Justice—one-sided
Huzaima Bukhari “The virtue of justice consists of moderation as regulated by wisdom”—Aristotle. One must acknowledge the reality that those who are connected with imparting justice are highly respectable human beings. They not only serve humanity by setting the wrongs…
Dealing with “debtocracy”
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr Ikramul Haq Total debt servicing increased by around 57 percent during FY 2018-19 compared with last fiscal year6 which was driven by higher domestic interest payments (on account of rise in domestic interest rates) while external…
Reforms sans research
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq No government in Pakistan, including the present one, ever thought of establishing knowledge-based research platforms for all sectors that need reforms. For example, not a single study is available outlining step-wise tax reforms or…
Punjab: low tax collection
Dr. Ikramul Haq Punjab is the most populous [110 million people] province of Pakistan with largest resources and budget size after the Federal Government, and beneficiary of lion’s share [this year estimate is Rs. 1.6 trillion] from National Finance Commission…
Education—for sale?
Huzaima Bukhari “Education is like the pooja ghar (place of worship) for us. We are never going to become a for-profit player in education. It will be akin to selling the pooja ghar”—Anand Mahindra. A people-friendly government of any sane…
Tax frauds, corruption & NAB
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq In majority tax frauds, the usual parties are the official(s) and the taxpayer(s). Cases where unilateral tax fraud is committed are rare such as using fictitious bank account(s) to obtain fake refunds. But even…
Mounting debt burden
Huzaima Bukhari & Dr Ikramul Haq Public debt as percentage of GDP was recorded at 84.8 percent at end June 2019 compared with 72.1 percent at end June 2018. This increase was primarily due to the build-up of liquidity buffers…
Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights
Dr. Ikramul Haq The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, has repeatedly asserted that Pakistanis are hesitant to pay taxes with the same zeal as they act as philanthropists. The main cause identified by him is mistrust between the taxpayers…
Life—simply complicated?
Huzaima Bukhari “Life is really simple but we insist on making it complicated”—Confucius. Nothing seems to satisfy man! Those living in the villages yearn for the bright city lights and sounds and the city dwellers enviously view the villager’s laid…