PR’s record earnings collide with safety fears
Pakistan Railways (PR) is celebrating record passenger revenues, but a string of recent derailments is raising uncomfortable questions about whether financial gains are outpacing safety reforms on the ground.
The department earned Rs110 million on the first day of Eid, Rs170 million on the second and more than Rs200 million on the third, taking total passenger revenue for the week beyond Rs1 billion. The surge comes as the government pushes to lift overall earnings past Rs100 billion in FY26, following estimated revenue of Rs93 billion in FY25.
Yet, on the very first day after Eid holidays, a Karachi-bound train, Tezgam, derailed, leaving revenue generation behind and putting safety concerns first in the mind of the general public, as behind the strong numbers now lies growing unease among passengers, one that revenue figures alone cannot settle.
FBR misses tax target by Rs610bn
The federal government has missed the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-dictated tax target by a wide margin of Rs610 billion, partly because of the Middle East conflict, as it could hardly pool Rs9.3 trillion during the first nine months of the current fiscal year. The continued widening of tax shortfall against the budget and IMF’s targets comes following the lender’s refusal to grant any further relaxation in the annual goal. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) received a little over Rs9.3 trillion in taxes for the July-March period of fiscal year 2025-26. There was a shortfall of about Rs610 billion compared to the target. The IMF has already refused to further slash the annual target of Rs13.98 trillion.
Government mulls Rs31b spending on wheat stocks
Pakistan’s economic managers have underscored the need for maintaining strategic reserves of wheat with an expenditure of Rs31 billion to ward off the threat posed by the Middle East conflict to the country’s food security. In addition to building the wheat buffer, they have also proposed incentives for wheat farmers to encourage them to invest in local plantations and reduce the need for imports. During discussions in a recent meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), the Ministry of National Food Security and Research presented the wheat stock position in provinces and at the federal level and called for procuring the commodity to keep strategic reserves to meet future consumption needs, particularly in line with the National Wheat Policy.
Development partners continue to emphasise robust project preparation
While development partners continue to emphasise robust project preparation as the foundation for sustainable urban infrastructure, experts argue that Pakistan’s deeper challenge lies in weak urban governance, which continues to derail implementation on the ground.
With rapid urbanisation and population growth placing mounting pressure on infrastructure and public services, particularly in major cities, Pakistan faces a widening gap between planning and execution. According to global estimates, the country confronts an infrastructure investment shortfall of around $125 billion between 2016 and 2040 across critical sectors such as energy, transport and water. This persistent deficit is estimated to cost the economy between 4 percent and 6 percent of gross domestic product annually, underscoring the scale of the challenge. However, urban planning experts caution that these gains remain fragile without parallel improvements in governance frameworks.
“From an urban planning perspective, the main issue is that development projects in Pakistan are treated as engineering projects, whereas they are fundamentally urban governance projects,” said M Toheed, an urban planner affiliated with the Institute of Business Administration (IBA).
Industrial tariff reform plan under consideration
The Power Division is considering the introduction of a new optional tariff mechanism for industrial consumers, aimed at improving electricity utilisation efficiency and enabling cost-reflective pricing based on time-of-use consumption patterns.
According to an official statement issued on Wednesday, the proposal is being developed under the direction of Federal Minister for Power Division Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, with several internal consultative and technical meetings already held to shape the framework.
Under the proposed model, industrial consumers will have the option to adopt a multi-slab tariff structure, where electricity pricing is linked to average marginal cost signals across defined time-of-use slabs. The approach is intended to better reflect the actual cost of electricity supply during different periods of demand.
Government vows to maintain fertiliser market stability
Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain has reaffirmed the commitment to ensuring an uninterrupted supply of fertilisers as the government is closely monitoring both domestic and global developments to safeguard farmers’ interests and maintain market stability.
In a meeting of the Fertiliser Review Committee held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of the food security minister, it was emphasised that agriculture, which contributes about 19-20 percent to Pakistan’s GDP and employs 37-38 percent of the workforce, holds a central position in the national economy.
Meeting participants reviewed the demand and supply situation of urea and di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) for the Rabi 2025-26 sowing season and forecasts for Kharif 2026.
They expressed satisfaction that the fertiliser sector was maintaining a strong balance between demand and supply. During Rabi 2025-26, urea availability exceeded demand, which allowed uninterrupted plantations of wheat and other crops, while DAP supply was also sufficient to meet farmers’ needs. Provinces reported improvements in agricultural activity, reflecting better crop economics and seasonal demand.