South Asia Investor Review

Speaking with Fareed Zakaria on US cable news network CNN, former US Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers told Zakaria's audience that "if the US had handled the pandemic as well as Pakistan,  we would have saved around $10 trillion ".  Ex US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers Praised Pakistan on CNN After similar praise of Pakistan's handling of coronavirus by Bill Gates on CNN GPS show, this was yet another rebuke of Fareed Zakaria who never misses any opportunity to disparage Pakistan. It reminds us all  how wrong headed is his earlier statement that Pakistan "has done almost nothing as far as I can tell, you know, infections are not going crazy, death rates are not going crazy, there may be some underreporting" Below I am reproducing a post I wrote on this subject on August 12, 2020:  Interviewing Bill Gates on global fight against COVID19,  CNN GPS  host Fareed Zakaria said on Sunday August 9 that Pakistan "has done almost nothing as far as I ...

Global food prices are soaring by double digits amid the  coronavirus pandemic , according to Bloomberg News. Bloomberg Agriculture Subindex, a measure of key farm goods futures contracts, is up almost 20% since June. It may in part be driven by  speculators in the commodities markets . These rapid price rises are hitting the people in Pakistan and the rest of the world hard.  In spite of these hikes, Pakistan remains among the least expensive places for food, according recent studies. It is important for Pakistan's federal and provincial governments to rise up to the challenge and relieve the pain inflicted on the average Pakistani consumer.   Global Agricultural Futures Contracts. Source: Bloomberg Global Food Prices: Global food prices are increasing at least partly due to several nations buying basic food commodities to boost their strategic reserves in the midst of the pandemic.  A Bloomberg News report says that "agricultural commodity buyers from Cai...

 الطُّهُورُ شَطْرُ الإِيمَانِ” – “Cleanliness is half the faith [Sahih Muslim Hadith]   India is setting new global records in daily COVID19 cases while neighboring Pakistan has seen an unrelenting  decline in coronavirus cases  in recent weeks. This is happening in spite of the fact that both nations have taken similar measures on paper to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Both have imposed lockdowns. Both have required people to wear face masks in public. Both share similar climates, demographics and socioeconomic conditions. Then why this difference? Is it in the implementation of such measures? Or the fact that people in Muslim-majority Pakistan wash their hands before prayers much more often everyday with or  without soap , a hygiene practice highly recommended by public health experts during the pandemic? Or could it be that fewer women in Pakistan participate in the work force?  Let's examine this difference. Muslim Wudu I...

CNN GPS host Fareed Zakaria is known to be among the loudest cheerleaders for India and a  sharp critic of Pakistan . While he still refuses to say anything that could even remotely be considered positive about Pakistan, it seems that he is souring on his native India. Fareed Zakaria Speaking with Indian journalist Shekhar Gupta on  The Print YouTube  channel, Fareed Zakaria called the Indian state an “inefficient state”.“Indian government functions very poorly, even in comparison to other developing countries. Coronavirus has highlighted that reality, " he added. He did not clearly speak about the  lynchings of Indian Muslims  by people affiliated with the ruling BJP and the brutality of Indian military  against Kashmiri Muslims , but he did ask: “What I wonder about (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi is, is he really bringing all of India along with him? He noted sadly:”India seems like roadkill for China". Has New Delhi's abject failure in containin...

Interviewing Bill Gates on global fight against COVID19, CNN GPS host Fareed Zakaria said on Sunday August 9 that Pakistan "has done almost nothing as far as I can tell, you know, infections are not going crazy, death rates are not going crazy, there may be some underreporting". Needless to say, Zakaria's claim is debunked by "Government Response Stringency Index" and Google Mobility Reports which Bill Gates   is clearly aware of.  So he ignored Zakaria's claim and responded as follows:"Pakistan had a pretty bad peak in Karachi but those numbers have come down and now they look like Europe. India is still sadly in growth phase as is South America...in Africa South Africa is top...in the rest of Africa we've been funding a lot of testing because it's a bit opaque..what goes on in the lungs..you are more exposed to indoor and outdoor particulates even at younger ages you can get disease compared to let's say a rich country" CNN GPS A...

On Pakistan's 73rd Independence Anniversary, the people of the South Asian nation have demonstrated their resilience yet again. They have defied all foreign and domestic doomsayers, including media, activists and think tanks of all varieties. Pakistan has successfully  fought off the deadly COVID19 virus  and begun to bounce back economically. Moody's rating agency has raised Pakistan's economic outlook from "under review for downgrade" to "stable". Pakistan's Planning Minister Asad Umar is talking of a " V-shaped recovery ". Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) is recovering. Monthly cement sales have rebounded to the pre-pandemic level, fertilizers sales are setting records, fuel sales have increased, tax collection is up,  exports are rising and the Karachi stock market is booming again. Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa have been on the same page in tackling the health and economic crises faced by Pakistan. C...

Pakistan has seen a rapid decline in its COVID19  test positivity rate s over the last several weeks. The country has seen a fall in positivity rate from over 22% in June to below 10% now, and excluding Sindh, near 5% for the rest of the country. Neighboring India has positivity rate at 12.1% and rising.  There has been significant decline in hospitalizations and fewer patients in critical care.  Pakistanis need to continue to take all precautions during Eid ul Azha holidays, including wearing face masks, to ensure that COVID19 fades out in the country. Test Positivity Rate:  There has been a significant fall in coronavirus test positivity rate from over 22% in June to below 10% now, and excluding Sindh, near 5% for the rest of the country. Neighboring India has positivity rate at 12.1% and rising. Test Positivity Rates in India and Pakistan. Source: Our World in Data Biweekly Death Rates:  Pakistan has seen 38% decline in biweekly deaths while...

Percentage of people in Pakistan testing positive for coronavirus is going down along with declining deaths, according to data from multiple independent sources. The effective transmission rate Rt continues to be less than one, indicating that each infected person is infecting fewer than one person, according to data from London's Imperial College. However, this is no time to relax. Pakistanis need to continue to take all precautions, including wearing face masks, to ensure that COVID19 fades out in the country. COVID19 Effective Reproductive Rate. Source: Imperial College, London, UK Pakistan's coronavirus transmission rate of less than 1.0 is among the lowest in its region. Neighboring India's Rt is 1.2, Iran's 1.12 and Bangladesh 1.05 are all significantly higher than Pakistan's 0.74. P ositive Test Rate Declines to 12.7% From Peak of 22.4% on June 4, 2020 Seven-day rolling average of people testing positive for COVID19 is at 12.7% now, down fro...