close
Saturday October 05, 2024
Mansoor Ahmad

  • October 05, 2024

    From leader to laggard: The decline of Pakistan’s middle class

    People shop at a local market in Rawalpindi. — AFP/FileLAHORE: In 1990, Pakistan boasted the largest middle class as a percentage of its...

  • October 04, 2024

    Steel industry’s unregulated challenges

    A view of the Pakistan Steel Mills . — Pakistan Steel Mills websiteLAHORE: Our steel industry relies heavily on both imported raw steel and...

  • October 03, 2024

    Balancing public welfare and fiscal responsibility

    People take lunch at a public Dastarkhawan. — Bahria Town Website/FileLAHORE: Public appeasement expenditures may be necessary in times of...

  • October 02, 2024

    Can this be our last IMF programme?

    The International Monetary Fund logo is displayed outside its headquarters in Washington, DC, on October 8, 2022. — AFPLAHORE: Pakistan’s...

  • October 01, 2024

    Unaccountable discretion

    Women shop at a market in Rawalpindi. — AFP/FileLAHORE: Discretionary powers, especially when unaccountable, can significantly distort an economy,...

  • September 29, 2024

    Navigating trade disputes

    Containers are loaded onto trucks at the seaport terminal DIT Duisburg Intermodal Terminal at the Duisburg harbour, on July 13, 2023. — AFPLAHORE:...

  • September 28, 2024

    Risk management in SMEs

    An employee works at a textile factory in Karachi. — AFP/FileLAHORE: Risk management culture is generally less prevalent in Pakistan, particularly...

  • September 27, 2024

    The path to sustainable development

    Workers are busy in construction work of Orange Line Metro Train Project at Allama Iqbal Road in Lahore. — APP/fileLAHORE: The argument that...

  • September 26, 2024

    Reforming property taxes

    A residential area in a housing society can be seen in this picture. — AFP/FileLAHORE: Karachi and Lahore have immense potential to fund much of...

  • September 25, 2024

    Growing challenges of SMEs

    An employee works at a textile factory in Karachi. — AFP/FileLAHORE: Small and medium enterprises in Pakistan are facing unprecedented challenges...

  • September 24, 2024

    Why Pakistan needs robust institutions

    Representational image shows a man carrying national flags walking through a street on the eve of the Independence Day celebrations in Peshawar. —...

  • September 22, 2024

    The evolving entrepreneurial ecosystem

    A representational image of a company's employees talking with customers at a call centre in Lahore, Pakistan. — AFP/FileLAHORE: Pakistan’s...

  • September 21, 2024

    The fight for fair wages

    Representational image shows a labourer carrying a sack of potatoes at a fruit and vegetable market in Peshawar. — AFP/FileLAHORE: Pakistani...

  • September 20, 2024

    How to alleviate poverty

    A representational image of a man and a child.— AFP/file LAHORE: Alleviating poverty in Pakistan, where 50 per cent of the population is poor,...

  • September 19, 2024

    Tale of two classes

    A person distributes meals among people.— AFP/file LAHORE: The hardships faced by ordinary Pakistani citizens have multiplied in recent years,...

  • September 17, 2024

    Where are diaspora investments?

    A foreign currency dealer counts US dollar notes at a currency market in Karachi on July 19, 2022. — AFPLAHORE: Though the Pakistani diaspora...

  • September 16, 2024

    The divide that drives unrest

    The dilemma in our economy is that the formal corporate sector demonstrates growth and social compliance and yet unemployment remains high, leading...

  • September 15, 2024

    No place to call home?

    Representational image shows labourers working at a construction site. — AFP/FileLAHORE: In Pakistan, where construction is not mechanized, the...

  • September 14, 2024

    Pakistan moves closer to IMF deal

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meets IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva in this undated image. — PM's OfficeLAHORE: The successful conclusion of talks...

  • September 12, 2024

    Soft skills

    A representational image of a person talking to youth.— The News/fileLAHORE: Pakistanis generally lack soft skills, which refer to a set of...

  • September 11, 2024

    Regional economic performance

    Pakistani flag can be seen fluttering in front of the parliament building in Islamabad. — AFP/fileLAHORE: Pakistan generally lags behind its...

  • September 10, 2024

    Pakistan’s economic crisis: governance failures and missed opportunities

    A foreign currency dealer counts US dollars at a shop in Karachi, Pakistan, May 19, 2022. — AFP/FileLAHORE: Pakistan’s economic troubles are...

  • September 08, 2024

    Textile imbalances

    An employee working at a textile factory in Pakistan's port city of Karachi, on April 7, 2011. — AFPLAHORE: There is significant potential to...

  • September 06, 2024

    Declining trade share

    Containers are loaded onto trucks at the seaport terminal DIT Duisburg Intermodal Terminal at the Duisburg harbour, on July 13, 2023. — AFPLAHORE:...

  • September 05, 2024

    The fear factor

    Traders, workers, and customers gather at a wholesale fruit market in Lahore on October 16, 2022. — AFP/FileLAHORE: There is a deeply rooted fear...

  • September 04, 2024

    Employment dilemma

    A representational image of employees working in an office in Karachi. — AFP/File LAHORE: Pakistan’s employment crisis, marked by rising...

  • September 03, 2024

    The way forward

    Representational image shows a man carrying national flags walking through a street on the eve of the Independence Day celebrations in Peshawar. —...

  • September 01, 2024

    A well-defined vision

    A man carrying national flags walks through a street on the eve of the Independence Day celebrations in Peshawar on August 13, 2023. — AFPLAHORE:...

  • August 31, 2024

    Breaking tax resistance

    People throng a market area in Lahore. — AFP/File LAHORE: Navigating Pakistan’s current economic and political climate, particularly with the...

  • August 28, 2024

    Reforms must start from the top

    National flag can be seen fluttering in front of the parliament building in Islamabad. — AFP/FileLAHORE: Pakistan is facing severe challenges,...

  • August 25, 2024

    Addressing consumer resistance

    People buy pulses and grains at a wholesale market in Karachi on February 1, 2023. — AFP LAHORE: One method to regulate prices is through...

  • August 24, 2024

    Deal or no deal?

    This file photo taken on January 26, 2022, shows the seal for the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC. — AFPLAHORE: The International...

  • August 23, 2024

    Watch what you eat

    Am Arif Chtkhara stall at the Karachi Eat Festival. — Reporter/Shaharyar KhalidLAHORE: Food adulteration is primarily driven by the desire for...

  • August 22, 2024

    Public good or appeasement?

    In this picture taken on April 16, 2023, people throng a market area during shopping in Lahore. — AFPLAHORE: Provinces use substantial federal...

  • August 20, 2024

    How SMEs in South Asia perform

    Workers conduct quality checks before packing t-shirts at a textile factory of Texport Industries in Hindupur town in the southern state of Andhra...

  • August 17, 2024

    Reality check

    This picture shows a general view of the seaport in Karachi, Pakistan. — AFP/FileLAHORE: Pakistan’s economic challenges do not have quick fixes....

  • August 16, 2024

    Economy that runs on ‘sharing’

    Open office workspace is seen in an empty office of an airline service company, as the spread of the coronavirus disease continues, in Prague,...

  • August 15, 2024

    Tax the rich, tax them more

    A representational image showing people at a market area in Lahore. — AFP/FileLAHORE: In Pakistan, like in many countries, wealth distribution is...

  • August 14, 2024

    Pakistan’s 77 years of industrial development

    A worker operates a machine preparing fabric at a textile mill in Lahore on July 20, 2023. — AFPLAHORE: When Pakistan gained independence on...

  • August 13, 2024

    Addressing youth unemployment

    Representational image shows large number of youngsters waiting in a queue for a job entry test in Islamabad. — AFP/FileLAHORE: The International...

  • August 11, 2024

    Entrenched inequality

    Women buy grocery at a wholesale market in Lahore's Akbari Market. — Online/FileLAHORE: The economic situation in Pakistan is quite complex,...

  • August 10, 2024

    Tackling air pollution

    Motorists on their way during heavy smog in morning hours in Lahore on November 30, 2022. — OnlineLAHORE: Air pollution shortens the average life...

  • August 09, 2024

    Microfinance dilemma

     A representational image of Pakistani Rs1,000 note and Rs5 coin. — AFP/FileLAHORE: While both Pakistan and Bangladesh have made significant...

  • August 08, 2024

    What leads to poverty

    A representational image showing men distributing food to people. — AFP/FileLAHORE: Addressing the complex issue of poverty in Pakistan requires a...

  • August 07, 2024

    Trouble in the power sector

    A representational image of a transmission tower, also known as an electricity pylon. — AFP/FileLAHORE: Capacity charges have become a big problem...

  • August 06, 2024

    Changing Bangladesh situation worries Pakistani investors in textile sector

    Larger enterprises went to Bangladesh with better planning and invested in export processing zones only

  • August 04, 2024

    A call for reforms

    Image of the FBR's building in Islamabad. — X/@FBRSpokesperson/FileLAHORE: That the Federal Board of Revenue and the power sector are the soft...

  • August 02, 2024

    Taxing the untaxed

    A woman checks rice prices at a main wholesale market. — AFP/FileLAHORE: As political turmoil in the country continues, the finance minister can...

  • August 01, 2024

    How to reduce resource wastage

    This representational image shows a solid waste dump. — AFP/FileLAHORE: Contrary to the popular opinion, Pakistan is not a resource-starved...

  • July 31, 2024

    Pakistan’s skilled worker shortages

    Pakistani skilled labours work at a construction site. — AFP/FileLAHORE: Pakistan has a serious problem to deal with: its highly skilled...