ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government faces mounting pressure as rising prices and tough austerity policies under Pakistan’s latest bailout from the International Monetary Fund are squeezing the middle class that helped carry it to power.
Rashid Mehmood owns a small shop selling children’s clothing in Aabpara, the oldest market in the capital, Islamabad. He says he has faced a critical decline in sales over the past year, pointing to Khan’s election last August.
The last six months had been “particularly harsh”, he said.
“Do you see any customers coming into my store?” he asked as he stood in his empty shop, decorated with brightly colored leggings and dresses.
He said had not made a sale in a week.
In normal times, Mehmood’s store serves the kind of middle-class shoppers who in recent years have been behind an import-led consumption splurge that propped up growth and helped hide the problems of an economy riddled with inefficiency and without a strong export base.
Fed by low-interest rates, heavy borrowing and an over-valued rupee currency that, for a time at least, allowed imports to pour in, consumption gave an illusion of growth that has now been replaced by a severe economic hangover.
Like so many of its predecessors, Khan’s government, which came to power vowing to root out corruption and create millions of jobs, has been forced to turn to the IMF to prevent a balance-of-payments crisis as the money runs out.
Economic growth, which reached 5.5% in the fiscal year to June 2018, is expected to slow to 2.4% this financial year, according to IMF estimates, barely enough to keep pace with the growth in a population that now numbers 208 million.
The rupee has lost about a quarter of its value in a slide that has driven up fuel costs and helped push a relentless increase in prices for food and other necessities.
The central bank, which this week raised interest rates to 13.25%, expects inflation to average as much as 12% this year.
As ever, the poorest have been hit hardest. But the squeeze on middle-income households poses a special challenge for Khan, who has enjoyed wide support among an urban middle class that has grown over the past two decades as poverty levels have come down from two thirds of the population to about a quarter.
Further along in Aabpara market, Abida Jahan has come with her family from Haripur town, a couple of hours drive away, after the food-processing factory her husband worked in was shut down. They are looking for a gift to celebrate their daughter’s 13th birthday.
However, the surge in prices has meant that they will likely go home empty handed.
“This is the same government that promised to decrease oil prices to 45 rupees,” says Abida’s husband, recalling that Khan’s PTI party had promised to halve the price of fuel and build a new welfare state.
SHOPPING MALLS
Pakistan’s growing middle class has helped reshape its urban landscape, symbolizing a promise of upward mobility.
Shopping malls with foreign retail brands and fast-food franchises have proliferated in recent years, serving a middle class who “define themselves by what they can buy and where they can eat”, says Ammara Maqsood, author of The New Pakistani Middle Class.
In the first decade of the century, economic growth fueled by privatization led families to a new prosperity marked by their ability to buy a motorbike, rent a home or send their children to private school.
Now businesses supplying consumers with everything from mobile phones to clothing, motorbikes and cars bought on hire purchase are feeling the squeeze.
“It’s a multiple effect,” said Fatima Azim, chief executive of Azim Motors, which has a joint venture with Japanese car maker Suzuki Motors supplying small cars and motorbikes to mainly lower-middle-class customers.
“Income has not increased at all so no matter what, if they are going to a shopping mall or wherever, they are being affected,” she said.
The government has placed the blame squarely on the corruption of past governments, notably that of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who championed big infrastructure projects that spurred growth but drained currency reserves.
Sharif is now serving a seven-year sentence for a corruption conviction he said was politically motivated.
How convincing the government’s argument will be as the crisis bites remains to be seen and a nationwide strike by wholesalers and traders last weekend gave some taste of the growing unhappiness.
“Let’s be honest, it feels like we are the ones who are being punished for forcing out the crooks,” says Fawad Subhani, who owns a domestic appliance store in Islamabad.
“They were thieves, but they were thieves who also had money and friends with money.”
Pakistan price squeeze hits middle class as well as poor
Pakistan price squeeze hits middle class as well as poor
- A $6 billion IMF bailout with stringent conditions has led to rising prices and tough austerity policies
- Economic growth, which reached 5.5% in June 2018, is expected to slow to 2.4% this year
Pakistan PM performs groundbreaking of first private sector university in Gilgit-Baltistan
- Ramday University is being built by a trust with construction set to complete by donations from overseas Pakistanis
- Home to some of the world’s tallest mountains, semi-autonomous GB region is among Pakistan’s least developed areas
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif this week laid the foundation stone of first private sector university in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), promising a bright future for the youth of the remote mountainous region.
Home to some of the tallest mountains in the world, the semi-autonomous GB region is counted among the least developed areas administered by Pakistan.
Ramday University is located in Thagos area of GB’s Ghanche district at an altitude of 11,000 feet. The university is being built on a 200-kanal area of land under a trust, with construction set to be completed through the donations of overseas Pakistanis, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
GB-based news portal Pamir Times said the university will offer specialized programs in environmental studies, climate change, hydrology and mineral studies subjects.
“The establishment of an institution of higher learning in a remote area like Ghanche in Gilgit-Baltistan is highly encouraging,” Sharif was quoted as saying on by the APP during the groundbreaking ceremony in Islamabad on Thursday.
The prime minister congratulated former Supreme Cour judge Khalil ur Rehman Ramday on establishing the university.
“He expressed his confidence that this university, located at an altitude of 11,000 feet in Thagos, will reach the peak of modern knowledge and research standards,” the APP said.
Sharif stressed that GB’s development and the welfare of its people were among the government’s top priorities.
The development takes place a day after Sharif visited the mountainous northern region, where he inaugurated a model village for flood-affected families during a day-long visit to Ghizer.
There, Sharif pledged to provide residents with ownership documents to help them acquire new houses that were destroyed by the 2022 floods.
Father accused of murder of British-Pakistani girl blames stepmother
- Sara Sharif was found dead in her bed in southwest of London in Aug. 2023 with injuries including broken bones, burns
- Her father, Urfan Sharif, had fled to Pakistan a day before the body was found, along with his wife and the girl’s uncle
LONDON: The father of a 10-year-old British-Pakistani girl on Thursday denied her murder and instead blamed the girl’s stepmother, calling her “evil” and “psycho.”
Sara Sharif was found dead in her bed in Woking, southwest of London, on August 10, 2023 with injuries including broken bones, burns and bite marks.
Her father, Urfan Sharif, 42, had fled to Pakistan a day before the body was found, along with his wife Beinash Batool, 30, and the girl’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29.
Sharif then called police in the UK shortly after arriving in Islamabad and said he had “beat her up too much.” During the trial, Sharif said he made up this and another confession to “protect my family.”
All three adults were arrested upon their return to the UK a month later. They deny charges of murder and allowing the death of a child.
Details of the extent of Sara’s injuries have been detailed at London’s Old Bailey court, including claims from Batool that Sharif would beat his daughter badly.
Giving evidence for a third day, Sharif admitted slapping Sara “multiple times” but denied beating, burning, or biting her, insisting that he was “never at home” when she was injured.
Sharif broke down when his lawyer, Naeem Mian, questioned him about beating Sara, who was home schooled, with a cricket bat.
The taxi driver denied burning his daughter with an iron and instead said he was “made to” slap Sara by Batool, who constantly accused the girl of behaving badly.
Pointing to Batool sitting in the dock, Sharif shouted: “I should not have believed her... I didn’t realize I’m living with evil and a psycho.”
He also suggested that Batool was the one who bit her “like an animal.”
The jury was previously told that Sharif and Malik had provided their dental impressions but Batool had refused.
“I didn’t do it. Faisal didn’t do it. Who else was at home?” Sharif said.
He denied ever being aware of Sara being in pain. “She never told me that,” he said and indicated that he did not see injuries because Sara wore full-sleeve tops and long bottoms as well as a hijab head covering.
In the month leading up to Sara’s death, Mian said Sharif was out of the house at work from early in the morning to late at night while holing frequent telephone conversations with Batool, who would largely be at home.
Sharif wept as he recalled a time he came home and saw that Sara’s hands had been tied behind her back with brown packaging tape, accusing Batool of the act.
Asked why he did not call the police or ask Batool to leave, Sharif said that his wife was “manipulative” and that he believed her apology.
“I have been an idiot,” he added.
Forensic evidence shown to court included bundles of packaging tape and a white plastic carrier bag fashioned into a hood that could have been used on Sara’s head.
The bag had packaging tape stuck to it as well as long, brown hairs that matched Sara’s DNA, the court was told.
Both the bag and the non-sticky side of the tape had fingerprints that matched Sharif’s, who denied fashioning a hood out of the plastic bag or using it on Sara.
He said the fingerprints could be a result of him handling the items while sorting the garbage.
Sharif had previously accused Batool of being abusive toward him and preventing him from asking Sara about how she obtained her injuries.
In 2022, Batool texted her sister that Sharif had suggested using make-up to cover up bruises after beating Sara, to which the sister replied: “LOL it was going to happen you can tell.”
In the days before her death, Sharif said Sara, who did chores around the house, had asked him to “not go to work.”
Pakistan win toss, bowl in 2nd ODI against Australia
- The hosts lead 1-0 after a tense two-wicket win in Melbourne on Monday
- Pakistan named unchanged side with fast bowler Naseem Shah declared fit
ADELAIDE: Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and opted to bowl in the second of a three-game one-day series against Australia in Adelaide on Friday.
The hosts lead 1-0 after a tense two-wicket win in Melbourne on Monday.
Pakistan named an unchanged side with fast bowler Naseem Shah declared fit after leaving the field during the first match, apparently with cramp.
Australia made one change with veteran Josh Hazlewood returning in place of Sean Abbott to join his long-time pace partners Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.
Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matt Short again open the batting in the absence of Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head and will be keen to make their mark after falling cheaply in the opening match.
Teams
Australia: Matt Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Steve Smith, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (capt), Kamran Ghulam, Agha Salman, Irfan Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain
Pakistani firms bank on clinching ‘significant deals’ after debuting at Gulfood Manufacturing 2024
- Around 29 Pakistani firms participated in Gulfood Exhibition 2024 from Nov. 5-7 in Dubai
- Pakistani exhibitors say visitors from Middle East showed keen interest in their products
ISLAMABAD: After participating for the first time at the renowned Gulfood Manufacturing 2024 event in Dubai this week, Pakistani exhibitors on Thursday hoped the experience would help them clinch “significant deals” to penetrate markets in the Middle East.
Since 2014, Gulfood Manufacturing has been advancing the global food processing sector through innovation. This year, more than 1,200 suppliers from over 60 countries participated in the event held in Dubai from Nov. 5-7.
In a first, 21 Pakistani exhibitors took part in the tenth edition of the food and beverages trade fair under the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan’s (TDAP) umbrella.
Eight other Pakistani companies participated independently to showcase food ingredients, processing, packaging, printing, labeling, and supply chain solutions for the food and beverage industry.
Abdul Wahab, director of the Faisalabad-based food packaging machine manufacturer Nadeem Engineering Company, said businesses from across the Middle East showed keen interest in his organization’s machinery and other products.
“Our competitive prices and high quality helped initiate many business deals, which we hope to finalize in the coming weeks,” Wahab told Arab News.
Wahab thanked the Pakistani mission in the UAE and TDAP for their support, saying it enabled them to create more business opportunities.
“We are optimistic about securing a few significant deals that will help us enter the vast Gulf market,” he added.
A dedicated Pakistan Pavilion at the trade fair helped Pakistani firms showcase their products to visitors from across the globe.
Sheikh Abdul Qayyum, the chief executive officer of the Karachi-based company Lunwa Biz Packaging, praised the Pakistan Pavilion Initiative by saying that it helped generate a “good response” from visitors.
“Some good deals and memorandums of understanding have been signed, and we are working to bring them to final maturity,” Qayyum told Arab News. He said his company hoped to achieve positive results and generate substantial revenue from these agreements.
“We received support from the TDAP, which made the booth valued at Rs2.5 million available to us for Rs0.7 million, allowing us to make efforts to utilize this opportunity,” Qayyum said.
Faraz Tayyab, the project manager of Dubai-based company Menras who designed and managed the Pakistan Pavilion, said over 100,000 people visited Pakistani stalls while exhibitors reported an excellent response for their products.
“One machine manufacturer even sold his display unit and signed a deal to send additional machines to the Dubai-based buyer from Pakistan,” Tayyab told Arab News.
Although it was their first time participating, Tayyab said Pakistani companies have made an impressive impact and will benefit greatly from this experience.
“It has opened the gateway for a bigger participation next year,” he said.
Four soldiers, five militants killed in northwest Pakistan operation — military
- Security forces, militants traded fire in Karama area in South Waziristan, says military’s media wing
- Pakistani has suffered surge in militant attacks since November 2022 in areas bordering Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: Four Pakistani soldiers and five militants were killed during a gunbattle in the country’s restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the army’s media wing said on Thursday, as Islamabad grapples with surging militancy.
The exchange of fire between security forces and militants took place in South Waziristan’s Karama area on Wednesday, the Inter-Services Public Relations, the army’s media wing, said in a statement.
The army said four Pakistani soldiers were killed during the exchange of fire. These included Naib Subedar Taib Shah, 38, Lance Naik Gulab Zaman, 30, Lance Naik Muzammil Mehmood, 30 and Lance Naik Habibullah, 28.
“Resultantly, five Khwarij were sent to hell due to effective engagement by own troops,” the ISPR said, referring to the term the military uses for the Pakistani Taliban militants.
The army said it was conducting a sanitization operation in the area to eliminate any other militants.
“Security Forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” it concluded.
Pakistan has been witnessing a spike in militant violence in its northwestern and southwestern regions that border Afghanistan, particularly after the Pakistan Taliban or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) called off its fragile truce with the government in Islamabad in November 2022.
The militant group, which is said to have sanctuaries in neighboring Afghanistan, is separate from but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban.
Ties between Islamabad and Kabul have been strained as the former accuses the latter of sheltering TTP militants. Afghanistan denies the allegations and has urged Pakistan to resolve its security challenges internally.
