that tend to work in harmony. A major issue on which near-consensus or consensus is so obvious is that elections should be held as scheduled on February 8. And that long-term policies can only be formu
The Houthi retaliation represents a danger to worldwide maritime transport. A resolute response is imperative for sustained global prosperity. To ensure the unimpeded passage of ships, particularly through vital chokepoints like the Strait of Malacca or the Panama Canal, addressing the recent surge of attacks in the Red Sea — crucial for access to the Suez Canal — stands as an urgent concern. T
The inflow of remittances to Pakistan has yet to show a satisfactory trajectory since January 2022. The monthly inflow of remittances for the first three quarters of 2023 was lower than both the previous year and 2021. The count of remittances from January to November 2023 was $23.96 billion, reflecting a decrease of $3.83bn compared to the corresponding period in 2022 and $4.6bn compared to 2021.