menu_open Columnists
Farhat Ali

Farhat Ali

Business Recorder

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Realigning business ties with Europe

Realigning business ties with Europe

The European Union Ambassador Dr Riina Kionka is reported to have stated this Tuesday that European companies are recognising Pakistan as a potential...

30.03.2025 10

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Asia on the rise

Asia on the rise

By all accounts Asia is on rise in world politics, economy and technology. It has equated itself with the key performance indicators of the affluent...

23.03.2025 30

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

IMF: both a problem and a solution?

IMF: both a problem and a solution?

The country is currently under the 23rd IMF programme — a US$ 7 billion, 37-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement — which has provided...

16.03.2025 20

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Pakistan’s pharma scene

Over the last few years Pakistan’s pharmaceutical market went through a dramatic transformation from multinational companies-based market to...

09.03.2025 10

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Pakistan’s strategic location: fact-check

Pakistan’s strategic location at the crossroads of South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East undoubtedly makes it well positioned to facilitate...

02.03.2025 100

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Home-grown problems, solutions

The nation is stuck in the dilemma of a perpetual struggle to borrow money to sustain the fragile fiscal structure of the country and attempt to roll...

23.02.2025 20

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Region: BD throws up opportunities

In a major development, India has extended its security base and offensive capability and outreach beyond its borders. This week, India opened a new...

16.02.2025 20

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

The upside of IMF engagement

While the economists and critics of the country widely debate the downside of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) programme, very little is said...

09.02.2025 30

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Let’s protect our mangroves

Rapid and reckless urbanization around Karachi, alongside industrial developments, led to a significant loss of mangrove habitat. Pollution caused by...

02.02.2025 20

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Tax culture

Tax-to-GDP ratio in Pakistan is singled out as the principal devil in the fiscal regime of Pakistan and termed as unsustainable. IMF, time and again,...

26.01.2025 70

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

‘Independent electricity market’

The Federal Minister for Power Awais Leghari is reported to have informed the National Assembly this week that the government would stop purchasing...

19.01.2025 10

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Changing political dynamics in S. Asia

Driven by rejuvenated public sentiments for a change, the Bangladesh’s incumbent government is gradually but consistently moving out of the Indian...

12.01.2025 70

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

2025 - A year of more challenges

The year 2025 starts with many carry-forward challenges from last year’s and further add to new challenges in the years ahead. The plight of the...

05.01.2025 10

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

To live with dignity

The tragedy of migrants losing life on the high seas has become a sad phenomenon repeated one after another. In June 2023, hundreds of migrants...

29.12.2024 4

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Power sector: role of WB, ADB, IMF

Once again the World Bank (WB) is reported to be currently working with the government to invite private sector participation in the distribution...

22.12.2024 4

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Less than modest economic recovery?

International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme under the Extended Fund Facility rolled out this September has spurred some elements of country’s...

15.12.2024 10

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

All is not well at the economic front

The Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb reaffirmed this Wednesday at the ‘International Affordable, Green & Resilient...

08.12.2024 7

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

It’s all about political stability

Perturbed by the ongoing political uncertainty, the trade and industry leaders met and expressed concerns that the rising political uncertainty,...

30.11.2024 4

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Takeaways from CPEC investment

At the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) performance review meeting called this week by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Planning,...

23.11.2024 4

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

SAARC is no longer relevant

That SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) has been facing since 2016 a situation in which any progress is impossible is a fact...

16.11.2024 3

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Export industry: challenges and solutions

It is heartening to note that a multinational company operating in Pakistan has successfully showcased and set an example that the challenges faced...

09.11.2024 3

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Even-handed approach to sanctions?

What should not have happened has happened. Iran has moved the International Court of Arbitration in Paris against Pakistan for not completing its...

02.11.2024 3

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Speaking out in defence of IMF lending

Following the approval of a $7 billion funding agreement by International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board, there is a certain amount of...

26.10.2024 5

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

IMF: reputation at stake

A new report of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) disclosed that the lender has risked its reputation by extending a $7 billion bailout package...

19.10.2024 2

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Regaining global relevance

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Islamabad provides a once in lifetime opportunity to Pakistan to regain and showcase its relevance...

12.10.2024 4

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

The ‘last’ IMF programme?

Nathan Porter, director of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) mission for Pakistan, in a recent interview with the Voice of America, while...

05.10.2024 3

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

IMF lending: tougher tasks lie ahead

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), upon securing all pre-conditions, announced this week the approval of the 37-month Extended Fund Facility...

28.09.2024 2

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Pakistan’s power sector - a case study

The Chief Executive Officer of K-Electric (KE), Monnis Alvi, while speaking at the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) this week,...

21.09.2024 4

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

All eyes on IMF’s $7bn EFF

The grant of subsidies and tax incentives by the government are two measures that never escape a reprimand by the International Monetary Fund...

14.09.2024 3

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Govt has no business being in business

Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in a televised speech this Tuesday cleared the air on IMF (International Monetary Fund) delays, saying...

07.09.2024 4

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Power sector woes– AGP report says it all

A damming report by the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) says it all insofar as the massive mess-up in the domestic power sector, the consequences...

31.08.2024 4

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

Economic corridor: unfinished agenda

Although much steam out of CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) has been let out, the unquestionable positivity demonstrated on it by Pakistan...

24.08.2024 3

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

IT business migration to Dubai

Pakistanis, having systematically moved their capital overseas and invested $ 11billion in properties in Dubai, there is now a flow of business...

17.08.2024 4

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

FDI and its drivers: a perspective

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is all about country perception and country perception is all about political and economic stability of the...

10.08.2024 3

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

End of the road!

“Our hand has now been forced because we have reached a level that if we don’t expand the net and bring the under-taxed, untaxed sectors into the...

03.08.2024 2

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali

‘Do more’, IMF asks Pakistan

The Pakistan budget 2024-25 appears to have largely satisfied the IMF (International Monetary Fund), prompting it to move on with the 25th IMF...

13.07.2024 1

Business Recorder

Farhat Ali