Eidul Azha has greatly stimulated the domestic economy as spending on different goods and services touched Rs 600 billion to Rs 650 billion during two weeks. According to economists and financial experts, an estimated 7.5 to eight million small animals including goats, sheep and big cattle like cows, camels, bull and buffalo were scarified during the recent religious festival in Pakistan, of which some three millions were big cattle heads and between 4.5 to five millions small animals.
Professor Dr Zahid of Pakistan Institute of Developed Economics (Pide), while talking to Business Recorder on the topic, stated that no institute in the country had carried out any research on the massive economic activity generated during Eidul Azha and the resultant liquidity flow from urban areas to rural areas. Considering total number of animals scarified on this Eid were 7.5 million to eight million as benchmark with an average price of a small animal at Rs 10,000 and of big animal at Rs 50,000 per head the money in circulation increased by an estimated Rs 250 billion within 10 days before and immediately after Eid on account of sale/purchase of animals and transportation cost of animals.
Furthermore, during 10 days before Eid an estimated amount of Rs 2,000 was spent on fodder of each sacrificial animal which implies spending on fodder of sacrificial animals touched Rs 15 billion. As per rough estimates, some 10 million people across the country travelled from their workplaces to native areas to spend the festival with near and dear ones. Considering an average Rs 500 was spent by each person on movement from one area to another an estimated Rs 50 billion was spent on transportation.
Spending on clothing and footwear may have touched Rs 150 billion, considering an estimated 10 million people purchased new clothes and shoes on the Eid with average spending of Rs 1,500 per person, while spending on Eid specific spices and other items are estimated to have touched Rs 1 billion.
Money generated through the sale and purchase of sacrificial animals’ hides was Rs 16 billion considering average price of a hide at Rs 2,100. An official of Pakistan Tanners’ Association (PTA) told Business Recorder that the association was expecting that exports of leather related items would touch dollars 1.5 billion or Rs 160 billion considering current Pakistani currency exchange rate with US dollar.
According to Professor Dr Nisar Ahmed Hamdani, Director Department of Economic Azad Kashmir University Eidul Azha every year creates huge economic activity in all the sectors of Pakistan’s economy but so far no institute – private or public – has carried out any research on it. He said there was a need for economists to analyse the economic impacts of the two Eids on the national economy.
