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Tuesday December 03, 2024
Abid Hasan
Abid Hasan

  • June 02, 2024

    Let’s not ‘do more’

    A labourer bends over as he carries packs of textile fabric on his back to deliver to a nearby shop in a market in Karachi on June 24, 2022. —...

  • May 18, 2022

    Pakistan on the precipice

    This year, India’s growth rate is expected to reach 8 per cent – highest among all large countries. Its exports touched $670 billion, and it has...

  • January 23, 2022

    Parliament failing citizens

    The performance of Pakistan’s parliaments in discharging their key functions – enacting laws; reviewing/approving government spending and...

  • June 19, 2021

    Limited reforms and temporary gains

    The PTI’s fourth budget, presented by its fourth finance minister, is mostly more of the same. Glancing through the last 10 pre-pandemic budget...

  • June 11, 2021

    PML-N’s half-truths, PTI’s hype

    In a much-hyped recent pre-budget seminar, PML-N leaders touted their government’s performance, and berated the PTI’s performance in the last...

  • May 24, 2021

    Aid from Bangladesh

    Every government in Pakistan, including the current one, has gone around the world with a begging bowl. We are now drowning in debt and stuck in an...

  • March 24, 2021

    SBP reforms and the IMF

    Pakistan has finally taken a bold step in the right direction with regard to the autonomy of the SBP. However, there are some serious flaws with the...

  • June 18, 2020

    Cleaning up the budget

    The writer is a former adviser to the World Bank.Pakistan’s corona-related ‘lives and livelihood’ crisis is grave. One was hoping that the...

  • May 03, 2020

    The fiscalitis virus

    The whole world is facing a single pandemic virus. We are facing two – the coronavirus and the fiscalitis virus developed in Washington by the...

  • April 22, 2020

    Expand Ehsaas, extend lockdown

    The writer is a former adviser to the World Bank.Pakistan’s health crisis could explode , gravely crippling its society, economy and national...

  • April 02, 2020

    Don’t beg, just tax the wealthy

    For decades our leaders and elite have chosen to beg and borrow overseas, even to deliver the very basic functions of state. No wonder we are known...

  • March 27, 2020

    Lockdown the IMF progamme

    The global economy is facing a plunge into uncharted waters. No one alive has experienced an economic nosedive this sudden. In country after...

  • June 25, 2019

    An uncertain future

    Prior to the 2018 elections, the PTI promised heaven-like conditions and a bright future for when it came into power. It is close to a year now...

  • October 21, 2018

    Band-aid or real reform?

    Although past IMF support prevented serious foreign exchange shortages, their ‘band-aid’ conditions enabled Pakistan’s irresponsible rulers to...

  • June 08, 2018

    A crisis of our own making

    The print, electronic and social media narratives on the Kishanganga Dam would have the citizens believe that Pakistan’s water crisis is because...

  • June 03, 2018

    The cares of a caretaker

     President Mamnoon Hussain administering the oath of office to Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk as Caretaker Prime Minister at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. Former Prime...

  • April 10, 2018

    Tax amnesty: chasing shadows

    The first-ever tax amnesty programme was announced in 300 BC in Egypt by Ptolemy V to please the priesthood and consolidate power. Since then, tax...

  • January 06, 2018

    Let us ‘do more’

    US President Trump’s humiliating tweet, which criticised Pakistan for not doing more to fight terrorism, highlights the flawed security and...

  • May 21, 2016

    New shoes on budget day

    Wearing new shoes on budget day is an interesting tradition among Canadian ministers of finance. Some say that new shoes are meant to convey a new...

  • May 07, 2016

    A drama starring the corrupt

    The political drama unfolding since the Panama leaks has much in common with similar events in human history. One such incident was when a mob...

  • April 28, 2016

    Tasks for the commission

    There are very high expectations among the citizens that the proposed Supreme Court commission on corruption will yield far-reaching...

  • March 12, 2016

    Taxing traders: right goal, wrong strategy

    The outcome of the much hyped campaign to bring traders in the tax net has been disappointing. The goal was right, but the strategy was wrong. It...

  • February 22, 2016

    NAB needs reform

    The prime minister’s recent public rebuke of the National Accountability Bureau was rather irresponsible. Whatever the merits of...

  • February 11, 2015

    China’s reputation at risk

    The people of Pakistan view China as their best friend. This friendship has stood the test of time and emerged stronger through many challenges....

  • February 03, 2015

    The curse of mediocrity

    For decades, Pakistan has been facing self-created crises one after another – the latest being the petrol crisis. One major reason for the...