New Delhi, March 6 (IANS) India is expected to contribute as much as 17 per cent to global real GDP growth in 2026 as it continues to be the world’s fastest-growing major economy, according to the latest data compiled by the IMF.Among the other countries in the IMF’s top 10 list, the USA is expected to contribute 9.9 per cent to the world’s real GDP growth, followed by Indonesia with 3.8 per cent, Turkiye 2.2 per cent, Saudi Arabia 1.7 per cent, Vietnam 1.6 per cent, while both Nigeria and B…
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New Delhi, March 4 (IANS) Both inequality and poverty have increased in Pakistan during the last six years, a report released by the country’s Planning Commission clearly indicated.This is based on a comparison of the level and distribution of household incomes, according to the Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES) of 2018-19 and 2024-25, respectively, undertaken by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).The worrying statistic is the rise in the incidence of national poverty from 21.9 pe…
New Delhi, March 3 (IANS) Pakistan’s high taxation regime is choking the formal economy, especially industrial businesses, yet there seems to be no realisation within the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR), which keeps extracting juice from the top 1 per cent of the population, according to an article.The core of the issue is that capital formation is disincentivised, as the effective tax rate, including is over 50 per cent for large manufacturing facilities, according to the article in the Karac…
New Delhi, March 1 (IANS) Pakistan will either confront deep structural weaknesses such as tax narrowness, energy inefficiency, and elite capture of its government or face a brittle economy and thinner social cohesion by 2031, a new report has said.The report from Business Recorder said half‑hearted reforms could leave average annual GDP growth hovering around 2–3 per cent over the next five years, barely above population growth, amounting to stagnation, the report said.”Stagnation, in a you…
New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) With real GDP now estimated to grow by 7.6 per cent in FY 2025–26, the Indian economy is set to record strong and sustained expansion, according to an official statement.This robust performance reinforces India’s growth momentum and strengthens its trajectory towards achieving the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’, marked by higher productivity, resilience, and inclusive development.To this accord, the revision of the GDP base year to 2022–23 marks a significant step i…
New Delhi, Feb 23 (IANS) While the Pakistan government claims that the country’s economy has been revived from the brink and is now stable, the harsh reality is that poverty has climbed to an 11-year high of 29 per cent and income inequality is at levels not seen in nearly three decades, according to an article in the Pakistani media.The article in the Lahore-based The Friday Times further pointed out that real household incomes have shrunk and unemployment is at a 21-year peak. For millions o…
New Delhi, Feb 23 (IANS) The only way for Sri Lanka to get into the AI race is to jump onto the bandwagon of a fast mover. Since it is unlikely that Sri Lanka can do so with the two leaders in the AI race — the US and China — the choice available is its neighbour to the north, India, the rising star. India has a high strategic edge with AI on many counts, according to an article in the Colombo Telegraph.“India is moving fast in AI development and, most likely, will become part of a three-mem…
New Delhi, Feb 22 (IANS) While the IMF loan has bailed out Pakistan from the brink of economic collapse for the time being, weak growth and fractious domestic politics suggest that the current period of stability may prove difficult to sustain over the medium term, according to an article. In September 2024, the IMF approved a $7bn Extended Fund Facility aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and rebuilding policy credibility. To date, Pakistan has received roughly $3.3bn under the programme…
New Delhi, Feb 20 (IANS) International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Friday said that India’s goal of becoming a developed nation (Viksit Bharat) can be achieved with AI-driven innovation and expansion, and the country could harness AI to achieve its target of a $30 trillion economy by 2047.Addressing the AI Impact Summit 2026 here, Georgieva said that artificial intelligence could bolster global growth by 0.8 per cent, faster than the pace seen before the Covid…
New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS) Plagued by chronic losses and mounting debt, Pakistan’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have for years drained public funds that could have been spent on sectors such as healthcare and education, with frequent equity injections, subsidies, loans and sovereign guarantees reducing the pressure on these entities to fix their inefficiencies and instead of reform, the outcome has been a growing pile of liabilities, a Pakistani media article said.Poor political will, coupled …