Need for increased investment in social sectors like health, education and nutrition stressed The World Bank report on ‘Pakistan Development Update – Making growth matter’ was launched in Karachi, recently. It stated that Pakistan is rated among top emerging economies and its economy grew by 4.7 percent in this fiscal year. This was the highest rate in eight years and a significant increase from the previous year’s 4 percent. …

  Karachi is the most populous city of Pakistan and holds its place as the second largest city in the world by population. The city is home to people from various ethnic backgrounds; Sindhi to Urdu speaking and from Punjabi to Pakhtoon or Balochi. It is the financial capital and 4th largest metropolitan city of the world accounts for the lion’s share of GDP and revenue. The city maintains itself …

  One of the biggest problems facing the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises sector is the lack of financing available to these firms. There is no reason that why is lending restrained to the sector after it contributes 35 percent to national exports and is considered to be the backbone of the economic sector. Despite substantial contribution of SME sector in the country’s GDP, the sector is not getting its due …

  Pakistan is keen to achieve all the objectives outlined under the UN in SDGs In nearly 100 countries of the world, women face gender-based job restrictions. There are no laws for women guaranteeing equal remuneration for work of equal value and no laws mandating non-discrimination based on gender in hiring, this was recently published in the World Bank notes Women, Business and the Law 2016. It was also observed …

  Strained ties between India and Pakistan have been a major obstacle to make SAARC an effective platform Pakistan making all-out efforts to increase exports to India Pakistan believes in transforming ties with India under the tense developing relations between both the neighboring countries and as Pakistan is making steady progress towards economic front, taking it a priority of foreign policy, to have good economic relations among South Asian peers. …

  The increasing numbers of shopping malls thriving all over large cities in Pakistan are creating opportunities not only for large retailers, but also the smaller ones previously involved in doing business in traditional, less profitable ways. Shoppers who previously visited often open markets now go to malls for a one-stop shopping experience. Karachi and Lahore, have a large number of malls that cater to all clothing needs under one …

  There have been certain important organizations that have taken the lead and they must be lauded for their efforts to a certain extent in reducing poverty in an attempt of doing Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) in Pakistan, but many firms in a country still lacking CSR practices. The international market is adopting newer and innovative ways for the wellbeing of the poverty stricken people. It is obligatory that the …

Pakistan will achieve seven percent growth rate by 2017-18 with aspiration to bring the investment to GDP ratio to 22 percent in the next three years as private sector will be encouraged to play its part in the development of the country. The World Bank expects Pakistan’s fiscal deficit to decline to 3.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) in financial year 2017 in a latest report unveiled. It …

  Total revenues of Pakistan’s telecom sector have been raised to Rs452.8 billion in fiscal year 2016 as compared to Rs446 billion in fiscal year 2015. The telecom sector in Pakistan, besides the auto industry, is moving in fast path enjoying high demand as it contributed Rs157.8 billion to the national exchequer. Increasing is ongoing in several sectors in which IT and mobile companies are providing new services and the …

  Many in the telecom industry have, for years now, been advocating for a reduction in the indiscriminately high telecom taxes. The 2016-17 budget in Pakistan got diverse reactions from the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry. It raised taxes on mobile phones. But there was good news for IT sector in the form of tax exemption on software exports with reasonably satisfactory budget for development projects. The government generated …