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Funding railways, dams from overseas Pakistanis | The Express Tribune

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Funding railways, dams from overseas Pakistanis | The Express Tribune



KARACHI:

The catastrophic floods in Pakistan have left a trail of devastation across our economy, society, and environment. More than 1,700 lives were lost in 2022, with 33 million citizens affected, 2.1 million displaced, and 10% of the country submerged.

Agriculture – the backbone of our exports – was crippled, with farmland, homes, and infrastructure worth up to $40 billion destroyed. Once again in 2025, Punjab’s breadbasket is underwater: over 2,000 villages and thousands of farms submerged, disrupting wheat and cotton output and endangering food security. These recurring tragedies underscore the fragility of our economy in the face of climate change and lack of infrastructure.

No dams, no railways, no growth

Pakistan’s grievance is valid – we contribute less than 0.5% of global CO2 emissions, yet we bear disproportionate climate costs. But blaming the external environment is not enough. Weak urban planning, illegal encroachments, lack of water reservoirs, and ineffective early-warning systems amplified the destruction. We cannot afford to remain reactive; prevention and resilience must become national priorities.

Another equally paralysing challenge has been the decade-long delay in financing Pakistan’s mainline railway from Karachi to Peshawar. In 2013, the then PML-N leadership promised a bullet train. Ambitious, yes – but unrealistic. A 160 km/h modern rail network may lack the glamour of bullet trains, yet it would transform passenger and freight movement, cut travel time, and integrate our economy. The tragedy is not the lack of vision, but the absence of financing to turn the second-best into reality.

Financing the missing link

What is common between flood rehabilitation and railway modernisation – financing. Both are big-ticket projects costing $4-10 billion over five to seven years, requiring more dollars than any IMF bailout can provide.

An IMF programme, after all, is not about dollars from Washington; it is about international endorsement – unlocking bilateral, multilateral, capital market, and friendly-nation financing. Yet, we have boxed ourselves into dependency, forever waiting for others to fund what is existentially important to us.

Your author has consistently argued for crowdfunding infrastructure through Shariah-compliant, dollar-denominated savings instruments. Pakistanis at home and abroad must be given the opportunity to invest directly in their nation’s future. These projects are asset-backed – rail lines, stations, land, bridges – which can be pledged to create Islamic structures attractive to retail savers, high-net-worth individuals, pension funds, and insurers alike. The Roshan Digital Account (RDA) platform is tailor-made for this mobilisation.

Overseas Pakistanis to pour in dollars

As of June 2025, a net $1.4 billion remains outstanding in Naya Pakistan Certificates after maturities. Why stop there? Launch a new instrument – Roshan Pakistan Assets (RPA) or Pakistan Resilience Fund (PRF) – with a 10-year maturity, offering 8.25% return in dollars.

Add non-financial incentives: airline miles, retail discounts, waived passport or NADRA fees, and recognition as eligible collateral for bank loans. Let every Pakistani saver feel that their dollar not only earns but also builds Pakistan.

Do not fear the repayment risk. Already, of the $11 billion gross raised through RDAs, nearly two-thirds has been invested locally, reducing outflow pressure. These funds circulate within Pakistan, for Pakistanis, and are reinvested in our own economy. The greater risk is complacency – rolling over bilateral loans and IMF tranches indefinitely. We must take ownership of our destiny, fund our own resilience, and demand recognition on the global stage not as borrowers, but as builders of our own tomorrow.

The writer is an independent economic analyst



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Australia fuel crisis: Panic buying prompts PM to reassure nation over fuel supply

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Australia fuel crisis: Panic buying prompts PM to reassure nation over fuel supply



Anthony Albanese says nation’s supply remains “secure” amid reports of panic buying and shortages.



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Meta and YouTube found liable in social media addiction trial

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Meta and YouTube found liable in social media addiction trial



A woman has been awarded $6m in a verdict that could have implications for hundreds of other cases in the US.



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Target faces a new boycott over ICE response as retailer presses ahead with turnaround

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Target faces a new boycott over ICE response as retailer presses ahead with turnaround


A major teachers’ union is calling for its members to skip Target when buying back-to-school supplies, the latest twist in a series of boycotts that have targeted the big-box retailer as its turnaround shows signs of life, CNBC has learned.

The AFT, or American Federation of Teachers, passed a resolution Thursday that calls on its 1.8 million members and others to shop at local stores and not at Target, saying the company did not respond adequately to the surge of federal immigration enforcement in the retailer’s hometown of Minneapolis this winter. Federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during the operation.

The labor union, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, plans to urge a similar resolution at AFL-CIO’s convention in Minneapolis this summer and at conventions held by other organizations, including the NAACP and LULAC, AFT President Randi Weingarten said.

Target declined to comment specifically on the AFT’s resolution but said in a statement that it has “a longstanding commitment to strengthening the communities we serve,” including donating 5% of profits since the company’s founding and offering a discount to educators as part of a teacher appreciation program.

Target’s annual sales have declined for the past three years in a row, but the company’s new CEO Michael Fiddelke laid out an ambitious plan earlier this month to refresh its stores, add more enticing merchandise and return to sales growth. The retailer said it expects net sales to rise about 2% this fiscal year compared with the prior year and anticipates sales will grow every quarter.

It is unclear if and how much the AFT’s call for a back-to-school boycott could hurt Target, which is trying to win back customers. Earlier this month, Atlanta area pastor Jamal Harrison Bryant announced the end of a yearlong boycott of the company, called Target Fast, which had started because of the company’s rollback of major diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

At a press conference, Bryant said Target has demonstrated its commitment to the Black community with investments in Black businesses and donations to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Yet other activists leading a separate boycott, including former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, have said they continue to call for shoppers to steer clear of Target.

The AFT previously supported and participated in the Target boycott over its DEI rollback.

The retailer has attributed some of its sales losses to backlash to its DEI decision, along with other factors including company missteps with merchandise, a weaker store experience and softer discretionary spending.

At an investor meeting in Minneapolis in early March, Fiddelke stressed that it’s “a new chapter for Target.” He said the company is “doing the work to build connection with new guests, deepen relationships with existing guests and earn back trust with guests we’ve disappointed.”

In a separate email to Target employees earlier this month, Fiddelke highlighted how the retailer is putting its strategy into action, including through its move to cut prices on more than 3,000 items and the opening of its 2,000th store. He said Target has made progress with winning back trust, too, noting the end of the Target Fast boycott.

He said Target has had “ongoing conversations with the organizers” of the boycott, who have “acknowledged the meaningful contributions Target has made, and will continue to make, to the Black community.”

In an interview with CNBC, Weingarten said the AFT’s boycott is focused on what she called Target’s lack of response to the surge of aggressive and violent immigration enforcement in its own backyard. Weingarten said the AFT sent a letter to Target and met with Target staff to encourage them to speak up before the union moved to pass the resolution.

“Target was negotiating with our colleagues in the civil rights community for weeks and weeks and weeks,” she said. “They could have very easily dealt with both [concerns about DEI and immigration enforcement] and they chose not to.”

She said Target is “more worried about standing with the Trump administration than the communities that made them a profitable company.”

Fiddelke joined dozens of executives from Minnesota-based corporations in co-signing a letter in late January calling for an “immediate de-escalation” in the state after the fatal shooting of Pretti. However, the letter did not name the shooting victims Pretti or Good or call out the president, his immigration policies or federal agents.

Fiddelke also shared a video message with employees that more directly acknowledged current events, but stopped short of calling for ICE agents to leave the city or for accountability in the two shooting deaths.

Weingarten described the CEOs’ letter as “insulting” and said it “basically blamed both sides.”

She said the union, which includes many teachers, can have the greatest financial impact during the back-to-school shopping season this summer and fall. By passing the resolution now, she said, the AFT can get the word out to members and “give Target enough time to come back to its senses.”



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