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Jul 03, 2022 PRINT EDITION ► BR MARKETS ► Dollar to PKR ►

Ali Khizar

Prisoners of elitism
Opinion

Prisoners of elitism

Last week Dr Hafeez Sheikh was under public scrutiny for being oblivion to the rising price of tomatoes - being a finance minister, he should have knowledge of rising prices when price hike is the biggest headache for the government. The issue that needs
Updated 18 Nov, 2019 08:53am
Dealing with the disconnect
Opinion

Dealing with the disconnect

The JUI-F dharna is making things move. Those who were convicted by courts or scrutinized by law enforcement agencies, including NAB, are getting out mainly on medical grounds. The government is on an ordinance passing spree. The IMF first review has been
Updated 11 Nov, 2019 12:01pm
Stabilisation to last longer
Opinion

Stabilisation to last longer

Pressure is mounting on the PTI government to come up with pro-growth policies sooner than later. However, the IMF and SBP are probably thinking that stabilization has just started and it would be too early to ease any kind of fiscal or monetary policy fo
Published 03 Nov, 2019 12:00am
FATF: Complacency not an option
Opinion

FATF: Complacency not an option

On the external front, there are two kinds of diverging sentiments growing - one is emanating from the IMF/WB where an improved macro picture is well received in DC. On the flipside, recently concluded FATF session in Paris is portraying a rather bleak pi
Updated 27 Oct, 2019 07:40am
'World is slowing down'
Print

'World is slowing down'

"The world is slowing down". That was the buzz in the World Economic Outlook report released by the IMF and the World Bank on Monday in Washington. "There is a synchronized global economic slowdown," said International Monetary Fund chief economist Gita G
Published 16 Oct, 2019 12:00am
'World is slowing down'
Pakistan

'World is slowing down'

"The world is slowing down". That was the buzz in the World Economic Outlook report released by the IMF and the World Bank on Monday in Washington. "There is a synchronized global economic slowdown," said International Monetary Fund chief economist Gita G
Published 16 Oct, 2019 12:00am
Resetting factory settings?
Opinion

Resetting factory settings?

Last week, a versatile group of businessmen met with army chief in a five-and-a-half-hour long meeting. The GHQ's message was clear - the present government will complete its tenure so strategize accordingly. Now this week, sentiment is fast changing - bo
Updated 14 Oct, 2019 06:57am
Criticality of PPP
Opinion

Criticality of PPP

The interest rate was last up in Jul-19 with a clear signal of peaking; exchange rate has appreciated in the last quarter. Many pundits believe that things have bottomed; and recovery is imminent in a few months. The question is why the anxiety in the bus
Published 06 Oct, 2019 12:00am
Criticality of PPP
Markets

Criticality of PPP

The interest rate was last up in Jul-19 with a clear signal of peaking; exchange rate has appreciated in the last quarter. Many pundits believe that things have bottomed; and recovery is imminent in a few months. The question is why the anxiety in the bus
Updated 07 Oct, 2019 11:15am
It is half full!
Print

It is half full!

A bad product can be sold by a good salesperson while a good product's prospects can be ruined by a bad salesperson. The negative outlook by people of an otherwise stabilizing economy is depicting poor salesmanship by our economic managers. Lately, the IM
Updated 30 Sep, 2019 09:08am
From stabilisation to growth
Markets

From stabilisation to growth

Pakistan's big businesses often operate on clutches. The winners are selected decades ago, and they have formed a strong lobby to safeguard interests. Nowadays, there are talks on opening up of economy, and let the market, and technical policy levers to d
Updated 23 Sep, 2019 07:57am
Will bitter IMF pill cure?
Markets

Will bitter IMF pill cure?

The visiting IMF team - led by Jihad Azour met an exclusive set of journalists yesterday in Karachi in its last leg of the trip. The finding of the trip points to an encouraging start of the programme based on how market is reacting; how inflation has mov
Updated 20 Sep, 2019 06:01am
Will bitter IMF pill cure?
Markets

Will bitter IMF pill cure?

The visiting IMF team - led by Jihad Azour met an exclusive set of journalists yesterday in Karachi in its last leg of the trip. The finding of the trip points to an encouraging start of the programme based on how market is reacting; how inflation has mov
Published 20 Sep, 2019 12:00am
Signs of import Substitution
Print

Signs of import Substitution

The reported import bill, as per PBS data, stood at $3.6 billion in Aug-19 - lowest monthly number since Jul-16. In case of trade deficit, $1.85 billion is lowest since Mar-16. That is some progress, and the current account deficit is likely to reduce to
Updated 16 Sep, 2019 10:52am
Is there no end to tightening?
Markets

Is there no end to tightening?

One of the most criticised policies of the SBP is to take real interest rates at 5 percent plus on past 12-month moving average inflation, and at 1.75 percent based on SBP expected inflation (11-12%) in FY20. The reason explained by Governor SBP is that h
Updated 13 Sep, 2019 10:16am
Reforms Found Wanting
Markets

Reforms Found Wanting

One year is gone. There is not much to take home about the PTI economic team's performance. The team came totally unprepared, and on job training wasted some time, and additional cost incurred to an economy which was in an urgent need of stabilization mea
Published 05 Sep, 2019 12:00am
What is govt's plan?
Print

What is govt's plan?

The government does not seem to have a clear road map for economic recovery. The SBP is designing a policy of import compression, and is eyeing to jack up tax revenues growth at an unprecedented level, and the ministry of industry is eyeing to boost inves
Published 01 Sep, 2019 12:00am
Reducing micro Frictions
Print

Reducing micro Frictions

Recently, this writer attended a talk by Asim Khawaja where he raised a point that micro level frictions are hindering our economic progression. Next day he read an opinion piece by Faisal Bari, a noted economist, in which poor contract enforcement - a mi
Published 25 Aug, 2019 12:00am
Think fiscal discipline
Markets

Think fiscal discipline

The SBP is running by design a policy of demand compression to shrink current account deficit. The SBP Governor is saying this to analyst community that bringing the CAD down is the main consideration and it will be done, no matter what it takes. The poli
Published 18 Aug, 2019 12:00am
Energy the key to addressing fiscal woes
Markets

Energy the key to addressing fiscal woes

The most important variable to control through monetary tightening, exchange rate under valuation and other demand curing measures is current account deficit. Within it, in the short to medium term, the head to control is import bill. Thus, import compres
Published 11 Aug, 2019 12:00am