KARACHI — Pakistani authorities are encouraging people to buy sacrificial animals online or at least wear masks when visiting cattle markets, fearing preparations for the Muslim festival of Eid Al-Adha could reverse a decline in COVID-19 infection numbers.
Government social-distancing restrictions this year including half-day closing have seen a drop in customers at the normally bustling markets which, like in other Muslim countries, are set up in urban centers ahead of one of Islam’s most important festivals.
The main cattle market of Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, was less busy on Sunday than in preceding years with just six days before festivities, Reuters witnesses said. Trader Allah Ditta, who traveled hundreds of miles to sell his stock, told Reuters his customers had almost halved.
Most visitors flouted a requirement to wear masks, and many were accompanied by children who this year are barred.
“I don’t understand this coronavirus. I have not seen anyone dying of it,” said trader Muhammad Akram. “Look around you: No one is wearing a mask.”
Pakistan has reported over 270,000 COVID-19 cases with almost 6,000 deaths. Daily cases of new infection numbered just under 1,200 on Sunday versus a peak last month nearing 7,000 around another festival, Eid Al-Fitr.
“In the last four weeks there has been significant slowdown in the pandemic’s spread, with an 80% decline in deaths,” State Minister of Health Zafar Mirza said on Sunday — three weeks after he himself tested positive for COVID-19.
“Last Eid, since gatherings increased, people traveled, and this interaction caused cases to spike,” Mizra said. “People should take it very seriously and act responsibly. There is a chance that cases might go up again, like Spain.”
While market visitors have fallen, more people are paying charities to slaughter cattle on their behalf and deliver their cut to them or donate it to the needy.
Shakil Dehelvi, joint secretary-general of Alamgir Welfare Trust, said the charity had received its target booking number twice as quickly as last year.
Pakistan urges worshippers to buy sacrificial animals online to prevent COVID-19 surge
https://arab.news/bqw7t
Pakistan urges worshippers to buy sacrificial animals online to prevent COVID-19 surge
- Cattle market less busy this year than preceding years as more people stay indoors over coronavirus fears
- While market visitors have fallen, more people are paying charities to slaughter cattle on their behalf
IMF hails Pakistan privatization drive, calls PIA sale a ‘milestone’
- Fund backs sale of national airline as key step in divesting loss-making state firms
- IMF has long urged Islamabad to reduce fiscal burden posed by state-owned entities
KARACHI: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Saturday welcomed Pakistan’s privatization efforts, describing the sale of the country’s national airline to a private consortium last month as a milestone that could help advance the divestment of loss-making state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
The comments follow the government’s sale of a 75 percent stake in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to a consortium led by the Arif Habib Group for Rs 135 billion ($486 million) after several rounds of bidding in a competitive process, marking Islamabad’s second attempt to privatize the carrier after a failed effort a year earlier.
Between the two privatization attempts, PIA resumed flight operations to several international destinations after aviation authorities in the European Union and Britain lifted restrictions nearly five years after the airline was grounded following a deadly Airbus A320 crash in Karachi in 2020 that killed 97 people.
“We welcome the authorities’ privatization efforts and the completion of the PIA privatization process, which was a commitment under the EFF,” Mahir Binici, the IMF’s resident representative in Pakistan, said in response to an Arab News query, referring to the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility.
“This privatization represents a milestone within the authorities’ reform agenda, aimed at decreasing governmental involvement in commercial sectors and attracting investments to promote economic growth in Pakistan,” he added.
The IMF has long urged Islamabad to reduce the fiscal burden posed by loss-making state firms, which have weighed public finances for years and required repeated government bailouts. Beyond PIA, the government has signaled plans to restructure or sell stakes in additional SOEs as part of broader reforms under the IMF program.
Privatization also remains politically sensitive in Pakistan, with critics warning of job losses and concerns over national assets, while supporters argue private sector management could improve efficiency and service delivery in chronically underperforming entities.
Pakistan’s Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises said on Friday that SOEs recorded a net loss of Rs 122.9 billion ($442 million) in the 2024–25 fiscal year, compared with a net loss of Rs 30.6 billion ($110 million) in the previous year.
