(1/4)A view of partial traffic with the Karachi Port Trust building in the background during a lockdown and wheel jam strike called by merchants and the religious and political party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) against rising energy bills . During a protest in Karachi, Pakistan on September 2, 2023. Purchase license rights
LAHORE, Pakistan, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Pakistan’s public markets remained closed on Saturday due to a strike by retail associations over rising electricity prices and strong inflation, as the country embarked on a difficult path towards economic recovery.
A $3 billion loan program, approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July, prevented a sovereign debt default in Pakistan, but bailout-linked reforms have fueled annual inflation. running at 27.4%.
“Today, traders are observing a lockdown strike across Pakistan against excessive charging of electricity rates and unjustified taxes,” Ashraf Bhatti, president of the Pakistan Traders Association, told Reuters.
The main markets of Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan’s two largest cities, remained closed on Saturday, although grocery stores in populated neighborhoods and medical shops remained open.
In the southwestern city of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, public markets were closed all day for the protest, called by Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist opposition party, and joined by groups of traders.
“It is a countrywide issue as the common man is being severely affected,” said Abdul Rehim Kakar, head of a Balochistan merchants’ association.
Worsening economic conditions, coupled with rising political tension ahead of a national elections scheduled for November – but it probably is delayedhave sparked sporadic protests in recent weeks.
Reporting by Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore, Saleem Ahmed in Quetta, Mushtaq Ali in Peshawar and Akhtar Soomro in Karachi Writing by Gibran Peshimam Editing by Helen Popper
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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