Irfan A. Qureshi

Irfan A. QureshiIrfan A. QureshiIrfan A. Qureshi
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    • Home
    • Curriculum vitae
    • Education
    • OPU Index
    • Policy Writings
    • Research

Irfan A. Qureshi

Irfan A. QureshiIrfan A. QureshiIrfan A. Qureshi
  • Home
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Education
  • OPU Index
  • Policy Writings
  • Research

ADB Blogs

How Pakistan Can Turn Remittances into a Pillar of Economic Growth

Remittances play a crucial role in Pakistan's economy, as a buffer during crises and a potential driver of sustainable growth. By aligning fiscal policies with macroeconomic indicators, Pakistan can maximize the positive impact of remittances on household welfare and long-term economic development.

Strong Institutions Shield Emerging Markets from US Monetary Shocks

The global impact of US monetary policy significantly affects capital flows and credit growth in emerging markets, highlighting the importance of macroeconomic fundamentals and institutional quality in determining resilience during different monetary cycles.

Industrial Policy Is Back: What Does It Mean for Asia and The Pacific?

Industrial Policy Is Back: What Does It Mean for Asia and The Pacific?

Governments around the world are designing and implementing new industrial policies to address economic, security, and environmental concerns. Should policymakers in Asia and the Pacific follow suit?

Coming to Terms with Inflation

Inflation In Asia and the Pacific: The Good, The Bad, And How to Prevent The Ugly

Industrial Policy Is Back: What Does It Mean for Asia and The Pacific?

Inflation has slowly decreased in Asia and the Pacific this year, as global commodity prices have fallen

Inflation In Asia and the Pacific: The Good, The Bad, And How to Prevent The Ugly

Inflation In Asia and the Pacific: The Good, The Bad, And How to Prevent The Ugly

Inflation In Asia and the Pacific: The Good, The Bad, And How to Prevent The Ugly

Inflation in Asia and the Pacific’s developing economies has declined, but the fight may not be over. Underlying price pressures remain persistent, even as growth is weighed down by continued global headwinds. Policymakers can however put in place reforms to promote a low-inflation environment.

Will US Bank Turmoil Spread to Asia?

Inflation In Asia and the Pacific: The Good, The Bad, And How to Prevent The Ugly

Inflation In Asia and the Pacific: The Good, The Bad, And How to Prevent The Ugly

The recent bank turmoil in the US has awakened ghosts of past financial crises. While the likelihood of a fully-fledged crisis seems limited, it cannot be ruled out. Policymakers in the region must act now to shield their economies from possible negative spillovers.

Factories or Call Centers? Asia Charts its Development Path

Factories or Call Centers? Asia Charts its Development Path

Factories or Call Centers? Asia Charts its Development Path

Asia’s industries, primarily manufacturing, fueled phenomenal economic growth and poverty reduction in recent decades. But today many countries are looking to the service sector as an alternative.

Are We on the Brink of a Global Recession?

Factories or Call Centers? Asia Charts its Development Path

Factories or Call Centers? Asia Charts its Development Path

Dark clouds gathering: the risk of major economies slipping into recession is significant.

How Resilient Have Asia’s Economies Been During the Pandemic?

How Resilient Have Asia’s Economies Been During the Pandemic?

How Resilient Have Asia’s Economies Been During the Pandemic?

Asian governments were able to support businesses and maintain connections to global value chains to keep their economies resilient during the pandemic.

How to Manage Rising Prices in Asia?

How Resilient Have Asia’s Economies Been During the Pandemic?

How Resilient Have Asia’s Economies Been During the Pandemic?

Prices are rising in Asia but pro-active measures by governments could help to keep them in check.

Vaccinated Asia is Prospering While Other Countries Struggle

How Resilient Have Asia’s Economies Been During the Pandemic?

Vaccinated Asia is Prospering While Other Countries Struggle

To benefit from the demand for Asian exports, rapid and widespread vaccination – particularly in light of the Omicron variant – is needed to stop the divergence in economic recovery paths among Asia’s economies.

The Pandemic has Left Millions in Asia Struggling for Food

COVID-19 is Boosting Inequality but Government Policies can Help

Vaccinated Asia is Prospering While Other Countries Struggle

COVID-19 has resulted in broad impacts on food security in Asia. Policymakers must respond quickly and aggressively to these challenges to avert long-term damage from this emerging crisis.

Vaccines are Key to Easing Asia’s Lockdowns

COVID-19 is Boosting Inequality but Government Policies can Help

COVID-19 is Boosting Inequality but Government Policies can Help

As new virus outbreaks emerge in developing countries in Asia, vaccines are changing the nature of the pandemic by rendering COVID-19 a much less deadly disease. Governments are responding with milder containment measures.

COVID-19 is Boosting Inequality but Government Policies can Help

COVID-19 is Boosting Inequality but Government Policies can Help

COVID-19 is Boosting Inequality but Government Policies can Help

The pandemic has worsened inequality on many fronts. Pro-active macroeconomic policy combined with labor retraining programs and increased social protection are needed.

In Asia, Education is Key to Maintaining an Edge in Innovation

Does a Healthy Economy Equate with a Healthy and Happy Population?

Does a Healthy Economy Equate with a Healthy and Happy Population?

Compared to Latin America and other regions, Asia scores high on innovation. The reasons are complex but education is fundamental to the process.

Does a Healthy Economy Equate with a Healthy and Happy Population?

Does a Healthy Economy Equate with a Healthy and Happy Population?

Does a Healthy Economy Equate with a Healthy and Happy Population?

Wellness provides a more balanced and holistic view of a country’s development than its per capita gross domestic product. A new tool is helping policymakers measure wellness in society. 

How the COVID-19 Crisis Can Spur Economic Transformation

Does a Healthy Economy Equate with a Healthy and Happy Population?

How the COVID-19 Crisis Can Spur Economic Transformation

The pandemic represents a severe challenge for policymakers in Asia. They need a response that will help economies achieve a more efficient and fairer allocation of resources in the economy, enhancing productivity, economic growth and employment.

COVID-19: How Quickly Can Asia Bounce Back?

Plugging Into Contactless Payment in Post-COVID Asia

How the COVID-19 Crisis Can Spur Economic Transformation

The pandemic is challenging policymakers across Asia. The shape of the economic recovery is uncertain but pro-active government and central bank policies can improve outcomes.

Wellness in Worrying Times

Plugging Into Contactless Payment in Post-COVID Asia

Plugging Into Contactless Payment in Post-COVID Asia

Policies that promote wellness can help Asians navigate the uncertain, stressful COVID-19 world and achieve a better post-pandemic lifestyle.

Plugging Into Contactless Payment in Post-COVID Asia

Plugging Into Contactless Payment in Post-COVID Asia

Plugging Into Contactless Payment in Post-COVID Asia

Asian economies must strengthen their regulatory frameworks, and invest in digital networks and infrastructure, to support contactless payment systems.

Protecting the Remittance Lifeline from COVID-19’s Economic Fallout

Protecting the Remittance Lifeline from COVID-19’s Economic Fallout

Protecting the Remittance Lifeline from COVID-19’s Economic Fallout

Families throughout Asia and the Pacific rely on money sent by relatives overseas. These remittances are threatened by the pandemic but policy actions can help.

Five Steps for Countries to Become Innovation Leaders

Protecting the Remittance Lifeline from COVID-19’s Economic Fallout

Protecting the Remittance Lifeline from COVID-19’s Economic Fallout

The right policies can bring a new golden age of innovation for developing countries in Asia.

The Right Policies Can Help Manage Foreign Debt in Asia

Protecting the Remittance Lifeline from COVID-19’s Economic Fallout

The Right Policies Can Help Manage Foreign Debt in Asia

A high level of external debt is linked with decreased economic growth but there are policy options that can help economies keep growing.

Money Rules

Trade Policy Uncertainty is at All-Time Highs—And That’s Bad News

The Right Policies Can Help Manage Foreign Debt in Asia

A rules-based approach to monetary policy needs to be part of any discussion involving central bank policy.

The Impact of Financial Innovation on Monetary Policy

Trade Policy Uncertainty is at All-Time Highs—And That’s Bad News

Trade Policy Uncertainty is at All-Time Highs—And That’s Bad News

Central banks have powerful tools to affect national economies but they are being challenged by innovative financial practices

Trade Policy Uncertainty is at All-Time Highs—And That’s Bad News

Trade Policy Uncertainty is at All-Time Highs—And That’s Bad News

Trade Policy Uncertainty is at All-Time Highs—And That’s Bad News

After 500 days of trade conflict, policy uncertainty is growing worldwide and the negative effects are being felt.

Read All About It: How Big News Events Can Roil Asian Currencies

Read All About It: How Big News Events Can Roil Asian Currencies

Read All About It: How Big News Events Can Roil Asian Currencies

Major news events, as well as monetary policy uncertainties in the United States, have a significant impact on Asian currencies, but not in the way that some might expect. 

OP-ED

Understanding Pakistan’s boom-bust cycle

Understanding Pakistan’s boom-bust cycle

Understanding Pakistan’s boom-bust cycle

Historical data reveals that Pakistan’s GDP exhibits booms followed by sharp busts. In a now-familiar pattern, periods of high economic growth (booms) have almost always led to a widening of the trade deficit and an increase in foreign liabilities.

A looming fiscal crisis?

Understanding Pakistan’s boom-bust cycle

Understanding Pakistan’s boom-bust cycle

THE centrality of fiscal policy in growth and development cannot be overstated. The government, through its taxation and spending instruments, has the ability to ensure an equitable economic growth.

Looking beyond vote-grabbing initiatives

Understanding Pakistan’s boom-bust cycle

Investment, crowding out and government role

The government's analysis raises some serious misgivings, divulging somewhat ambiguous and faulty priorities.

Investment, crowding out and government role

Investment, crowding out and government role

Investment, crowding out and government role

Private sector investment has been declining at an alarming rate from an annual average of 13pc of GDP for 2001-09 to less than 10pc since 2009.

When the facts change, I change my mind

Investment, crowding out and government role

When the facts change, I change my mind

Pakistan can achieve potential growth in next 1-2 years if it undertakes critical reforms delayed by successive govts

Undermining the SBP’s independence

Investment, crowding out and government role

When the facts change, I change my mind

The finance minister, announcing the monetary policy, raises serious questions related to SBP’s current operations

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