QUETTA, Sept 27: The local markets are usually at the busiest in the last 10 days of Ramazan, but shopping for Eid festival, which is just four days away, has yet to gain momentum in the provincial capital due to economic crisis, rising dearness and poor law and order situation.
The prices of clothes, shoes, cosmetics and other accessories are comparatively much higher in Quetta as compared to other parts of the country because the province lacks any industrial base.
The shopkeepers justify charging higher prices saying that they have to bear additional transportation cost on procuring these items from Lahore, Karachi and other cities.
However, major shopping centres, markets and shopping plazas in Quetta wear deserted look as shopkeepers sitting idle awaiting buyers. Some traders attribute this dullness to worsening law and order situation and sky-rocketing prices.
The Marriott hotel blasts in Islamabad and suicide attacks in Quetta have further depressed the market sentiments. Threats from the extremist element’s of more such suicide bombings are discouraging the buyers specially women to come in the bazaars.
Apart from this, the other most important factor of slowdown in business activities is exclusion of the province from the economic mainstream. The province gets much less than its due share from the resource pie that has impacted the pace of economic and industrial development in the province.
Another factor contributing to slow Eid-related sales is shrinking purchasing power of all income groups due to record inflation which is badly hitting the salaried class.
“After kitchen expenditures nothing is left to spend on Eid shopping,” said Mohammad Akbar, a government employee.
He said that the prices had almost doubled while the government had just given only 20 per cent increase in the salaries of its employees.
“The price-hike has sharply squeezed my buying power and I cannot able to provide even clothes, shoes and small gifts for my children on this Eid,” a lady in a local market told Dawn.
Shopkeepers said the graph of their Eid-related sales had been falling for the last many years. They used to spend nights in their shops in last 10 days of Ramazan, now leave for their homes after 12pm due to fear of bomb explosions.
“We are getting shoes, clothes, cosmetics and other daily use items at much higher prices from the manufacturers this year,” Ch. Shaukat Ali, a shopkeeper in main market of Quetta told Dawn.
He said that purchasing gifts and other luxury items is now beyond the reach of common man and this is why the shopping centres give a deserted look.
Shopkeepers who had been waiting for payment of salary to the government employees heaved a sign of relief seeing customers in the market. “After receiving salary now people started moving towards shopping centres,” Nadeem Baig, who is running his shop at a Jinnah road market, remarked.
Most of the businessmen and traders were of the view that doing business would be a very difficult in the coming days if government fails to take concrete steps to control sky-rocketing prices and improving the law and order situation.