Pakistan

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised concerns over political interference in civil service appointments in Pakistan. According to sources, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva highlighted systemic flaws in Pakistan’s governance structure during a meeting with Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. The IMF expressed reservations about widespread corruption risks, citing weak institutional accountability and fragmented decision-making processes, sources said. The Fund further said that political meddling in appointments undermines the credibility and efficiency of the civil service. In response, Finance Minister Aurangzeb assured the IMF chief of Pakistan’s commitment to implementing structural reforms under the ongoing reform program. Following extensive consultations, the IMF has issued a set of key recommendations focused on strengthening anti-corruption measures. Notably, the Fund has linked public procurement processes and departmental performance to enhanced structural accountability. Duri...

Today is budget day, the day when a government official, usually the finance minister, comes to the floor of the National Assembly and lays out, in complex economic terms, policies that will ultimately affect every single citizen. Read: Finance Minister Aurangzeb announces Budget 24-25 A budget is the government’s financial plan that outlines its proposed expenditures and the means of financing them for a single fiscal year (July 1-June 30). If you’re going to be watching the finance minister’s speech, which is usually delivered in Urdu, here are some of the important terms you should be looking out for. Maali khasaarah (مالی خسارہ) — Fiscal deficit You’re going to be hearing khasaarah a lot during the speech, which means deficit. An important term to look out for is maali khasaarah, which refers to the fiscal deficit. A fiscal deficit occurs when the total income of a government is less than its total expenditure. Budget khasaarah (بجٹ خسارہ) — Budget deficit The budget deficit differs from the fiscal defici...

It is widely believed that Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was born in Karachi. But some local oral traditions say that he was born in Jherruck, a town in present-day Thatta district of Sindh. The proponents of the latter opinion point to a textbook published in Sindh in the 1950s to support their contention, which mentions that the Quaid-i-Azam was, indeed, born in Jherruck. This controversy has been going on for a long time. Several attempts were made in the past by various authorities, including Syed Abdullah Shah — when he was serving as the provincial chief minister — as well as the district government of Thatta, who constituted committees to ascertain the facts of this claim. But it was all in vain. While compiling a biography of Jinnah, I too confronted the same question and decided to approach the matter from three different angles, i.e., documentary evidence, personal statements of the Quaid-i-Azam on the subject and accounts rendered by his family members. Here is the outcome of the exercise. But b...

Raza Kazim is a lawyer, philosopher and political activist. He is also the inventor of a musical instrument called Saagar Veena and a photographer of international standards. He is a lapsed Marxist — he prefers to call himself a post-Marxist. One of the top lawyers in the country, Kazim has handled many seminal cases in his long legal career. Most importantly, perhaps, Kazim is a witness. He is a witness to the history of this country — its political and social history. His political career started when he organised a protest in his school during the Quit India Movement in 1942. He later joined the Communist Party of Pakistan but left it soon. He went to prison several times for opposing the government of the day, most famously on the allegations of trying to overthrow General Ziaul Haq’s military regime. Kazim divides his time between his legal practice, supervising Sanjan Nagar Institute of Philosophy and Arts, which he has set up in his home in Lahore, developing his philosophy of “mentology” and doing man...