I. ‘Pakistan poised to rank among top 25 economies by 2025’ Sep 10, 2015: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal said on Wednesday that Pakistan possessed the attributes of an advancing nation, and was well-positioned to rank among the world’s top 25 economies by 2025.
With the implementation of Vision 2025, Pakistan is heading towards the right direction. However, any vision and policy on its own can never change a country’s fortune. Pakistan has to do a lot in terms of cashing on the opportunities for improving the relations with other economies to render positive relations for the country. CPEC and IP pipelines can kickstart the process forever.
II.
South Asia ‘at front lines’ of mounting climate costs: ADB Sep 11, 2015: South Asian economies stand to lose around 1.3pc of their collective annual GDP by 2050 even if global temperature increases are kept to 2 degrees Celsius, experts and public officials warn. In the second half of the century, the losses are likely to increase to around 2.5pc of GDP, warns an analysis by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). But if temperature increases are allowed to rise above 2 degrees Celsius, losses will mount to 1.8pc of GDP by 2050 and a staggering 8.8pc by 2100, according to the analysis. In the light of this research, two steps need to be taken; we need to rectify the economic conditions of the country before the climate changes start costing us, and steps need to be taken for climate protection. Not only will this help us in improving economy, but it will also assist us in achieving UN’s SDG goals.
III.
China’s rise, Russia’s interest in S. Asia significant, says Aziz Sep 13, 2015: Sartaj Aziz discussed in some detail the global, regional and domestic factors affecting Pakistan’s foreign policy calculations. Coming to the regional scenario, the PM’s adviser said the ‘rise of China’ and Russia’s growing interest in South Asia were very important developments for Pakistan. CPEC has helped us in strengthening economic relationship with China. A lot needs to be done to improve relations with Russia. Recent defense deals with Russia are commendable as this can initiate a series of other deals.
IV.
Turkmenistan to start building TAPI pipeline in early Dec: Govt. official Sep 27, 201: Turkmenistan will start building a $10 billion natural gas pipeline to Pakistan and India via Afghanistan in early December.
V.
International Monetary Fund officials noted that Pakistan’s economy continues to improve (New bond raises about $1bn in world market) Sep 27, 2015: Pakistan achieved the staff-level agreement with the IMF officials last month after successful completion of the 8th review of the loan.
Moreover, IMF is likely to approve $502m loan tranche for Pakistan. This week Pakistan also issued a new bond of 500 million dollars after a series of roadshows in Los Angeles, Boston, New York. Despite tight and weak global market conditions and jittery investors’ sentiments, the issue was twice oversubscribed. The investors praised the progress made in stabilizing the Pakistani economy and the reforms carried out in the areas of energy, privatization, tax administration and investment climate. This indicates that the progress made at national level has significant impact on the economic development and image building of the country. This also shows that bonds issues by government can make significant profits for the state.
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