South Asia Investor Review

Recent heat-sensing satellite images of Lahore posted by NASA show that "green spaces such as wooded areas, grassy areas, parks, and farm fields were significantly cooler than densely developed areas".  NASA experts explain it as follows: Vegetation and bodies of water do not absorb and re-emit heat as easily as common building materials such as concrete, asphalt, and steel. Lahore Vegetation (Left) and Surface Temp (Right). Source: NASA A NASA post titled " Beating the Heat in Pakistan " says that "Differences in surface temperatures between developed and natural areas, known as surface urban heat islands, tend to be more pronounced than temperature differences associated with atmospheric heat islands, particularly during the daytime".    “Surface urban heat islands exacerbate air temperatures by trapping heat and releasing it slowly, especially at night,” explained Muhammad Nasar-u-Minallah, a geographer at the University of the Punjab in Lahore. “The la...

Pakistan's journey to build a digital public infrastructure (DPI) began in March 2000 with the establishment of NADRA, the National Database and Registration Authority. The Gates Foundation defines DPI as follows: "DPI is a digital network that enables countries to safely and efficiently deliver economic opportunities and social services to all residents. DPI can be compared to roads, which form a physical network that connects people and provides access to a huge range of goods and services...... strong DPI has three foundational systems—identity, payments, and data exchange—that together can make life easier in important ways".  Digital Public Infrastructure. Source: World Economic Forum Transformational Impact: An article recently published on the World Economic Forum  website  sheds light on how Pakistan's digital public infrastructure is  transforming lives  in rural Pakistan. Here's how it begins:  "On a scorching day with temperatures soaring to 42 d...

Last few months have seen a grotesque display of obscene wealth in India, a country with well-documented levels of extreme  poverty ,  hunger  and  unemployment . Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani has splurged hundreds of millions of dollars on his son's wedding attended by top politicians including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities and Ambani's fellow billionaires who have accumulated vast amounts of wealth in one of the world's most unequal countries.  Experts blame it on Mr. Modi's policies promoting crony capitalism.  Viral Acharya, former deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India, told the  BBC  that their ability to acquire large distressed companies, a growing appetite for mergers and acquisitions, and India's conscious industrial policy of creating "national champions via preferential allocation of projects and in some cases regulatory agencies turning a blind eye to predatory pricing". Indian Prime Minister M...

Falling solar panel prices and soaring rates for grid electricity are driving a renewable power boom in Pakistan. A second factor spurring the growth in clean energy installations is the requirement of major western apparel brands for garments and textile manufacturers to switch to  clean energy . As a result, the solar panel imports in the country jumped from 2,800 MW in 2022 to 5,000 MW in 2023, in spite of stringent import controls imposed by the government. Solar imports are on track to reach 12,000 MW in 2024, according to solar installers. The total current installed generation capacity in Pakistan is around 40,000 MW. Grid electricity demand in Pakistan plunged in 2023 by nearly a sixth and a decline in 2024 would mark the first time in 16 years that annual electricity use has fallen consecutively, data from energy think tank Ember showed, according to  Reuters . Pakistan Solar Panel Imports. Source: PV Magazine Omar Malik, the CEO of Shams Power, a major solar system c...

Pakistan's KSE-100 shares index topped 80,000 points on Wednesday as stocks climbed more than 600 points, making it the world's best performing stock market. The benchmark KSE-100 index has posted an annual return of 89% during FY24 (July 2023-June 2024) in PKR terms while in US dollar terms, the return was 94%, as the Pakistani rupee appreciated against the US dollar, according to  Pakistani media  reports.  This outstanding market performance is generally being seen as a consequence of a series of unpopular decisions  by the military-backed government of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to carry out economic reforms to win the IMF support.  Pakistani Stock Market Outperforms Asian Peers. Source: Bloomberg Specifically, some analysts attribute the record increase in Pakistani share prices to multiple factors, ranging from the government's investor-friendly budget to the expectation of closing a longer term  IMF deal . Others believe the relatively low price-e...