opinion writing:

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• The case against technocrats. December 19th, 2022. Dawn.
• Pakistan is on the brink again. December 12, 2022. The News.
• How to break the IMF cycle. August 31, 2022. The News.
• What does this budget mean? June 11, 2022. The News
• Reform or perish. June 09, 2022. The News.
• Action, curtains, repeat. April 2022. The News.
• Landlords Inc. November, 2020. Dawn.
• Why Pakistan’s new plan to fix the bureaucracy won’t work, Sep 2020. Dawn. (with Sameen Mohsin).
• Sugar and the making of a rentier economy, May 2020. Express Tribune. (with Adeel Malik).
• Pakistan’s urban transition, Nov 2019. Dawn. 
• So, what comes after the IMF?, Sep, 2019. Dawn.
• Has Punjab just taken a step towards unlocking the potential of its cities?, Aug 2019. Dawn.
• How do you pay for a programme like PTI’s Ehsas?, July 2019. Dawn.
• Are insecure property rights holding back Pakistan’s economy?, Aug 2019. Dawn.
• Why Pakistan will go to the IMF again, and again and again, Oct 2018. Dawn.
• Imran Khan envisions a Pakistani welfare state. Is it possible?, Aug 2018. Dawn.
• Reforming Pakistan’s tax system: Evidence-based suggestions, Dec 2018. IGC
• For too long, Pakistani schools have been a means to provide jobs, rather than education, June 2017. The Guardian.

in media (selected)

Pakistan needs immediate humanitarian aid + support in the reconstruction program that could cost upwards of $10b.

This requires substantial external support and relaxing conditions of the current IMF program.

clip from my chat with @MaryamNemazee last night: pic.twitter.com/7d3iSKs7kH

— shahrukh wani (@ShahrukhWani) September 12, 2022

• After record floods, now Pakistan has to worry about economy. Al Jazeera. Quote. 7th Sep 2022.
• Are catastrophic floods Pakistan’s new normal? Al Jazeera. Quote. 1st Sep 2022.
• Pakistan on the brink. Financial Times. Quote. 4th May 2022.
• Pakistan and IMF to meet over release of funds as economy falters. Agence France-Presse. Quote. 18th May 2022.
• On Pakistan’s 2022 economic crises. Television interview. Dawn News. 12th May 2022.
• On the end of Imran Khan’s administration. Quote. Aljazeera English. 10 Apr 2022.
• On Pakistan’s COVID19 response, Television Interview. Dawn News. June, 27 2020.
• On Pakistan’s social spending push, Newspaper Interview. Arab News. Jan, 26 2020.
• On Imran Khan’s first year in office, Interview. BBC Urdu. Aug, 16 2019.
• On décentralisation in Pakistan, Television Interview. Dawn News. May 10, 2019
• On the IMF program in Pakistan, Television Interview. Dawn News.May 13 2019.
• On Pakistan’s annual budget. Newspaper Interview. Dawn. Sep, 9 2018.
• On urban governance in Pakistan. Television Interview. Indus News. May, 16 2019.

Podcasts etc.

• On Pakistan’s budget and the need for economic reforms. The Pakistan Experience. Video Podcast. June 13th 2022.
• Rupee’s Decline and Risks of Default in Pakistan. Pakistonomy. Video Podcast. Aug 4th 2022.
• On taxation in Karachi. Pakistonomy. Video Podcast. Oct 29 2020
• On urbanisation in Pakistan. Pakistan@100 by World Bank and LUMS.
• Interview by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics on property taxation, 2019.