Peek-a-boo between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is almost as old as the country. Both sides appease their audience and the recent exchange of statements by the two has to be seen in this light. IMF’s Mission Chief to Pakistan Nathan Porter, responding to some questions, said: “We take note of the recent political developments, and while we do not comment on domestic pol
Last year we thought the government was going to announce ‘one of the toughest budgets yet’, and yet, here we are once again, at the same point, but worse. The coalition government is set to announce the federal budget for the fiscal year 2024 on June 9. Since the beginning of the year, each month seems to compete with the last to climb the inflation ladder, reaching a record 38 per cent in May
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Chairperson Dr Shamshad Akhtar has said the country’s “extreme dependence” on fossil fuels to achieve growth has ruined the environment at a high economic cost. Speaking at a seminar on the role of business in protecting the environment organised jointly by the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance (PICG), Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday supported the idea of a fixed tax regime for the IT sector in the upcoming budget and also constituted a committee in this regard. Chairing a meeting, which was attended by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and IT Minister Syed Amin-ul Haque, the prime minister also approved a $4.5 billion IT export target for 2023-24. Among others, the meeting was also part
Accommodating the demands of the coalition partners, the PML-N-led National Economic Council (NEC) on Tuesday tentatively approved an overall development budget of Rs2.709 trillion, almost 24 per cent higher than the current year’s budget estimates of Rs2.19tr. This includes a federal public sector development programme (PSDP) of Rs1.15tr, including Rs200bn for public-private partnership and c