Pakistan keeps becoming strategically important, but its institutions struggle to convert geopolitical value into permanent economic strength. The Makkah defence agreement reflects Pakistan’s rising geopolitical value, while continuing IMF obligations expose a harder challenge: converting strategic importance into lasting economic and institutional power. A few days ago, I placed two documents beside each other on my screen in Karachi. One concerned the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement linking Pakistan with Saudi Arabia and Türkiye. The other came from the IMF and showed Pakistan still carrying billions of SDRs in outstanding Fund credit. Pakistan's Conversion Gap appeared in the space between them. The documents measure different things. I would never use IMF borrowing to deny Pakistan's military capability, nor does a defence agreement tell me whether an economy can finance itself. Their coexistence raises a harder question: why has Pakistan repeatedly acquired extraordinary...
Mastercard Automatic Billing Updater: Why Replacing Your Credit Card May Not Stop Unauthorized Recurring Debits in Pakistan
Mastercard Automatic Billing Updater can allow recurring payment credentials to continue after a credit card is replaced, raising important questions for Pakistani cardholders dealing with disputed or unauthorized charges. I stared at the banking notification longer than I should have. The card linked to the earlier disputed transaction no longer existed. I had reported the problem, cancelled the card, and received a replacement with a different 16-digit number and expiry date. Yet another charge appeared. For most Pakistani cardholders, the logic seems simple. If someone keeps charging an old credit card, cancel the card and the payment route dies with it. A replacement card should create a clean break. Modern card networks do not always work that way. A system designed to prevent Netflix subscriptions, utility payments and other legitimate recurring transactions from failing can sometimes preserve a merchant's payment relationship even after the bank replaces the physical ca...