KARACHI: Pakistanis thronging markets to buy sacrificial cows, camels and goats for the upcoming Eid Al-Adha complained about rising prices of the livestock this week.
Pakistan has been beset by inflation above 20 percent since May 2022. Last year in May, inflation jumped as high as 38 percent as the country navigated reforms as part of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout program.
While inflation has since tapered, at the main cattle market in Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city, customers said they were still facing higher prices than last year.
“There is no impact of it (inflation slowing down). The prices are higher as compared to last year. The price of an animal that was up to 100,000 rupees ($358) last year is reaching 150,000 rupees ($537) this year,” said a customer, Mohammad Asif.
“It is the government’s claim that they have brought down the inflation whereas it is totally contrary to that here at the market. The prices are like three folds up as compared to last year,” said another buyer, Abdur-Rehman.
Trader Mohammad Chhuttal, who traveled some 540 km (336 miles) from the city of Ghotki to sell his cows and bulls in Karachi, said the impact of last year’s high inflation continued to be felt this year.
Traders said the inflation was hurting the purchasing power of ordinary consumers and noted that there were not only fewer customers in the market compared to last year, but that people would choose smaller animals.
Pakistan is in talks with IMF for a loan estimated to be anything between $6 billion to $8 billion to avert a default for an economy that is growing at the slowest pace in the region.
Pakistan narrowly averted a default last summer thanks to a short-term IMF bailout of $3 billion over nine months.
Muslims around the world celebrate the Eid holiday by slaughtering animals such as cattle and goats as they mark the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son on God’s command. The meat is shared among family and friends and donated to the poor.
The three-day festival of Eid Al-Adha, one of the two most important festivals on the Islamic calendar, will be celebrated from Monday (June 17) in Pakistan this year.
Pakistanis complain about high prices of sacrificial animals before Eid Al-Adha
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Pakistanis complain about high prices of sacrificial animals before Eid Al-Adha
- Muslims celebrate Eid by slaughtering cattle, goats and cow to mark the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son on God’s command
- The three-day festival, one of the two most important festivals on the Islamic calendar, will be celebrated in Pakistan from June 17 this year
Pakistan vows to enhance multilateral cooperation with China, Russia at SCO moot
- Pakistan deputy PM holds meetings with Russian counterpart, Chinese premier at sidelines of SCO summit
- Ishaq Dar, Russian deputy PM review bilateral ties, cooperation across political, economic, connectivity spheres
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar this week vowed to enhance bilateral ties and multilateral cooperation with Beijing and Moscow, state media reported, as he met senior officials from China and Russia during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.
Dar had arrived in Russia on Monday to attend the two-day SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) summit in Moscow, met Chinese PM Li Qiang and Russian Deputy PM Alexei Overchuk.
Dar and Overchuk reviewed the full gamut of Pakistan-Russia relations, focusing on strengthening cooperation across political, economic, energy, connectivity, agricultural, industrial, educational and people-to-people areas through institutionalized mechanisms, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported on Tuesday.
“Pakistan and Russia have reaffirmed their commitment to enhanced cooperation at bilateral and multilateral fora, including the United Nations and Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” the state broadcaster said.
Overchuk recalled his recent visits to Pakistan and noted the country’s potential as a regional hub for transit and connectivity, the state media said.
Meanwhile, Dar also met the Chinse prime minister at the sidelines of the SCO moot when it concluded.
“They reaffirmed the ‘all-weather’ Pakistan-China strategic partnership, reviewed bilateral and multilateral cooperation— especially within the SCO— and praised the Shanghai Spirit principles guiding regional collaboration,” Radio Pakistan said.
Dar addressed the CHG summit on Tuesday, urging the bloc to activate its financial mechanisms. The Pakistani deputy premier said tools such as the SCO Interbank Consortium were under-used despite the rising need for investment in regional trade corridors, digital links and infrastructure.
“The SCO has established a foundation for sustainable economic progress, but we must aggressively utilize the tools already at our disposal, like the SCO Interbank Consortium, to finance connectivity and technical collaboration projects,” he said at the forum.
Dar noted that Pakistan viewed economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation as “interconnected threads in a single, stronger fabric of regional partnership,” and urged members to move from political declarations toward practical, cross-cutting initiatives.
He also highlighted disaster preparedness as an emerging priority for the bloc, saying Pakistan had developed a technology-driven early-response system and was ready to host simulation exercises with SCO partners.
