ISLAMABAD: No Pakistani student has yet returned from Wuhan, the coronavirus outbreak’s epicenter in Hubei province, despite earlier reports of Chinese authorities relaxing their quarantine measures, Foreign Office spokeswoman Aisha Farooqui told Arab News on Thursday.
“The local authorities in Wuhan have issued a notification of relaxation in quarantine in Wuhan last week, which was taken back immediately, before implementation,” Farooqui said.
“All Pakistani students are safe, including the four discharged from hospital after recovering from infection,” she said, adding that the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing is in touch with Chinese authorities.
The Wuhan administration on Feb. 24 announced that those stranded in the city were allowed to leave, unless they had been under observation or quarantined. The notification raised hopes among the families of 1,100 Pakistani students, who have been stuck in Hubei since the lockdown was enforced on Jan. 23.
However, the announcement was retracted three hours later, when Wuhan mayor Zhou Xianwang said it was issued without authorization.
Meanwhile, two officials from the Pakistani Embassy who went to Wuhan in mid-February to meet the students and get first-hand information regarding their wellbeing remain in the city, according to Farooqui.
“The Chinese authorities allowed our embassy officials to enter Wuhan on condition that they would be able to leave only after the quarantine has been lifted. They are still there and looking after the Pakistani community,” she said.
The spokeswoman added that the government has transferred ¥3,500 ($504) to each of the students.
“There are many students who went to Hubei province for just a few days to collect their certificates and degrees. But they were stranded due to the quarantine. The government of Pakistan has provided ¥3,500 to each student who was registered with the Pakistani mission in Beijing,” Farooqui said, expressing hope that the quarantine will be lifted this month.
The students, however, say that they do not want money but evacuation.
“All of us received ¥3,500 in our accounts from the Pakistani government, but we haven’t asked for money. They should evacuate us as many countries have evacuated their students from Wuhan. We are sitting in the epicenter of the coronavirus and are worried about out safety,” Sadia Bajwa, a Pakistani student from Bahawalpur who is doing her doctoral studies at Huazhong Agricultural University, told Arab News over the phone on Thursday.
Pakistan decided not to evacuate its nationals from Wuhan after the epidemic began.
Impassioned video appeals from the stranded students have flooded Pakistani social media, but the government has refused to fly them back in a bid to avoid the spread of virus.
Pakistani students in Wuhan safe but not allowed to travel — foreign office
https://arab.news/phemz
Pakistani students in Wuhan safe but not allowed to travel — foreign office
- About 1,100 Pakistani students have been stranded in Hubei province
- Government decided not to evacuate its nationals after the epidemic began
Pakistan cuts key rate by 50 bps to 10.5% in surprise move after holding for four meetings
- An IMF staff report last week warned against premature easing, with analysts expecting SBP to hold the policy rate
- Inflation remains within the bank’s target band, but analysts expect price pressures to rise later in the fiscal year
KARACHI: Pakistan’s central bank cut its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 10.5 percent on Monday, the bank said on its website, breaking a hold on the rate for four meetings in a move that surprised analysts and came despite IMF warnings to avoid premature easing.
All 12 analysts in a Reuters poll had expected the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to hold the policy rate at 11 percent.
Monday’s reduction takes the total easing since rates peaked at 22 percent to 1,150 basis points, after the SBP delivered 1,100 bps of cuts between June 2024 and May 2025 and then held the rate steady for four meetings before Monday’s move.
Inflation edged down to 6.1 percent in November from 6.2 percent in October, within the SBP’s 5 percent–7 percent target band, with analysts expecting it to rise again later in FY26 as base effects fade and food and transport prices stay volatile.
An IMF staff report last week warned against premature easing, calling for policy to remain data-dependent to anchor expectations and rebuild external buffers, even as Pakistan received a $1.2 billion disbursement under its loan program.
