close
Saturday December 21, 2024
Kaiser Bengali
Kaiser Bengali

  • October 22, 2024

    Governance in Balochistan

    Balochistan has 40 seats in the 442-member House – less than 10 per cent

  • September 09, 2024

    Once upon a time…

    Four tales relate to privatization of an airline, an automobile company, a bank and a telephone company

  • May 10, 2024

    Attacking the NFC – again

    There is only one way forward: cut non-development expenditures, including non-combat defence expenditure

  • September 12, 2023

    In defence of BISP and NFC

    The crushing fiscal constraints currently facing Islamabad are forcing moves in various directions to tame the deficit. A number of options can be...

  • June 17, 2023

    Budget 2023-24: more business as usual

    Budget 2023-24 can be celebrated for its bravado or mourned for its lack of seriousness. The economy is in deep trouble; with the Economic Survey...

  • April 03, 2023

    Analyzing IKnomics

    Imran Khan has forwarded a 10-point agenda to steer the economy out of the existential crisis that Pakistan faces. This is welcome, since the...

  • April 23, 2022

    Theatres of abuse

    Pakistan is not new to contentious politics. However, the last decade has seen the rise of a politics of abuse and violence, with no one and no...

  • April 13, 2022

    Economic challenges

    The ousted PTI government, claiming that it had inherited an economic mess, has left behind a situation bordering on disarray.Two headline variables...

  • March 22, 2022

    Addressing economic distortions

    The political turmoil around the opposition’s no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan government is unlikely to be a short-lived affair. If...

  • January 28, 2022

    Anatomy of the Seventh NFC

    The National Finance Commission is locked in a stalemate. Constitutionally mandated to give an Award for distribution of federal tax revenues, it...

  • September 27, 2021

    The Afghanistan debate

    The Taliban victory in Afghanistan has elicited strong reactions. At one end, Islamists the world over are celebrating.; at the other end,...

  • September 11, 2021

    Reviving the economy - Part II

    The first part of this article spoke about how it’s time the state reengineered its economy. Here are some of the measures that the state can...

  • September 10, 2021

    Reviving the economy - Part I

    The dramatic developments in Afghanistan can possibly land Pakistan in a repeat of the post-Soviet withdrawal scenario. The US and the West can...

  • May 24, 2021

    A plea for Balochistan

    The emerging situation in Afghanistan is indicative of a political and military meltdown, with serious multi-pronged security consequences for...

  • May 08, 2021

    The finance minister’s statement

    Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen’s May 5 press conference was a breath of fresh air after a decade of fuddling and muddling on the economic front,...

  • January 09, 2021

    A matter of trust

    The federal government has called for acceptance of the 2017 Census results “in the national interest” and promised a fresh census at an early...

  • August 18, 2020

    Spotlight on Karachi

    The four-party agreement on Karachi — encompassing the PPP, MQM, PTI and NDMA — is a welcome development. Reportedly, the agreement is limited...

  • May 30, 2020

    NFC: maneuverings and equity

    The writer was Sindh’s non-statutory member of the 7th NFC and Balochistan’s non-statutory member of the 9th NFC.The 10th NFC has been...

  • May 14, 2020

    Amplifying port benefits

    Amidst the daily grind of grim news relating to Covid-19 infections and deaths has come one welcome development, showing that life goes on.The news...

  • April 13, 2020

    In defence of Tareen, et al

    The sugar subsidy controversy is swirling around Jahangir Tareen, Khusro Bakhtiar and others for receiving a rather hefty subsidy for exporting...

  • April 08, 2020

    Yet another package

    Our governments have been in the habit of announcing packages whenever a crisis hits. This government is no exception, even in the midst of a life...

  • February 01, 2020

    In defence of BISP

    With the recent steps taken by the government regarding the Benazir Income Support Programme, there are fears that the 120 billion rupees annual...

  • January 06, 2020

    Revisiting fiscal federalism

    Mushtaq Rajpar’s opinion piece, ‘Fiscal federalism’ is a welcome addition to the debate on the subject. Admittedly, the matter relating to...

  • December 24, 2019

    Growing external dominance

    Pakistan has faced recurrent balance of payments problems for the last three to four decades. Every round of crisis leads to knocking at the doors...

  • July 25, 2019

    The poverty debate

    The article ‘Poverty and social protection” by Amir Hussain in these pages touches upon some fundamental aspects of the development debate,...