World Bank is pushing for more loans to Pakistan despite concerns about debt sustainability

Morning! What was I made for? Apparently not for an Oscar, because Barbie got snubbed while Ken scored a nomination in the Best Supporting Actor Category for the Oscars 2024. Turns out, Ken was more than "Kenough."

In this week’s edition:

⛩️ China Vs Japan

🏛️ WB is giving out $425 million

💂 AI feat. military

📝 Find out how underpaid you are with the 2023 salary survey

- The Itla Squad 💼

Business

Global 🌎️

P&G’s skincare product facing skin-deep troubles

Procter & Gamble had a tough time as sales for its premium skincare brand, SK-II, fell by 34% in China during the latest quarter. While the main issues were high prices and a reliance on travel sales due to China's slower economic recovery, there was also a new unexpected factor.

Unexpected hit: SK-II's troubles weren't just economic; anti-Japanese sentiment was fueled by a specific incident.

• In August, Japan released treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, causing strong backlash from neighboring countries, particularly China.

• The release of radioactive water led China to ban Japanese seafood. This triggered Chinese consumers to boycott Japanese brands, fearing radiation.

P&G’s response: P&G, along with other companies, issued statements reassuring consumers about the safety of their products to ease worries and protect the brand's image.

Zooming out: Surprisingly, P&G's shares went up 4% after reporting earnings that beat Wall Street's estimates. However, quarterly sales were below expectations but investors didn’t seem to be worried about it much.

TLDR: Procter & Gamble faced a setback with a 34% decline in SK-II sales in China due to high prices and travel sales' dependence on China's slow economic recovery. Anti-Japanese sentiment, fueled by Japan's release of treated radioactive water, further impacted SK-II sales. Despite lower quarterly sales, P&G's shares rose 4%, reflecting investor confidence in the company's resilience.

What else is new in news

✶Put a pause on your master/job applications to Canada as the country is putting a two-year limit on international student visas to ease up the strain on housing, healthcare, and other services, especially with the record number of people moving in. With a 35% reduction in new study visas in 2024, it's a significant move. Last year, they handed out nearly 560,000 visas, but the cap for the next two years is set at 364,000.

Local 🇵🇰

WB is giving out $425 million

The World Bank is throwing in $425 million to back up microfinance banks and social projects in Pakistan, including the well-known Benazir Income Support Programme.

What the World Bank wants to support:

• CRISP is getting an extra $250 million to keep the Crisis-Resilient Social Protection Programme going strong, aimed at supporting social protection during tough times for poor households.

• RAMP is snagging $175 million for the Resilient and Accessible Microfinance Programme, to give the microfinance sector a boost in access and resilience.

The Finance Minister Response: Dr. Akhtar, the Caretaker Finance Minister, is a bit iffy about taking up more loans for microfinance, especially since the country is already juggling challenges with public debt sustainability.

• Thumbs up for more cash in CRISP, pending some formalities in the next meeting.

• But when it comes to RAMP, there's a bit of side-eye. The Finance Minister wants more tweaking and is suggesting we look into local resources.

Zooming out: There's talk about the growing public debt due to microfinance loans, and some folks are throwing out the idea of supporting these moves with our resources instead of piling up foreign loans.

TLDR: The World Bank is giving $425 million to support microfinance and social protection programs in Pakistan. Finance Minister approves more for CRISP, but has reservations about RAMP, suggesting local resource exploration. Overall concerns about rising public debt, prompted suggestions to use local resources instead of foreign loans.

News Flash

✶The border between Pakistan and Afghanistan at Torkham, which was closed for 10 days, is now open again. It closed because Pakistan started asking Afghan truck drivers for passports and visas, which led to a ban on Pakistani truckers by the Afghan Taliban.

Tech

Global 🌎️

OpenAI: Only $$$ can fix me now

Remember when you'd sneakily tiptoe around your kitchen at midnight, guiltily opening the fridge for some ice cream/chocolate/the-good-things-in-life, even though you promised yourself you were cutting down on sugar? OpenAI did the same, but with AI and guns in the mix. We'll explain.

What happened: Until January 10, OpenAI's policy was pretty straightforward – it included a ban on military applications, specifically mentioning "weapons development" and "military and warfare."The updated policy, however, still insists you can't "use our service to harm yourself or others" and throws in "develop or use weapons" as an example. But the explicit ban on military use? 💨 Poof! It's gone.

What OpenAI said:

• OpenAI claims they just wanted to make their policy page "clearer" and "more readable."

• The company's spokesperson, Niko Felix, says they aimed for universal principles, making it easy for everyday users globally.

• Felix declined to specify if the broader "harm" ban includes all military use but mentioned disallowing technology use for developing or using weapons. Convenient. 

What experts say: Lucy Suchman, an expert in anthropology and tech, says that OpenAI's shift to talking about "weapons" rather than "military and warfare" opens a backdoor. It's like saying, "We won't make weapons, but we'll help you with everything else military-related." This is especially relevant when OpenAI hinted at pursuing "national security use cases" aligned with its mission, including a collaboration with US’s DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) on cybersecurity tools.

TLDR: OpenAI quietly revised its policy, removing a clear ban on military use until January 10. The updated policy now emphasizes not using the service to cause harm but avoids explicit mentions of military applications. OpenAI claims it's for clarity, but experts express concerns, seeing a potential loophole in assisting military-related activities.

What else is new in news

✶EU users will soon have the ability to separate their Instagram and Facebook accounts, along with other Meta services, due to the new Digital Markets Act (DMA) taking effect in March. For example, users can use Facebook Messenger as a standalone service without requiring a Facebook account.

Local 🇵🇰 

You can now find out how underpaid or extremely underpaid you are!!

Want to walk confidently into that salary negotiation? Minerva Pakistan just released its 2023 salary survey report for software industry professionals, finally giving us a peek behind the salary curtain.

The survey: It is based on responses from 1,200 individuals and is like a guidebook for employers to check if they're keeping up with the salary game and for us professionals to still go to the same office, only now with the realization of how grossly underpaid we are 🤷‍♀️.

Survey tea time ☕: What’s hot? What’s not?

• Feeling underpaid: About half of the people who took the survey feel like they’re not making enough money.

• Remote work perks: If you’re working in your PJs from home, you’re probably making 75% more money than your friends who still go to the office.

• Gender pay gap: Probably the most depressing chart in the survey: both genders start with similar paychecks, but as the work years pile up, men end up with over 40% fatter paychecks than women.

• Equity is king: Employees with equity as part of their compensation package tend to have higher average salaries.

• City-wise trend: Professionals based in Lahore top the salary charts among the three major cities, with an average salary of PKR 246,096. while Karachi shows a comparatively lower average salary at PKR 180,668.

• Top earning graduates: Graduates from GIKI, IBA, LUMS, and FAST are reported as the highest-paid, with those from COMSATS, NUST, and Habib University following closely.

TLDR: Minerva Pakistan's 2023 salary survey reveals key insights for the software industry. Covering 1,200 responses, it touches on underpayment concerns, remote work advantages, and gender pay disparities. Lahore stands out in city-wise earnings, and graduates from top institutions command higher salaries.

Tech tour of news

✶TikTok revealed initiatives to tackle misinformation, violence, and hate speech, aiming to maintain "election integrity" in Pakistan as the nation gears up for the polls on Feb. 8. The platform is taking steps to counter fake news and AI-driven disinformation.

More interesting Itla (اطلاع) we consumed (Readers’ Version):