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Sunday October 06, 2024
Humayun Akhtar Khan
Humayun Akhtar Khan

  • October 01, 2024

    Industrial roadmap for Pakistan: Part - II

    A successful industrial policy would bring about a continually evolving comparative advantage in the economy

  • September 30, 2024

    Industrial roadmap for Pakistan: Part – I

    In my recent columns, I have stressed need for overhaul in government of Pakistan’s approach to economy

  • September 23, 2024

    The economy needs a reset

    Doing the same thing and expecting a different result is futile

  • September 16, 2024

    The economic cost of mismanaged spending

    Government’s approach to spending has reduced the economy’s capacity to grow

  • September 09, 2024

    Pakistan’s IMF experience

    Our troubles though are not of the IMF’s making but the outcome of political choice

  • August 31, 2024

    The chaos in the power sector: Part – II

    While companies are entitled to profit, it must not come at the expense of the economy

  • August 30, 2024

    The chaos in the power sector: Part - I

    Issue is too complex and seized by too many interest groups to lend itself to resolution

  • January 11, 2023

    Time for decisive action

    Never before in recent decades has Pakistan been in such a state of crisis. Our economy, politics and society are in disarray.About the economy, the...

  • June 28, 2022

    The state’s lost trust

    Recently, a minister faced much flak for asking Pakistanis to cut their tea intake by one cup a day. The reaction should come as no surprise, in a...

  • June 25, 2022

    Roadmap to economic recovery [Part – IV]

    Recent news has kept us stirred up with the ups and downs of our deal with the IMF. We are at a stage where taking on debt, not for a project but to...

  • June 22, 2022

    Roadmap to economic recovery [Part – III]

    The first two parts in this series discussed why we keep falling into crisis situations, and the need for the economy to grow. Low public and...

  • June 21, 2022

    Roadmap to economic recovery [Part – II]

    The first part in this series discussed why we keep falling into crisis situations. It avers that the economy does not focus on growth. Low public...

  • June 20, 2022

    Roadmap to economic recovery: Part-I

    It is time to look beyond Budget 2023. The government’s chosen goal for the budget, despite the clamour and possible changes, is to avoid...

  • April 14, 2022

    The economy needs rapid improvement

    It won’t be easy to manage the massive economic mess that the country faces. The problems have built up over many governments and can be addressed...

  • October 04, 2020

    Rethinking our future

    There are many developments, external and internal, that Pakistan must manage with skill and finesse.Externally, the rivalry between the US and...

  • June 08, 2020

    Budget 2020: put the people first

    There is nothing more important today than the lives of Pakistanis and survival of businesses. Helping them should be the clearly stated goal of the...

  • May 15, 2020

    What lies ahead

    There is an overload of talk about the pandemic but not too many answers or even the right questions being asked. The lifting of the lockdown was...

  • April 28, 2020

    Tackling Covid-19? - Part II

    Part one of this series dealt with health and welfare issues. Let’s now turn to the economic crisis caused by the pandemic.The economy was already...

  • April 27, 2020

    Tackling Covid-19?

    A crisis compels introspection. My hope is that the pandemic will force us to rethink the government's role in Pakistan, as an agent of change and...

  • April 11, 2020

    Covid-19: a threat and a wakeup call

    The virus is a test of how well states are run. It is not without reason that East Asia’s response is better than in other parts of the world. On...

  • April 10, 2020

    Covid-19: a threat and a wakeup call -Part I

    The pandemic has something to say to all of us. Its most clear message is that humans must change the way they live. UN Secretary General Guterres...

  • December 23, 2019

    Is Pakistan ready for economic growth?

    Our knowledge of history, economics, and much more owes a lot to the works of Ibn Khaldun. With his usual keen eye, he said that “Government is an...

  • December 14, 2019

    Prioritising economic growth

    Is more debt a cure for high-debt economies? That is the conundrum faced by most distressed economies.In recent years, Argentina and Greece have...

  • December 07, 2019

    Out of the IMF loop

    Past governments have claimed that Pakistan will soon become an ‘Asian Tiger’ or that CPEC is the game changer we were waiting for. Yet, the...

  • May 22, 2019

    Ensuring performance

    This is the second of two columns on the subject of improving government performance. In the first column , I discussed why we must improve...

  • May 12, 2019

    Growth under the IMF

    In his recent bestseller, 'Factfulness', the late Hans Rosling shows us how much better the world is now than it was before. Many welfare...

  • April 28, 2019

    Improving performance

    In the last few months, I have shared my views on a number of development topics. With so much expectation attached to a new government, it was an...

  • March 30, 2019

    Fixing our energy

    It seems that the warnings about the frailty of our energy supply are mostly true. And though successive governments have pledged to fix the sector,...

  • February 06, 2019

    The PSE black hole

    With public finance in disarray for decades, it is only right for the government to find ways to fill the gap between revenue and spending. One...

  • January 04, 2019

    Rethinking the PSDP

    In finding the right mix for long-term economic growth in Pakistan, we may look also at the role of public investment and its main instrument, the...

  • December 20, 2018

    Manufacturing for prosperity

    It is time to atone again for our profligacy. While we will soon know whether or not Pakistan enters into another IMF agreement, there are more...

  • December 13, 2018

    Towards sustained growth

    Long-term GDP growth should be at the core of Pakistan’s economic policy. Though not an ideal measure of wellbeing, GDP at least shows a...

  • December 06, 2018

    Why is the foreign exchange crisis a surprise?

    The balance of payments crisis has been a regular feature of our economy. What we need to see is why it keeps happening. While, at present, the...