Abid Hasan

Abid Hasan

  • Let’s not ‘do more’

    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. —...

  • 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...

  • Parliament failing citizens

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

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • Band-aid or real reform?

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

  • 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...

  • The cares of a caretaker

    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...

  • Tax amnesty: chasing shadows

    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...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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...