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Oil shock, falling investment threaten growth outlook
April 29, 2026

By Shahram Haq

Mounting external vulnerabilities, rising oil prices, and a prolonged decline in investment are pushing Pakistan's economy towards slower growth and higher poverty, economists warned at the 19th Annual Conference on Management of the Pakistan Economy, hosted by the Lahore School of Economics.


Key findings presented at the two-day conference revealed that Pakistan's GDP growth for fiscal year 2026-27 could fall to 1.8%, significantly lower than the pre-conflict estimate of 3.2%, primarily due to surging global oil prices, which recently touched $120 per barrel. Inflation is projected to rise to 9.4%, further squeezing households already under pressure.

Experts noted that Pakistan's heavy reliance on imported energy – nearly 80% of total needs – amplified the economic shock by worsening the current account and increasing domestic costs.

In his opening address, Rector Shahid Amjad Chaudhry highlighted three major vulnerabilities: weak positioning in ongoing IMF negotiations due to accumulated debt, rising import costs driven by oil prices, and the urgent need for long-term structural reforms in taxation, regulation, and investment.

A panel chaired by former State Bank governor Ishrat Husain emphasised that while Pakistan's exchange rate had shown relative stability after sharp depreciations in 2018 and 2022, underlying pressures remained due to persistent external imbalances.

Researchers from the Lahore School of Economics' Modeling Lab warned that the country's sustainable growth rate had declined to 3.7%, limiting its ability to expand without triggering balance of payments crises. At the same time, the trend GDP growth has dropped sharply from 4% (1992-2018) to 2.5% (2018-2023), largely due to falling investment. Adding to concerns, the economists estimated annual capital outflows of $6-9 billion, attributing them to exchange rate depreciation and falling domestic profitability, which have weakened savings and investment.

On the external front, Graduate School of Development Studies Director Rashid Amjad pointed out that while remittances surged to around $40 billion in 2025, their impact on the domestic economy remained limited as a significant proportion was spent on imports. Structural weaknesses in Pakistan's economy also came under scrutiny. Speakers highlighted continued dominance of low-value textile exports, declining manufacturing capabilities, and shrinking global market share. Economists linked the slowdown in industrial growth to high borrowing costs and reduced private-sector investment.

Agriculture, traditionally a backbone of the economy, is also showing signs of stress. Researchers noted declining growth in key crops such as wheat and cotton, possibly due to falling support prices.

On policy, Professor of Economics at Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya Rajah Rasiah advocated for a proactive industrial strategy focused on export-led growth, suggesting that Pakistan could build on emerging strengths such as solar technology. The conference also highlighted worrying social indicators. Data showed that caloric poverty, which had declined steadily from 2000 to 2014, has reversed since 2018 and continued rising through 2025. Labour market challenges persist, with low female participation and high unemployment even among graduates, despite improvements in education.

Research on regulatory policy revealed untapped opportunities. A study, led by Theresa Thompson Chaudhry, found that firms significantly underestimated the benefits of solar energy, despite potential electricity savings of 40-60% and payback periods of less than two years. Meanwhile, financial inclusion remains a long-term challenge. According to Jamshed Uppal, Research Professor at Busch School of Business, it could take over five decades for 90% of Pakistan's population to gain access to formal banking services at the current pace.

Experts also stressed the importance of governance, with Matthew McCartney, a development economist, noting that stable political environments are more conducive to growth-oriented reforms and poverty reduction. In a broader assessment, conference participants warned that Pakistan was already facing a structural slowdown before the latest oil shock. Declining investment, exchange rate volatility since 2018, and rising capital outflows have collectively weakened economic fundamentals.

While the recent stabilisation of the exchange rate was acknowledged as a positive development attributed to government policy measures, economists cautioned against renewed calls for further depreciation, warning it could reignite inflationary pressures and deepen economic instability.

The conference concluded with a call for urgent, coordinated reforms to boost investment, enhance productivity, and strengthen export competitiveness.

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 4/29/2026 08:55:00 AM,

Lahore School of Economics Ninteenth Annual Conferene on Management of Pakistan Economy
April 27, 2026

 8-9 April 2026

Moazam Mahmood, Azam Chaudhry, and Matthew McCartney

Themes of external vulnerability, energy dependence, and growth dominated the two-day conference at the Lahore School of Economics. The conference occurred against the backdrop of an ongoing programme with the IMF and oil prices rising to $120 a barrel, at a time when Pakistan imports 80% of its energy needs. 

The opening address was given by the Rector Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry, who framed the conference in terms of three vulnerabilities faced by Pakistan, ongoing negotiations with the IMF from a position of weakness owing to recurrent and accumulated foreign debt, the shock to domestic costs and the import bill resulting from increased oil prices, and a longer-term reform agenda related to regulation, taxation, and investment.

The first panel on day one chaired by Dr. Ishrat Hussain former Governor of the the State Bank, focused on External Vulnerabilities and Growth.


The Modeling Lab at the Lahore School, Dr. Moazam Mahmood, Dr. Azam Chaudhry, Amna Noor Fatima, Anoosha Liaqat, and Syeda Khadijah Batool, estimated that pre conflict GDP growth for FY 2025-2026 could have been 3.2%, but the oil price shock would lower it to 1.8%. Inflation was forecast to reach 9.4%. The exchange rate after the precipititous depreciations of 2018 and 2022, remained remarkably resilient, despite pressure from an oil shocked deficit in the Current Account.

Dr Rashid Amjad the Director of the Graduate Institute for Development Studies at the Lahore School, argued that the surge in remittance income to Pakistan to $40 billion in 2025, while gratifying support on the Current Account, risked being spent more on imports, with a lower impact on the domestic economy.


Dean of Economics, Dr Azam Chadhry and Gul Andaman estimated that the GDP growth rate consistent with a sustainable balance of payments had shrunk over recent decades to 3.7%. The faster economic growth needed to reduce poverty and create employment could risk sucking in excessive imports and leading to another debt crisis.

Dr. Naved Hamid the Director for the Centre for Research in Economics and Business at the Lahore School, and Murtaza Syed from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, explored a narrative of policy failure, the unwinding of trade liberalisation in the 2000s towards greater protection and increased complexity of the trade regime.

Dr. Rajah Rasiah Dean at the University of Malaya argued that a proactive industrial policy could help Pakistan pursue a goal of export-led industrialisation, building on existing successes in solar technology.

The second session examined structural change in Pakistan.

Dr. Ishrat Hussain catalogued a growing litany of economic failures in large-scale manufacturing, declining capabilities, the continued dominance of low-value-added textile exports for three decades, and a declining share of global export markets.

Dr. Kalim Hyder from the State Bank of Pakistan and Mehak Ejaz from the Institute of Business Management, traced the slowdown in manufacturing growth to declining investment, in turn driven by the high cost of domestic loan capital.

Dr. Rabia Ikram and Amna Kashif from the Lahore School used rigorous statistical analysis to show a step down in trend GDP growth, from 4% over 1992-2018, to 2.5% from 2018-2023. Again, the authors highlighted the crucial role of declining investment.

Shamyla Chaudry, Muzzna Maqsood, and Dr. Moazam Mahmood from the Lahore School, estimated that low savings in Pakistan, (and therefore low investment), was contributed to by mounting capital outflows of $6 billion to $9 billion per year. Arguing that depreciation of the exchange rate triggered these outflows because of declining relative domestic profitability.

Finally, Anum Ellahi from the Lahore School, completed the sectoral overview showing that falling sectoral growth had even spread to the agricultural sector, where both food crops (wheat) and industrial inputs (cotton) had experienced sharp falls in annual growth rates over the two years, possibly correlated to falling support prices.

The first panel on day two focused on regulatory policy and welfare.

Dr. Theresa Thompson Chaudhry Co Chair of the Innovation and Technology Centre at the Lahore School, collected data from 657 manufacturing firms in the Punjab using a Randomised Control Trial (RCT). The study showed that firms drastically undervalued potential cost savings from using solar technology – payback periods of under two years and potential savings in electricity use of 40-60 per cent. This information failure creates the potential to drastically scale up the number of firms that had installed solar technology by 2024 to 13 per cent. The study also found that firms' pessimistic attitudes were hard to shift.

Dr. Matthew McCartney from the ZRCP in Zanzibar, explored the political economy of economic reform and showed that stable, durable governments in Pakistan were better incentivised to provide poverty-reducing public goods and to conduct growth-promoting macroeconomic management.

The Modelling Lab at the Lahore School showed a disturbing recent trend in caloric poverty in Pakistan, which had consistently declined declined between 2000 and 2014, plateaued to 2018, but then reversed, increasing through to 2025.

Dr. Waqar Wadho from the Lahore School, examined the labour market in Pakistan, showing the low impact of rising education and skills, on the low productivity informal economy, seen in women’s low levels of labour force participation, and high unemployment levels even among degree holders.

Dr. Rabia Ariff and Dr. Azam Chaudhry from the Lahore School, explored Pakistan's positioning in global value chains (GVCs). They found that limited local value added, and short local GVCs, could be improved through higher labour productivity and institutions to deepen integration.

Dr. Mujtaba Piracha from the Government of Pakistan, and Nadia Mukhtar from LUMS, examined Pakistan's Export Development Fund (EDF) as a case study of export-oriented industrial policy. The paper showed why industrial policy is crucial for Pakistan – addressing market failures, the complexity of industrial policy – the different needs of large and small firms, and the importance of financing constraints for firms that could enter export markets.

Dr. Jamshed Uppal from the Catholic University of America, noted the importance of financial inclusion for empowerment and poverty reduction, but estimated that it will be another 52 years before 90% of Pakistan's population even has access to a bank account.

Finally, Dr. Matthew McCartney gave the Rapporteurs' Report, highlighting the themes of vulnerability and resilience of Pakistan, the impressive 19-year history of the Lahore School’s Economics Conference, and the importance of transformative changes such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Urbanisation, and Climate Change as suitable subjects for future conferences to engage with.

Dr Shahid Chaudhry gave the final vote of thanks to staff, students, and visitors to the conference.

In summary, a forest-not-the-trees analysis of the conference papers is disturbing. It shows that there was looming crisis of GDP growth, sectoral growth, and resulting welfare loss, prior to the current oil shock. From 2018 onwards, trend GDP growth falls to 2.5%, based on a trend drop in investment. The large depreciations from 2018 seem to have triggered a significant increase in capital outflows, on account of reduced relative domestic profitability, depleting domestic savings. Sectorally, the larger drop in investment has been in manufacturing. But with a policy warning also for agriculture.

This large depreciations from 2018 onwards fuelling inflation, and the fall in trend GDP growth, have reversed the ten decade long declining trend in poverty.

The good news is that the trigger for these declining macro trends, the falling exchange from 2018 onwards, appears to have stabilized. For which credit must go to GOP for getting it right. The worry is contra calls for further depreciation by various economic lobbies.

On X Day I, Day 2

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 4/27/2026 11:13:00 AM,

Unlocking Growth: Inside the Latest ITC Policy Challenges Volumes
November 19, 2025

Lahore School of Economics proceedings of the 2023 and 2024 Lahore School of Economics Annual Conferences on the Management of the Pakistan Economy are available online.

Both volumes of "Policy Challenges for Macroeconomic Management and Growth in Pakistan," the 2023 and 2024 editions, are now available on the Lahore School of Economics' Innovation and Technology Center (ITC) website, along with their individual chapters. You are warmly invited to visit the website, explore the published volumes, and share the links within your professional and academic circles.

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 11/19/2025 01:21:00 PM,

Strengthening Pakistan's Economy: Key Challenges and Solutions
April 30, 2025

Opening address by Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry, Rector, Lahore School of Economics at the Eighteenth Annual Conference, Management of Pakistan Economy


Pakistan is currently going through a three-year economic stabilization program covering the period 2024-2027 with the support of the IMF. This conference comes at an appropriate time at the end of the first year (2024-2023) to review the effects of the stabilization program and suggest appropriate corrections to the programs. While the speakers at the conference will putting up their detailed analysis and concerns, I would like to stress the following challenges to the strategy:
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 4/30/2025 05:46:00 PM,

Lahore School of Economics Annual Conference on Management of Pakistan Economy
April 23, 2025

23-24 April 2025

The two-day conference is structured around two broad themes, those of economic growth and trade. Economic growth has revived to 2.5% in 2025 against stagnation across the previous two years. Pakistan has long imported more than it exports, requiring continued reliance on the vagaries of incoming worker remittances and frequent recourse to IMF lending. The conference occurs against a backdrop of an economic slowdown, debt crisis, and a three-year economic stabilization program recently agreed with the IMF.


This year's conference has focused on two imperatives. First, GDP growth for FY 2025 is projected to make a very weak recovery at 2.2%, from being flatlined two years ago. Second, our tradeables sector runs repeated annual deficits, requiring repeated recourse to IMF lending programs, this being the 24th. Only remittances bail us out, an exogenous variable not in our control, while deficits in tradeables continue. Export-led growth has always been held out as the neoliberal solution, to such a dilemma. However, the prospect of this growth path is now threatened by a global trade environment fractured by a tariff war, which may result in the emergence of two trading blocs.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 4/23/2025 11:55:00 AM,

The Management of the Pakistan Economy: 1947-2024
January 26, 2025

Is it possible to cover the 77 years of economic management of this country in a book of just 115 pages? It looks impossible but the author of The Management of the Pakistan Economy- 1947-2024, who has a number of books to his credit, has done it.

Dr Rashid Amjad, the author, is professor of economics at the Lahore School of Economics. He also spent 26 years with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as Director Employment Policy. He has rich and diversified knowledge on the subject. So, when he says poverty declined during the first two decades of (2000-2019) and more things like that, we have to rely on his deep knowledge.

However, Dr Amjad makes it clear in the very beginning that he has written this book on the management of Pakistan’s economy 40 years after he last delved into the subject. His previously co-authored book with the late Dr Viqar Ahmed, published in 1984, was also on the same topic, but it only covered the period from 1947 to 1982.

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 1/26/2025 10:46:00 AM,

Lahore School of Economics Annual Conference on Management of Pakistan Economy
April 22, 2024

The Lahore School of Economics, Annual Conference on the Management of the Pakistan Economy, held in Lahore on the Burki campus (18-19 April 2024).


The Rector, Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry, opened the conference, by highlighting key policy messages that emerged from the 17 papers being presented.


Dr. Moazam Mahmood, Seemab Sajjid, and Amna Noor Fatima presented evidence of that the Pakistani economy will grow at a rate of 2.3% in FY 2024 and showed that a combination of this low growth and high inflation will significantly increase poverty this year and in the coming years. They then showed that approximately 10% of taxes would have to be spent on transfers to lower income households to eliminate this poverty and that this would become larger over the coming years which implies that there must be a significant increase in transfers to households this year, through programs like the Benazir Income Support Program) and in the coming years to address poverty in Pakistan. Pakistan’s economy was projected to grow at 2.3% over FY2024.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 4/22/2024 12:04:00 PM,

Lahore School of Economics Annual Conference on Management of Pakistan Economy - Day 1
May 04, 2023

2-3 May 2023

The Lahore School of Economics opened its sixteenth international conference on “Managing Pakistan’s Economy”, after being interrupted by the global COVID-19 pandemic. The conference is spread over two days, the 2nd and 3rd of May, 2023, respectively, with a series of presentations concerning macroeconomic management and structural reform and economic rights. The goal of the of the conference is not just to discuss the context of the economic issues faced by Pakistan, but to also discuss and lay the foundations for long-term sustainable economic growth.


Dr. Shahid Chaudhry, rector of the Lahore School of Economics, in his inaugural remarks stated that the current difficult economic situation faced by Pakistan emanated in large part from the effects of Covid in 2019-20 and the Ukraine war starting in 2022. The Pakistan economy was now stabilising and after almost no growth in 2022-23, it was likely to grow to resume modest growth in 2023-24. Dr. Moazam Mahmood, Professor of Economics at the Lahore School, projected the Pakistani economy to start an upward growth trajectory in the next fiscal year. The reasons behind this was (1) the Current Account seems to be recovering from its deep deficits – albeit with import controls, that need to be better targeted. (2), for FY 2024, Pakistan should recover from the supply shocks to agriculture and industry should turn in to more robust growth.(3) the current stringent monetary and fiscal policies adopted over FY 2023, well into FY 2024 and beyond, into GOP’s Medium Term Economic Framework should be assist in bringing down inflation and stabilizing the economy. Based on this, Dr. Moazam’s model projects GDP growth over FY 2024 to be 3.61%.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 5/04/2023 09:01:00 AM,

Lahore School Annual Conference on Managing Pakistan's Economy - Day 2
May 03, 2023

The Lahore School of Economics' second and final day of its Sixteenth International Conference on “Managing Pakistan’s Economy concluded on 3 May 2023.


Building upon the informative and enlightening sessions of the conference’s first day, researchers and economists discussed their findings and offered sober insights in regards to (i) Pakistan’s banking sector, the state of its capital markets and export-led growth, and (ii) the country’s long-running issues concerning fundamental economic rights.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 5/03/2023 05:05:00 PM,

Lahore School of Economics Conference on Management of Pakistan Economy
March 28, 2019

Economic Challenges in a Changing National and Global Environment

27 – 28 March, 2019

Shaheen Naseer, Assistant Professor, Lahore School of Economics

The Lahore School of Economics hosted its Fifteenth International Annual Conference on Management of the Pakistan Economy at its Main Burki Campus on the 27 - 28 March, 2019. The theme of this Conference was “Economic Challenges in a Changing National and Global Environment."


The conference opened with welcome remarks by Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry , Rector, Lahore School of Economics. In his introductory remarks, Dr Shahid Amjad Chaudhry stated that the key challenges faced by Pakistan’s economy are burgeoning fiscal and current account deficits, inadequate revenue generation, and sluggish economic growth. To address these challenges, the government needs to introduce measures to boost revenue, contain the current account deficit and revive economic growth. Going forward, together with the short-run policy adjustments in the form of monetary tightening, exchange rate adjustment and negotiating a bailout package with IMF to restore market confidence and secure medium to long term funding for balance of payments support, the government needs to introduce comprehensive reforms to promote macroeconomic stability and foster long term sustainable growth.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 3/28/2019 03:42:00 PM,

Lahore School Dean of Faculty of Economics Presents at International Conference hosted by the Federal Bureau of Revenue
February 21, 2019

Dr. Azam Chaudhry, Dean and Professor, Faculty of Economics gave the keynote speech on ‘Taxation and Development’ at the International Conference on Taxation hosted by the Federal Bureau of Revenue in Lahore on February 6th-8th, 2019. Dr. Chaudhry spoke about the role of taxation in development and analyzed the historical tax trends across countries. He also gave policy prescriptions for the optimal taxation structure for Pakistan given cross-country evidence.


The conference provided a forum for national and international academics and experts to deliberate on issues of taxation in Pakistan in an increasingly integrated global system. It focused on international taxation issues of cross border trade, services, investment and exchange of information.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/21/2019 01:43:00 PM,

Dr. Paul Ross Discusses Economic Challenges Facing Pakistan
December 17, 2018

The Lahore School’s Economics Society organised a lecture by Dr. Paul Ross, who was the former IMF Resident Representative to Pakistan. During this seminar, Dr. Paul Ross discussed the major economic challenges facing Pakistan, and how can Pakistan use prudent monetary and fiscal policies to promote economic growth. While discussing the economic challenges faced by Pakistan, he examined the short, medium and long-Term impacts of current policies and how innovative policies can be used to help with the current challenges faced by Pakistan.


Discussing monetary policy, Dr. Ross emphasized that Pakistan should strengthen its SBP independence, tighten its monetary policy and reduce government borrowing from the State Bank of Pakistan. on the fiscal side, Dr. Paul Ross discussed the important of revenue mobilization followed by fiscal expansion focused on long term development.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 12/17/2018 03:09:00 PM,

Management of Pakistan Economy
November 27, 2018

Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved the policy recommendations for a Medium Term Structural Reform Framework of the economy in a meeting of the Economic Advisory Council in Islamabad.

Also here

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 11/27/2018 11:09:00 AM,

Lahore School Annual Conference on Management of Pakistan Economy
March 29, 2018

The Lahore School of Economics Fourteenth International Annual (two days) Conference on Management of the Pakistan Economy concluded today. The second day of the Conference opened with a session determining an industrial strategy and optimal locations for industrial clusters and special economic zones. The session chair was Dr. Mujtaba Paracha (Secretary Industries, Government of the Punjab). Dr. Azam Chaudhry (Professor and Dean of the Economics Faculty, Lahore School of Economics) provided a brief overview of the sessions on industrial policy. The aim of these sessions was to explore the current industrial environment of Punjab to identify synergies and opportunities arising from China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and establishment of special economic zones. 


Dr. Azam Chaudhry proposed a systematic step-wise approach towards the formulation of an effective industrial policy which entailed: (1) identification of the right sectors for targeting, (2) deciding the optimal location of special economic zones and industry specific clusters, (3) maximizing benefits from CPEC related infrastructure development, (4) devising a strategic trade policy that supports industrial policy, (5) determining if lack of borrowing is simply a supply issue or does demand play a role, (6) defining the key role of innovation and technology in an industrial strategy, (7) realizing the importance of women and the environment, and finally (8) widely using firm level data as a key input for drawing coherent policy lessons. Subsequent presenters in following sessions discussed each of these dimensions in greater detail.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 3/29/2018 06:40:00 PM,

Accelerating Economic Growth in Pakistan: Key Macro and Sectoral Drivers
March 28, 2018

Shaheen Naseer

The Lahore School of Economics’ Fourteenth International Annual Conference on Management of the Pakistan Economy started at Burki Campus on the 28 March, 2018. The theme of this year’s Conference is “Accelerating Economic Growth in Pakistan: Key Macro and Sectoral Drivers”. In addition to keynote lectures by renowned international scholars, the conference includes eight sessions highlighting some of the most important areas of research pertinent to Pakistan’s Economy. The regular sessions during the conference feature twenty five papers along with commentary from distinguished economists detailing the cutting edge research centered around macroeconomic stability, poverty, CPEC, industrial strategy, role of trade, change in the financial services industry and agriculture growth in Pakistan.


The conference opened with welcome remarks by Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry (Rector, Lahore School of Economics). He mentioned that the two-day event will include scholarly discourse on key macro and sectoral drivers of economic growth that will generate insights on the short run initiatives as well as structural and institutional measures designed to boost long run economic growth in Pakistan. He remarked that the issues the conference aims to address are very relevant to the challenges confronted by Pakistan’s economy at present. This conference will be an important contribution to the debate over key issues faced by the country and what can be done to address these. Highlighting the conference presentations, Dr. Chaudhry said that the papers on day one of the conference will provide the analytical basis for addressing burning issues faced by the country based on rigorous research on macroeconomic stability, poverty and CPEC. The day two of the conference will feature the industrial strategy, role of trade policy innovation and agriculture sector.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 3/28/2018 06:15:00 PM,

Accelerating Economic Growth in Pakistan: Key Macro and Sectoral Drivers
March 27, 2018

Lahore School of Economics
Fourteenth International Conference on
Management of the Pakistan Economy
Accelerating Economic Growth in Pakistan: Key Macro and Sectoral Drivers
28 – 29 March, 2018

Pakistan’s economy in recent years seems to be improving as measured by conventional indicators  of real economic activity (high growth rate, low inflation rate, rising stock prices, etc.), but there are growing concerns about the sustainability of the improved performance. In the past, Pakistan’s economy has experienced recurring episodes of macroeconomic instability, mainly in the form of unsustainable current account deficits, which have led to an abrupt end to its phases of high economic growth. The most worrying part of these stop-go cycles is that over the years the spurts of growth acceleration have become shorter and less frequent and episodes of low economic growth and stagnation more severe and of longer durations. Since 2000, except for a period of relatively high economic growth from 2003 to 2007, the economy has been marked by slow growth and the more recent upturn in economic growth, which began only in 2016, is once again threatened by a rising current account deficit and falling foreign exchange reserves.


It is well established that Pakistan’s economic problems are primarily structural in nature and farreaching reforms are needed to make the economy more competitive in a global economy. Against this background of lopsided / unsustainable growth, and rising inequality and poverty, it is imperative to assess the economic performance of last two decades in terms of some key sectors of the economy and their impact on aggregate economic activity. In the wake of emerging trends in the global economy, with respect to global finance, capital flows and protectionist tendencies and other geo-political events, it is prudent to look at Pakistan’s economy and identify some key areas of the economy, which can enhance the pace of solid and sustainable growth.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 3/27/2018 10:18:00 AM,

Igniting Technology led Growth in Pakistan: Role of Monetary, Fiscal and Investment Policies - Day 2
March 30, 2017

The Lahore School of Economics Thirteenth International Annual Conference on Management of the Pakistan Economy concluded today. The second day of the Conference opened with a session titled “Openness, Economic Growth and Firm Level Productivity”. The session was chaired by Matthew McCartney (Director of South Asian Studies; Associate Professor in the Political Economy and Human Development of India, University of Oxford, UK).


The session started with the paper titled,“Pakistan’s Experience with the Pakistan-Chine Free Trade Agreement: Lessons for CPEC”. In this paper, Dr. Azam Chaudhry (Professor of Economics at the Lahore School and the Dean of the Economics Faculty) and his co-authors Dr. Theresa Chaudhry (Professor of Economics, Lahore School of Economics) and Nida Jamil (Teaching Fellow, Lahore School of Economics), provided fresh insights on Pakistan’s experience with the Pakistan-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to draw policy related conclusions for CPEC related initiatives. They tested the impact of the last major economic agreement between the two countries, which was the 2006 Pakistan-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The study found a significant impact of this trade agreement on the amount of trade between two countries however it also pointed out its sub optimal consequences in the context of Pakistan’s growth strategy.

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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 3/30/2017 06:30:00 PM,

Lahore School of Economics Annual Conference on Management of Pakistan Economy - Day 1
March 29, 2017

The Lahore School of Economics hosted its Thirteenth International Annual Conference on Management of the Pakistan Economy at its Main Burki Campus on the 29th of March, 2017. The theme of this Conference is “Igniting Technology led growth in Pakistan: Role of Monetary, Fiscal and Investment Policies”. The two-day event will be devoted to discussions on past successes and constraints on technology-led growth and to draw guidance on how macro and micro level policies can contribute to accelerating economic growth in Pakistan.


The conference started with a keynote address by Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry (Rector, Lahore School of Economics) to set the stage for the detailed discussions held at the Conference to explore how monetary, fiscal, investment and governance policies can help ignite Technology Led Growth in Pakistan. He remarked that the issues the Conference aimed to address are very relevant to the issues confronted by Pakistan’s economy at present. He shared his experience as Pakistan’s Advisor on Finance, Revenue, Planning, Economic Affairs and Statistics in the Caretaker Government of 2013. In April 2013 Pakistan was facing a very severe foreign exchange crises and Pakistan’s International reserves had been run down to negligible levels – to about 4 to 5 billion dollars. Both the World Bank and ADB had stopped new adjustment lending to Pakistan and as a result Pakistan was making a net transfer of about $2 billion to these institutions.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 3/29/2017 06:30:00 PM,

Igniting Technology led Growth in Pakistan: Role of Monetary, Fiscal and Investment Policies
March 28, 2017

Lahore School Thirteenth International Conference on
Management of the Pakistan Economy
Igniting Technology led Growth in Pakistan: Role of Monetary,
Fiscal and Investment Policies

29-30 March, 2017


Abstracts: 

Pakistan: How Macro-Micro Interaction Has Resulted in an Undervalued, Underperforming Economy

Dr. Rashid Amjad, Lahore School of Economics

As Pakistan attempts to reignite its economy and move towards sustained higher growth, it must overcome the binding constraints that have been responsible for the prolonged recession of the last decade. These factors have lowered the country’s average growth rate over the last 30 years, compared to a more robust average growth rate of 6 percent in the past. This paper argues that one must analyze macro-micro interaction to understand the dynamics of economic growth – including the prolonged and increasingly frequent downturns that have left Pakistan with an undervalued, underperforming economy. Only then can policymakers frame appropriate policies to create an enabling macroeconomic environment in which firms and other economic agents can help propel the economy onto a higher growth plane.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 3/28/2017 10:41:00 AM,

Lahore School of Economics Annual Conference on Management of Pakistan Economy
April 13, 2016

Hanns Pichler

Let me first of all wholeheartedly congratulate on a well run conference [on Management of Pakistan Economy] of both scientific and empirical high standards in terms of research, topical contents and style of professional presentation.


As rightly mentioned in the wrap-up to the conference,“ the quality of contributions on part of the, younger generation“ of researchers was particularly notable and a truly encouraging sign of visible scientific advancement over the years the Lahore School of Economics and its staff can be proud of! Quite impressive and enjoyable also, by the way, the sovereignty of the speakers in delivering their papers, demonstrating thereby full familiarity with their respective research both topically and methodologically.
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posted by S A J Shirazi @ 4/13/2016 12:34:00 PM,

City Campus

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Lahore, Pakistan.

Phones: 92-42-35714936, 38474385

Fax: 92-42-36560905

Main Campus

Intersection Main Boulevard Phase VI

Burki Road

Lahore, Pakistan.

Phones: 37254099, 37254311


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