The International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout talks have given way to clashes between Imran Khan’s supporters and security forces, but the country’s spiralling economic crisis and skyrocketing inflation are the only things that haven’t changed in Pakistan’s news cycle.
According to the latest reports coming out of the country, people in Karachi, Quetta, and Rawalpindi were left without cooking gas on the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramazan. People complained that it abruptly stopped flowing into their stoves as soon as the Ramazan moon was visible.
The government affirmed that gas would be accessible to consumers for ‘sehri’ (the morning meal) and ‘iftar’ (meal at sundown to break the daily fast) but throughout the day, people from all around the country complained about low or no gas pressure.
Sui Southern, the company that supplies gas, officially announced the times for what it dubbed as ‘gas profiling’ throughout the month of Ramazan.
“For this purpose, to ensure better gas pressure, gas profiling will continue from 8 am to 2:30 pm,” Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) stated.
Despite the assurances that gas would be available for consumption during the meal timings, the company noted a shortfall in its system due to a yearly 8–9% depletion in the country’s gas reserves.
Lyari resident Saba Naveed was quoted by Dawn saying that her house has been without gas for almost four months. “When you switch on the stove, there is only a stale smell that comes out of it. There is no gas pressure at all.” She mentioned that her family has permanently shifted to using gas cylinders.
Saba highlighted that a 2.5 kg gas cylinder, which lasts for only two weeks, costs her Rs. 600 (PKR). She also conveyed her concerns about using a cylinder. “It is not just about the money, it is a real risk using a gas cylinder with three children, under the age of 10 around.”
Safdar Khooharo, an SSGC spokesman, informed that the company had not used load shedding anywhere in the country but noted that some areas may experience low pressure due in part to the simultaneous lighting of between 20 million and 20.5 million stoves before ‘sehri.’ Old gas pipes may therefore experience low pressure, he added.
There was no improvement in the situation at the Garrison City, according to Ali Abbas, a resident of Dhoke Ratta, who reported that despite complaints made by locals to the Sui Northern Rawalpindi office, no action was being taken.
He claimed that the low pressure was caused by the mushrooming of CNG filling stations on a nearby road, which were supplied with gas from the main line intended for home consumers.
Many Pakistanis in Rawalpindi had to buy coal to cook the Ramzan meals.
SNGPL stated that things will get better in the upcoming days and declared that the corporation was prioritising domestic customers in accordance with special federal government orders.
On the first day of Ramazan, several areas of Karachi lacked access to gas. Abdullah Zehri, a resident of Prison Road, commented, “We had no other option when we woke up and found no gas pressure to cook ‘sehri.'”
Low gas pressure was a problem in the Jinnah Road, Kasi Road, Jail Road, Jinnah Town, and Model Town regions of Quetta, while the complete suspension and unexpected load shedding occurred in places beyond the province capital on the first day of the Muslim holy month.
There have been allegations of load shedding and poor gas pressure in the towns of Bolan, Pishin, Ziarat, Mastung, Kalat, and Sibi.
One person dies in the stampede for free flour
On the first day of Ramazan, a stampede for free flour left one person dead and eight others hurt in Peshawar, when a wall where people were sitting on collapsed as crowds amassed for free flour. However, the reason behind the fall was unclear.
In the Charsadda area of northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where the incident occurred, nine people were trampled and rushed to a hospital where one person passed away, informed Muhammad Arif, the local police chief.
He notified that hundreds of people gathered at the local market for the handouts, one of the hundreds of distribution points set up by the government during Ramzan. Millions of low-income families across the country are registered under the scheme.
Years of financial mismanagement and political turmoil have destroyed Pakistan’s finances, which have been made worse by the global energy crisis and devastating floods that submerged a third of the nation last year.
To access a $6.5 billion IMF bailout and avoid defaulting, the South Asian country, which is heavily indebted, must enact strict tax and utility price rises.
The risk of the Pakistani economy entering a recession was estimated at 70% in the consensus forecast from a Bloomberg survey of 27 analysts, which was released on March 15. The Pakistani Rupee has depreciated by 55% since February 2022. The country’s GDP is to grow at 3.5% in 2023 against 6% in 2022.
Pakistan’s inflation has surged to 31.5% in Feb from 12.2% in Feb ’22, the highest annual rate in nearly 50 years, as food, beverage and transportation prices surged more than 45%. The State Bank of Pakistan increased its benchmark interest rate to 20% in March, making it the greatest in 25 years.
It is proving to be very difficult for Pakistan to recover from the economic chaos, the devastating aftermath of the catastrophic 2022 floods, and the worsening political mess in the country.
