Category Archives: Economy

Budget in an election year

Economy, Education, Politics

By Zubeida Mustafa

THE budget betrays much about the priorities and style of a government. Since the money being spent is the taxpayers’ it is incumbent on their rulers to spend it responsibly and honestly.

A cursory look at the Sindh budget 2012-13 reveals much about our elected government’s political designs in an election year. It is not really strange if a government that has not shown much concern for the economic hardships of the masses should suddenly adopt policies that try to appease the electorate. However, when the allocations have an extraordinary pattern it is time to be skeptical and ask a few questions. Continue reading Budget in an election year →

Why no social security?

Development and Poverty, Economy, Human Rights, Labour

By Zubeida Mustafa

THERE was a time when it was widely believed that Karachi’s roads were paved with gold. Anyone who came here could make a fortune — even if it was a small one.

This may have been true to an extent when the pace of industrialisation was fast and urbanisation slow. The trickle of labour from the countryside was easily absorbed into the formal employment sector.

The situation has now changed totally. This stark reality emerged painfully at a conference held earlier this month in Karachi.

Jointly organised by the Pakistan Study Centre and Piler (Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research), the event was designed to commemorate three decades of Piler’s fine work for the rights of labour. Continue reading Why no social security? →

Physician, heal thyself

Development and Poverty, Economy, Health

By Zubeida Mustafa

AS inflation spirals in Pakistan, the one most seriously affected is the common man. Decent healthcare is said to be beyond the reach of the overwhelming majority. But one man’s meat is another man’s poison and some are benefiting from the misery of the poor.

One beneficiary of this state of affairs is the pharmaceutical sector. The Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) website describes its growth of the past decade as a “success story”. It goes on to add: “About half the population has no access to modern medicines. Clearly, this presents an opportunity.”

According to the PPMA, the value of pharmaceuticals sold in Pakistan was over $1.4bn in 2007 and is expected to exceed $2.3bn in 2012. Sixty-five per cent of this comes from private spending. Continue reading Physician, heal thyself →

Won’t we be counted?

Economy, Population, Women

ACCORDING to Pakistan’s Population Census Organisation’s website, enumeration of the population should have been completed on Sept 27, 2011. This has not been done.

Even the house-listing operation that precedes the head count has run into road blocks. One can therefore only make wild guesses about the size of our population. According to the government, the population of Pakistan today stands at 177.1 million. The growth rate, as claimed by the Pakistan Economic Survey 2010-11, stands at 2.05 per cent per annum.

This is cause for serious concern as last year’s Survey had quoted the population growth rate to be 1.51 per cent. Continue reading Won’t we be counted? →

Has PTI done its homework?

Economy, Politics, Social Issues

By Zubeida Mustafa

THE message that emerged loud and clear from the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf’s massive rally in Karachi on Sunday was that people want a change.

Responding to this palpable public sentiment, Imran Khan made promises that appear to contradict one another. We will not go out with a begging bowl, he said. The country will be a welfare state, he added. Yet his prized acquisition, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, was adamant that the nuclear programme would be protected at any cost. Continue reading Has PTI done its homework? →