Finance Act 2020
FBR, tax collection & eliteHuzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul HaqThe passage of Finance Bill 2020 by the National Assembly on June 29, 2020, amid protest by the Opposition, claim by Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) of exceeding the revised target…
Finance Act 2020—I
Lack of initiatives & innovationsHuzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul HaqThe adoption of Finance Bill 2020 on June 29, 2020 and exceeding the target by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for fiscal year (FY) 2019-20 was an achievement of the…
Ethics—a fading trend
Huzaima Bukhari“A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world”—Albert CamusOn 2 December 2012, Spanish athlete Iván Fernández Anaya was competing in a cross-country race in Burlada, Navarre, a municipality of Spain. He was running second, some…
USA: valiant struggle for liberation & justice
A majority of white Americans still cannot come to terms with what black people have known forever: Racism is systemic, systematic, and nowhere near gone. White America must step up not just for peace, but for justice— Systemic racism is…
Unconstitutional petroleum levy
Dr. Ikramul HaqThe Government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on June 26, 2020 to utter surprise and dismay of all increased the prices of all petroleum products substantially—it is usually done on the first day of every month after a summary…
Learning to unlearn the learnt!
Huzaima Bukhari“We now know that sex is complicated enough that we have to admit nature doesn’t draw the line for us between male and female, or between male and intersex and female and intersex; we actually draw that line on…
PTI’s failure on fiscal front
Dr. Ikramul Haq“The FBR contributes around 80% of the total revenues of the federal government; therefore, any miscalculation or misstargeting can severely cripple the budget, not just of the federal but the provincial governments as well”—Budget 2020-21: Highlights & Commentary,…
The menace of red-tape
Huzaima Bukhari“But there will be no justice, there will be no government of the people, by the people, and for the people, as long as the government and its officials permit bribery in any form”—John Jay HookerSomeone once remarked that…
2019: Review of PTI’s fiscal strategy
Avoiding reforms & imprudent policiesHuzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul HaqAn unusual decline in revenue collection and steep rise in current expenditures caused a deterioration in all major fiscal indicators during FY19. The overall budget deficit during the year stood at…