Dwindling Reserves.

While the government is embroiled in its political conflict with PTI, the news that the State Bank saw a drop in reserves by $72 million slipped under the radar. The total remaining amount is currently $4.31 billion, which means that the clock is still ticking for the government to find avenues of funding or risk a default. The most obvious source of revenue to plug up the reserves is, of course, the IMF programme, but a year from when the government first came into power and promised a resumption of the programme, we are yet to see any progress.

While agreements such as the one with Tehran to open a border market are positive and bode well for regional trade, much more is needed to steer us out of the current crisis. Regional trade is important, but with local industry struggling to meet production targets due to the ban on raw material imports, there are precious few avenues for export and increasing foreign exchange as a result.

Remittances have also thinned out, increasing the shortfall of foreign currency in the domestic market. With the political drama unfolding the way it has...