Defence and Debt: The two Ds that are draining Pakistan’s economy
Fp Explainers • 2 months agoPakistan’s economy is buckling under the dual burden of soaring defence expenditure and record-breaking public debt. With nearly half the federal budget now consumed by debt servicing and an expanded military budget after border tensions with India, concerns about long-term sustainability are rising
Pakistan’s Economic Survey paints rosy picture, but reality tells harsher tale
Fp Staff • 2 months agoThe highlight of the survey is a projected GDP growth rate of 2.7% for 2025. Finance Minister Aurangzeb claims the economy is now on a “gradual path to recovery”. However, Pakistani people are still struggling with prices of basics like food and fuel
After IMF, another bailout package for Pakistan; ADB okays $800 mn aid despite India's objection
Fp Staff • 3 months agoThe ADB package comes just days after Islamabad secured a $1 billion package from the IMF despite New Delhi's objections
Pakistan's crop-sowing faces the brunt as India chokes Chenab flow causing major water shortage
Fp Staff • 3 months agoThe crop-sowing season of Pakistan is facing the brunt of India's decision to put the Indus Waters Treaty into abeyance as two key dams in Punjab and Sindh face live water shortage
Forget India, how Pakistan can't even beat the economies of these two Indian states
Fp Explainers • 3 months agoPakistan’s economy has shrunk in global standing to the point where individual Indian states like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have overtaken it in size. With Pakistan's repeated IMF bailouts, weak growth and mounting debt, the economic gap has widened dramatically — even subnational units in India are now outpacing a once-peer neighbour
Saudi Arabia has deported over 5,000 Pakistani beggars, interior minister tells parliament
Fp Staff • 3 months agoPakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi informed the country's National Assembly that Saudi Arabia has deported a total of 5,033 Pakistani beggars in the last 16 months
Bloodbath at Pakistan Stock Exchange after India’s Operation Sindoor against terror sites
Fp Staff • 4 months agoThe KSE-100 Index, which tracks the largest companies listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange, fell as much as 5.7 per cent during intraday trade, its steepest single-day drop since 2021
Are IMF bailouts helping Pakistan plan terror operations like Pahalgam?
Fp Explainers • 4 months agoOn May 9, the International Monetary Fund will take a call to release a $1.3 billion tranche and also assess Pakistan's $7 billion bailout package. Despite being bailed out repeatedly, Pakistan continues to maintain a comparatively high defence budget leading many experts to believe that Pakistan's military activities may indirectly be enabled through the fiscal space created by these bailouts
India stable but post-Pahalgam tension could ‘impair’ Pakistan’s access for foreign funds: Moody’s
Fp Staff • 4 months ago"A persistent increase in tensions could also impair Pakistan’s access to external financing and pressure its foreign-exchange reserves," the Moody's note warned
India shuts airspace to Pakistan: Will this ground PIA for good?
Fp Explainers • 4 months agoIndia's sweeping ban on Pakistani aircraft, following Islamabad’s closure of its airspace to Indian carriers, is threatening to derail Pakistan International Airlines’ already troubled privatisation bid. With key Southeast Asian routes disrupted and mounting financial pressure, the future of Pakistan’s national carrier hangs in the balance as regional tensions take a new turn — in the skies