Islamabad seeking 24th bailout, IMF confirms

By Khaleeq Kiani Published in Dawn on March 21, 2024 • Three-year programme to focus on strengthening public finances, restoring energy sector’s viability, returning inflation to target • $1.1bn due next month after staff-level accord reached on final review of current package ISLAMABAD: Announ­c­ing the staff-level agreement on the successful completion of the existing short-term facility, the […]

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Mar

Fiscal realities: A case for NFC reform

By Dr Miftah Ismail Published in The News on March 20, 2024 SINCE the IMF reportedly asked the government to reconsider the NFC Award, a debate has started in Pakistan about it. Having been the finance minister of our country twice for short durations, I have seen how the 7th NFC Award has worsened our fiscal situation.[…]

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Mar

New data, old insights

By Dr Ayesha Razzaque Published in The News on March 18, 2024 There was a time when systematically collected data about schoolchildren’s learning levels was scarce, spottily collected, and hard to obtain. ‘Reforms’ were the brainchildren of politicians or senior bureaucrats in charge at the time, usually without a formal connection to the education sector. Reforms that[…]