Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Photo: File ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minister’s Office has issued fresh instructions to finalise currency swap agreements with the European Union (EU), Russia and Iran, in a move that can lessen dollar dependency and integrate trade with regional economies. The agenda of currency swap agreements has been made part of the Ministry…

ISLAMABAD: “At the beginning of a dynasty, taxation yields large revenue from small assessments. At the end, taxation yields small revenue from large assessments” – Ibn Khaldun. Ibn Khaldun wrote these lines centuries ago, long before the arrival of missions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), quarterly review meetings and “mini-budgets”. He nevertheless understood something…