RAWALPINDI: Antiquarian Mohammad Shakeel Abbasi pulled open the shutter of his shop in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi to reveal a small space choke-full of bugles, decorative dishes, jars, vases, teapots, bowls and plates inscribed with ancient motifs.
Located in the historic Bhabra Bazaar, Abbasi’s shop, lit up by a few naked light bulbs, is among a dwindling number of antique restoration workshops in the garrison city. The 71-year-old inherited the craft from his forefathers and set up the shop nearly 40 years ago in 1985, now employing three workers who help him repair, polish and electroplate copper and brass relics to be sold to customers in Pakistan and abroad.
“Since then [1985] I’ve been in this business,” Abbasi told Arab News at his shop earlier this month as he dusted an antique bugle. “We purchase antique items and repair them and polish them and then sell them to our dedicated customers.”
Buyers reach out to him from as far as the UK and US, he added.
Abbasi mainly sources copper and brass items from households and scrap dealers, who scour heaps of imported items that first land at the port in Pakistan’s commercial hub of Karachi.
“The traders who buy them, they contact us,” the craftsman said. “They are broken items, and we have to repair them and polish and recondition them to the extent that you cannot even tell that this was an old item.”
Antiques at Abbasi’s shop can sell for anywhere between $40 to $1,000, but the art of antique preservation and restoration is now at risk of being lost as the new generation is opting out of the profession.
“The problem is that the craftsmen who used to work [on antiques] are no longer available. Not a lot of attention is given to this craft, The government has also not prioritized training craftsmen,” Abbasi lamented.
“Antiquarians quit the business due to lack of business, and some passed away and the new generation isn’t interested in this line of work.”
Customers and collectors who frequent Abbasi’s shop often place orders after coming across antique items on the Internet.
“I have liked an antiques page [on social media]. I searched for an item on the Internet and told him [Abbasi] about it and he arranged it for me,” Dr. Ahmad Ali, an antique collector, told Arab News. “It was the same thing that I had ordered.”
Shamas Rehman, who has been a collector for over two decades, praised Abbasi’s fine craftsmanship.
“My forefathers were collecting antiques, it was their hobby, and now I have been collecting them since 2003,” he said, “and from wherever we can get the antiques, we buy them, collect them and place them in our homes, and this goes on.”
Pakistani craftsman strives to preserve antiques in a dying industry
https://arab.news/9e9qr
Pakistani craftsman strives to preserve antiques in a dying industry
- Based in Rawalpindi’s Bhabra Bazaar, Mohammad Shakeel Abbasi has restored centuries-old bugles, decorative dishes, jars, vases and teapots
- Artefacts at Abbasi’s shop sell for anywhere between $40 to $1,000, many collectors place orders after coming across antiques online
Pakistan says repaid over $13.06 billion domestic debt early in last 14 months
- Finance adviser says repayment shows “decisive shift” toward fiscal discipline, responsible economic management
- Says Pakistan’s total public debt has declined from over $286.6 billion in June 2025 to $284.7 billion in November 2025
KARACHI: Pakistan has repaid Rs3,650 billion [$13.06 billion] in domestic debt before time during the last 14 months, Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad said on Thursday, adding that the achievement reflected a shift in the country’s approach toward fiscal discipline.
Schehzad said Pakistan has been repaying its debt before maturity, owed to the market as well as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), since December 2024. He said the government had repaid the central bank Rs300 billion [$1.08 billion] in its latest repayment on Thursday.
“This landmark achievement reflects a decisive shift toward fiscal discipline, credibility, and responsible economic management,” Schehzad wrote on social media platform X.
Giving a breakdown of what he said was Pakistan’s “early debt retirement journey,” the finance official said Pakistan retired Rs1,000 billion [$3.576 billion] in December 2024, Rs500 billion [$1.78 billion] in June 2025, Rs1,160 billion [$4.150 billion] in August 2025, Rs200 billion [$715 million] in October 2025, Rs494 billion [$1.76 billion] in December 2025 and $1.08 billion in January 2026.
He said with the latest debt repaid today, the July to January period of fiscal year 2026 alone recorded Rs2,150 billion [$7.69 billion] in early retirement, which was 44 percent higher than the debt retired in FY25.
He said of the total early repayments, the government has repaid 65 percent of the central bank’s debt, 30 percent of the treasury bills debt and five percent of the Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) debt.
The official said Pakistan’s total public debt has declined from over Rs 80.5 trillion [$286.6 billion] in June 2025 to Rs80 trillion [$284.7 billion] in November 2025.
“Crucially, Pakistan’s debt-to-GDP ratio, around 74 percent in FY22, has declined to around 70 percent, reflecting a broader strengthening of fiscal fundamentals alongside disciplined debt management,” Schehzad wrote.
Pakistan’s government has said the country’s fragile economy is on an upward trajectory. The South Asian country has been trying to navigate a tricky path to economic recovery under a $7 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.
