KARACHI: Amid Ramadan price hikes and low wage growth across households on the eve of Eid Al-Fitr, there is one safe haven for middle- and working-class shoppers in the Pakistani megacity of Karachi: Kagzi Bazar.
The at least 50-year-old market in the heart of old Karachi, one of the most densely populated areas in the city of over 20 million people, offers a wide range of goods including clothes, jewelry, footwear, bangles, hand bags and other accessories at affordable prices, buyers and sellers told Arab News ahead of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday.
The Pakistan government has announced Eid holidays from Monday, Mar. 31 to Wednesday, Apr. 2.
“It’s comfortable for us in terms of affordability. This market is within our budget, we can’t go to other markets,” Zainab Shafiq, a housewife and mother of two who has been shopping at Kagzi Bazar since she was a child, told Arab News.
“My entire family, including my in-laws as well as my own family, shop here,” she added as she browsed through glittery sandals and bangles at a roadside stall.
Pakistan was beset by inflation above 20 percent since May 2022, registering a high of 38 percent in May 2023, as it navigated reforms under an International Monetary Fund bailout program. While the annual inflation rate slowed to 1.5 percent this February, the lowest in nearly a decade, and the prices of goods are now rising more slowly, the cost of living has not become more affordable in the absence of wage growth for most households.
That is why many middle class and low-income families turn to Kagzi Bazar for Eid shopping over other markets like Tariq Road and Gulf Market in Karachi.
“The prices here are quite reasonable compared to other markets, that’s why we shop here,” 9th grader Mehek Fatima, who was visiting the market with her mother, said.
“Malls have the same variety but the prices here are reasonable compared to them.”
Mohammad Haroon Abdullah, who has been running a garment shop in Kagzi Bazar for the last 25 years, said people visited the market from different parts of Karachi and even from outside the Sindh province because of cheaper rates.
“The entire Balochistan, interior Sindh [provinces] come to shop here,” he said. “The entire Lyari [neighborhood], customers from Keamari, Saddar, New Karachi and so many other localities come to us. Even people who have shifted from this locality come from Soldier Bazar and Garden.”
Indeed, the low prices have been bringing loyal customers to Kagzi Bazar for decades.
“He is more like my brother,” Shenila Abdul Ghaffar told Arab News, pointing toward the owner of a cosmetics shop.
“For almost 28 years, I have been coming to this shop and buying everything from here. My children, daughter-in-law, everyone shops here,” she added.
“At a time when inflation rate is high, it’s easier for us to adjust with our budget here.”
KARACHI: Trading at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) was halted briefly on Monday as its benchmark share index slumped by over 5% during the day, as international markets reacted to market volatility caused by sweeping tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump last week.
The PSX suspended stocks trading for an hour at 11:58 am after the KSE-30 index, which tracks the performance of the 30 most liquid companies listed on the exchange, fell by 5.6% or 2,055 points to 34,723 points.
According to PSX rules, trading is halted if the KSE-30 index falls below 5% and keeps trading below that number continuously for five minutes. The benchmark KSE-100 index, which measures the performance of 100 companies, lost 5.3% or 6,287 points, making it the highest intraday drop in terms of points, according to JS Global Capital Ltd.
“Due to a 5% decrease in the KSE-30 index from the previous trading day close of the index, a market halt has been triggered as per PSX regulations and all equity and equity-based markets have been suspended accordingly,” the PSX said in a statement.
Due to the halt, all outstanding orders were automatically canceled before trading resumed at 1:03pm.
The market was reacting to Trump’s recent decision to impose “reciprocal tariffs” on multiple countries, a measure widely viewed as a setback for a global economy still recovering from the pandemic. Washington has also imposed a 29% tariff on Pakistani goods.
“The sharp selloff this morning mirrors a broader wave of global market volatility, driven by the US administration’s recent imposition of sweeping tariffs,” Shahid Ali Habib, chief executive officer at Arif Habib Ltd., told Arab News.
“These measures have intensified fears of a global trade war, shaking investor confidence worldwide,” he added.
Pakistan considers the US an important trade partner, with Islamabad’s exports to the country totaling $5.44 billion in the last financial year that ended in June.
Muhammad Waqas Ghani, head of research at JS Global Capital Ltd., noted that US tariffs were a major cause of uncertainty in equity markets across the world.
“Impact on the KSE-100 index is a reflection of investor anxiety as they anticipate negative effects on overall economic stability,” Ghani told Arab News.
The stock market slump is bound to weigh on investor sentiments in Pakistan, where equity traders had just started earning profits out of a boom triggered by the much-awaited nod from the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) mission in Pakistan. The IMF mission The IMF team led by Nathan Porter held discussions with Pakistan officials on the country’s economic performance from February 24-March 14 in Karachi and Islamabad.
Domestically, Habib said the oil sector stocks were bearing the brunt of the selloff as they faced pressure due to concerns of potential inventory losses following last week’s 9.5 percent sharp decline in oil prices.
Talking about other factors that caused the benchmark index to slump, Ghani said lack of clarity on the government’s part to address the energy sector’s circular debt issue was also making investors cautious.
Last week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a relief package for domestic and industrial power consumers, vowing that his government would resolve the longstanding circular debt issue in the next five years. However, the Pakistani premier did not provide much clarity on how his government would achieve that.
As a result, confidence in the energy stocks is on the low leading to a fall in stock prices, Habib said.
“For now, investors may remain cautious until there’s more clarity on these fronts, and the market may continue to experience volatility until a positive direction is set by the government,” he added.
Global markets fall as Trump’s tariffs roil world trade
Pakistan Stock Exchange falls rapidly, suspending trading for an hour after a 5% drop in KSE-100 index
Middle East stock markets tumble as they struggled with dual hit of new US tariffs, oil prices decline
Updated 07 April 2025
AP
Global markets plunged Monday following last week’s two-day meltdown on Wall Street, and President Donald Trump said he won’t back down on his sweeping new tariffs, which have roiled global trade.
Countries are scrambling to figure out how to respond to the tariffs, with China and others retaliating quickly.
Trump’s tariff blitz fulfilled a key campaign promise as he acted without Congress to redraw the rules of the international trading system. It was a move decades in the making for Trump, who has long denounced foreign trade deals as unfair to the US
The higher rates are set to be collected beginning Wednesday, ushering in a new era of economic uncertainty with no clear end in sight.
Here’s the latest:
Chinese officials meet business representatives from Tesla and other US companies.
Chinese government officials met business representatives from Tesla, GE Healthcare and other US companies on Sunday. It called on them to issue “reasonable” statements and take “concrete actions” on addressing the issue of tariffs.
“The United States in recent days has used all sorts of excuses to announce indiscriminate tariffs on all trading partners, including China, severely harming the rules-based multilateral trade system,” said Ling Ji, a vice minister of commerce, at the meeting with 20 US companies.
“China’s countermeasures are not only a way to protect the rights and interests of companies, including American ones, but are also to urge the US to return to the right path of the multilateral trading system,” Ling added.
A man looks at a screen showing Chinese stock market movements as he uses his mobile phone in Beijing on April 7, 2025. (AFP)
Ling also promised that China would remain open to foreign investment, according to a readout of the meeting from the Ministry of Commerce.
Malaysia wants Southeast Asia to present a united response to tariffs
Malaysia’s Trade Minister Zafrul Abdul Aziz said his country wants to forge a united response from Southeast Asia to the sweeping US tariffs.
Malaysia, which is the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year, will lead the regional bloc’s special Economic Ministers’ Meeting on April 10 in Kuala Lumpur to discuss the broader implication of the tariff measures on regional trade and investment, Zafrul told a news conference on Monday.
“We are looking at the investment flow, macroeconomic stability and ASEAN’s coordinated response to this tariff issue,” Zafrul said.
ASEAN leaders will also meet to discuss member states’ strategies and to mitigate potential disruptions to regional supply chain networks.
Pakistan plans to send a government delegation to Washington this month to discuss how to avoid the 29% tariffs imposed by the US on imports from Pakistan, officials said Monday.
The development came two days after Pakistan’s prime minister asked its finance minister to send him recommendations for resolving the issue. The US imports around $5 billion worth of textiles and other products from Pakistan, which heavily relies on loans from the International Monetary Fund and others.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange fell rapidly on Monday. The exchange suspended trading for an hour after a 5% drop in its main KSE-30 index.
Mideast markets follow oil prices lower
Middle East stock markets tumbled as they struggled with the dual hit of the new US tariffs and a sharp decline in oil prices, squeezing energy-producing nations that rely on those sales to power their economies and government spending.
Benchmark Brent crude is down by nearly 15% over the last five days of trading, with a barrel of oil costing just over $63. That’s down nearly 30% from a year ago, when a barrel cost over $90.
That cost per barrel is far lower than the estimated break-even price for producers. That’s coupled with the new tariffs, which saw the Gulf Cooperation Council states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates hit with 10% tariffs. Other Mideast nations face higher tariffs, like Iraq at 39% and Syria at 41%.
The Dubai Financial Market exchange fell 5% as it opened for the week. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange fell 4%.
Markets that opened Sunday saw losses as well. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul stock exchange fell over 6% in trading. The giant of the exchange, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Aramco, fell over 5% on its own, wiping away billions in market capitalization for the world’s sixth-most-valuable company.
Beijing struck a note of confidence on Monday even as markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai tumbled.
“The sky won’t fall. Faced with the indiscriminate punches of US taxes, we know what we are doing and we have tools at our disposal,” wrote The People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official mouthpiece.
China announced a slew of countermeasures on Friday evening aimed at Trump’s tariffs, including its own 34% tariffs on all goods from the US set to go in effect on Wednesday.
Australian dollar drops to levels last seen early in pandemic
The Australian dollar fell below 60 US cents on Monday for the first time since the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A photo illustration shows a mobile phone displaying a graph of the Australian stock market figures at the close of trading, in Sydney on April 7, 2025. (AFP)
The drop reflected concerns over the Chinese economy and market expectations for four interest rate cuts in Australia this calendar year, Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.
“What our modeling shows is that we expect there to be big hits to American growth and Chinese growth and a spike in American inflation as well,” Chalmers said.
“We expect more manageable impacts on the Australian economy, but we still do expect Australian GDP to take a hit and we expect there to be an impact on prices here as well,” he added.
The Trump administration assigned Australia the minimum baseline 10% tariff on imports in the United States. The US has enjoyed a trade surplus with Australia for decades.
Indian stocks fell sharply on Monday, seeing their biggest single-day drop in percentage terms since March 2020 amid the pandemic.
The benchmark BSE Sensex and the Nifty 50 index both dropped about 5% after trading opened but then recovered slightly. Both were later trading down about 4 percent.
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he won’t back down on his sweeping tariffs on imports from most of the world unless countries even out their trade with the US, digging in on his plans to implement the taxes that have sent financial markets reeling, raised fears of a recession and upended the global trading system.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he didn’t want global markets to fall, but also that he wasn’t concerned about the massive sell-off either, adding, “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”
His comments came as global financial markets appeared on track to continue sharp declines once trading resumes Monday, and after Trump’s aides sought to soothe market concerns by saying more than 50 nations had reached out about launching negotiations to lift the tariffs.
“I spoke to a lot of leaders, European, Asian, from all over the world,” Trump said. “They’re dying to make a deal. And I said, we’re not going to have deficits with your country. We’re not going to do that, because to me a deficit is a loss. We’re going to have surpluses or at worst, going to be breaking even.”
Asian markets plunged on Monday following last week’s two-day meltdown on Wall Street, and US President Donald Trump said he won’t back down on his sweeping tariffs on imports from most of the world unless countries even out their trade with the US
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost nearly 8% shortly after the market opened on Monday. By midday, it was down 6%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 9.4%, while the Shanghai Composite index was down 6.2%, and South Korea’s Kospi lost 4.1%
US futures also signaled further weakness.
Market observers expect investors will face more wild swings in the days and weeks to come, with a short-term resolution to the trade war appearing unlikely.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan was among four countries that accounted for 47% of all global maternal deaths in 2023, a report by the United Nations released on Monday on the occasion of World Health Day said.
The international community marks World Health Day every year on Apr. 7. This year’s theme, “healthy beginnings, hopeful futures,” has been chosen to stress the importance of maternal and child health care. As per the UN, the campaign will urge governments and the health community to ramp up efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths, and to prioritize women’s longer-term health and well-being.
Released on World Health Day, the UN report titled “Trends in Maternal Mortality Estimates 2000-2023” has been compiled by the WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank and UN’s Population Division. The report states that while there has been a 40% global decline in maternal deaths between 2000 and 2023, the pace of improvement has slowed significantly since 2016. It added that an estimated 260,000 women died in 2023 as a result of complications from pregnancy or childbirth.
The report said Nigeria had the highest number of maternal deaths and accounted for more than a quarter (28.7%) of them in 2023, with approximately 75,000 deaths. Three other countries had more than 10,000 maternal deaths in 2023: India (19,000), the Democratic Republic of Congo (19,000) and Pakistan (11,000), accounting for 7.2%, 7.2% and 4.1% of global maternal deaths, respectively.
“Together, these four countries accounted for almost half (47%) of all maternal deaths globally in 2023,” the report said.
The report pointed out that five countries had more than 5,000 maternal deaths but fewer than 10,000 in 2023. These include Ethiopia, Afghanistan, the United Republic of Tanzania, Indonesia and Chad. A total of 84 countries were estimated to have had 20 or fewer maternal deaths in 2023, the report said.
The report was released as humanitarian funding cuts are having severe impacts on essential health care in many parts of the world, forcing countries to roll back vital services for maternal, newborn and child health. These cuts have led to facility closures and loss of health workers, while also disrupting supply chains for lifesaving supplies and medicines such as treatments for hemorrhage, pre-eclampsia and malaria – all leading causes of maternal deaths.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, on his message on World Health Day, said that Pakistan still has a “long way to go” as far as maternal and child health are concerned.
“Pakistan has made remarkable progress in the field of maternal and child health, but we still have a long way to go,” Sharif was quoted as saying by his office. “We must strengthen our health systems in a way that they can effectively address not only medical but also the broader social factors that impact maternal and newborn health.”
The Pakistani premier said his government is committed to harnessing cutting-edge technology in the health sector and building strong partnerships to further improve public health services.
He said that through the use of digital health tools, data-driven policymaking and effective community engagement, Pakistan aims to bridge the gaps that hinder health service delivery, especially in underserved and remote areas.
“As we celebrate World Health Day 2025, let us reaffirm the need for an integrated and multidisciplinary approach to health,” Sharif said. “This should include integrated and practical actions in health care, education, nutrition, environment, and governance.”
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan army said on Monday a “highly wanted” militant was among nine killed in an intelligence-based operation in the northwestern Dera Ismail Khan district.
The military has been launching frequent operations in recent months in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. The army’s target in the area is militants it says launch attacks inside Pakistan, and against the army, using safe havens in Afghanistan, a charge Kabul denies.
Groups like the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) have been waging a war against the Pakistani state for nearly two decades in a bid to overthrow the government and replace it with what they consider an Islamic system of governance.
“During conduct of the operation, own troops effectively engaged the khwarij [terrorist] location and after an intense fire exchange, nine khwarij including high value target, Kharji Ring leader Shireen were sent to hell,” the military said of the latest operation, adding that weapons and ammunition were also recovered.
The army said Shireen, whom it identified only with one name, had been involved in various militant activities, the target killing of civilians as well as the killing of Army Captain Hasnain Akhtar last month.
“Today’s operation has avenged the heinous act and has brought the main perpetrator to justice,” the military statement said.
Militants have accelerated their attacks since they revoked a ceasefire with the government late in 2022, a campaign that has seen some big hits in recent months, targeting the military and its bases. Islamabad says militants run training camps in Afghanistan and plan attacks from there, which the Afghan government denies.
ISLAMABAD: Prominent Pakistani religiopolitical party Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JI) has announced it will hold protest marches and demonstrations in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad cities from April 11-20 to condemn Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
The development takes place amid renewed military campaigns by Israel in Gaza since last month after its shaky January 19 ceasefire with Hamas broke down. Israel said on March 19 it had resumed ground operations in the central and southern Gaza Strip, as both sides blamed each other for the breakdown in talks.
The JI has frequently held marches and protest demonstrations in Pakistani cities, notably Karachi, against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza since October 2023.
“Jamaat-e-Islami has suspended its other activities and announced a Solidarity March for Gaza in major cities of the country,” the party said on social media platform X on Sunday. “Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman appeals to the public for their full participation.”
As per the schedule shared by the party, it aims to hold its march on April 11 in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore and protest outside the US consulate there. On April 13, it will hold a demonstration at Karachi’s busy Shahrah-e-Faisal road while on April 20, the party said it will lead a protest march to the US Embassy in Islamabad.
غزہ کی حالیہ تشویش ناک صورتحال
جماعت اسلامی نے دیگر سرگرمیوں کو معطل کرتے ہوے ملک کے بڑے شہروں میں یکجہتی غزہ مارچ کا اعلان کردیا۔
امیر جماعت اسلامی پاکستان حافظ نعیم الرحمن کی عوام سے بھرپور شرکت کی اپیل۔ pic.twitter.com/J9vEFNcHav
— Jamaat e Islami Pakistan (@JIPOfficial) April 6, 2025
More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli offensive in Gaza, Palestinian officials say. Israel began its offensive after thousands of Hamas-led gunmen attacked communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 251 as hostages, according to Israeli officials.
Pakistan, which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, has frequently criticized the Jewish state for its military operations in Gaza. Islamabad has also called for resumption of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory and the need for a revival of negotiations leading to a two-state solution.
Pakistan consistently calls for an independent Palestinian state along the pre-1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital.
