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Poultry industry grows at consumers’ cost

• Prices stay high despite export disruptions • Beef hits Rs1,500-1,800 per kg, mutton Rs2,700-2,900 KARACHI: Amid disease outbreaks, export suspensions, volatile market conditions and rising feed and production costs, the poultry sector has continued to grow by eight per cent annually over the past 10 years. Higher prices for poultry might cause a slowdown in the purchasing patterns of low- and middle-income people, but they still rely on poultry as it costs much less than beef and mutton. As per the Economic Survey FY25, rural poultry had shown modest gains, but commercial production remained the main growth driver. After remaining on the higher side, poultry live bird prices have fallen by an average Rs100 per kg to Rs370-420 per kg in Karachi after Eidul Azha. Consumers were expecting a further price drop in the wake of the closure of borders with Afghanistan, but the prices of poultry continued to show an upward trend. In October 2025, when the Afghan border was closed, the live-bird price had fallen to Rs310-360 per kg, down from Rs460-540 in September. However, according to traders, the export of poultry products such as birds, feed, day-old chicks and eggs remains suspended, but consumers have not seen any significant price falls. Prior to and after Eidul Azha, the demand for poultry usually declines as consumers shift towards meat from sacrificial animals, but this year traders kept chicken prices higher due to robust demand ahead of Eid. According to the weekly Sensitive Price Index (SPI) data for the period ending June 4, the prices of live birds in various cities across the country remained unchanged at Rs288-460 per kg. Consumers have seen the price of an egg drop to Rs20-22 from Rs25, as demand is thin due to school closures and hot weather. The Commissioner of Karachi had issued retail rates for live birds and meat at Rs296 and Rs445 per kg, respectively, but these rates are not available in shops. Member of the Executive Committee of the Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA), Kamal Akhtar Siddiqui, said the farm rate for live birds had plunged by Rs100 to Rs290-300 per kg after Eid, while the meat rate should not exceed Rs500 per kg, but retailers are charging over Rs500 per kg. He said chicken remains affordable despite the impact of the Afghan border closure and the Middle East crisis, which also led to the suspension of poultry product shipments to Iran. Veal meat with and without bones is available at Rs1,500 and Rs1,800 per kg, while mutton is priced at Rs2,700-2,900 per kg, which is beyond the reach of many people. Compared with red meat, chicken is still affordable for many low- and middle-income people, he said. Mr Akhtar said that demand for chicken has currently dropped after Eidul Azha, as consumers’ freezers are packed with Qurbani meat. Demand will pick up when sacrificial animal meat is fully consumed. No price respite Irrespective of the rise and fall in rates due to the demand and supply situation, consumers have not seen any respite in the prices of chicken tikka and broast, seekh kabab, boneless boti, and Chinese dishes. The average price of half kg chicken karahi is Rs1,200 while the average price of quarter broast (chest piece) is tagged at Rs500. At branded outlets, the price of quarter broast is over Rs600. There is no change in the price of chicken biryani, selling between Rs250-320 (single plate). Average price of chicken tikka (leg and chest piece) is available at Rs360-400 but some big food outlets charge Rs500-600 per tikka. A zinger burger costs not less than Rs500. Mighty zinger and chicken burgers offered by branded outlets carry a price of Rs600-800. As per Economic Survey FY25, the average annual growth rate of poultry sector is 8.1pc over past 10 years. The survey said the total poultry bird population was projected to reach 2.26 billion, driven primarily by commercial broiler expansion, estimated at 2.06bn birds. Similarly, day-old chick production was expected to rise by 9.8pc to 2.19bn, indicating robust forward integration in the breeding and hatchery segments. Poultry meat production was forecast to grow to 2.58 million tonnes, up by 9.4pc Egg production was also expected to reach 26.7bn, reflecting improvements in layer performance and flock management. Poultry meat accounts for over 40pc of Pakistan’s total meat production. The industry, being the 11th largest producer in the world, employs over 1.5m nationwide. Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2026

Delhi reclaims its Gymkhana. Lahore keeps its elite club for Rs5,000 a year

The Delhi Gymkhana Club was born in 1913, raised for British officers and the colonial set, and was later inherited by bureaucrats, politicians, and the comfortably connected. None of that pedigree could save it, however, from the law. Last week India told it to vacate the land by June 5. The government read a single clause from the club’s own lease, named a public purpose, and issued the notice. The land returns to the state as do the buildings on it. The club says it will fight the decision in court, and it may. But the order is out and the clock has started. In Pakistan, the Lahore Gymkhana was born in the same year, is grander than Delhi’s and also sits on land worth a king’s ransom. But no notice to vacate has been issued. These are the facts from the government documents that explain why. India has ordered the Delhi Gymkhana Club to vacate its premises by June 5 — Credits: BBC 38 paisas a kanal The Lahore Gymkhana sits on state land ringed by The Mall, Jail Road, and Zafar Ali Road. There is no pricier address in the province. Its 1913 lease stretches back to the Raj, and has been repeatedly extended in 1921, 1960, and, in haste in 1996, five years before its expiry. This time it was extended for 50 years to cover the years 2000 to 2050. The gymkhana estate sprawls over 112 acres and the club holds three kanal and 16 marlas more than the record of rights allows — a tiny trespass that nobody thought to note until now. But that is not all. Inside Lawrence Gardens (Bagh-e-Jinnah), the Gymkhana keeps an exclusive cricket ground on three-and-a-half acres of the Agriculture Department. This was never part of the lease, there is no grant for it and no rent is paid. No paper explains how a public garden was fenced off for a private game. For the main estate, the club pays Rs5000 a year in rent. Not per kanal. In total. That comes to Rs417 a month, or under fifty paisas per kanal, for some of the most valuable earth in Pakistan. How little is Rs5000? Consider it against the government’s upper commercial rate. Total land 1,091 kanals 21,820 marla Market value 1,091 × Rs200 million/kanal Rs218.2 billion Fair annual rent 21,820 marla × Rs200,000/marla Rs4.364 billion The land is worth Rs218 billion so fair rent would be about Rs4.36 billion a year. Under the government’s 2023 policy, clubs can pay a tenth of market rent, but this would still come to Rs400 million a year. The club pays Rs5000. For years, the land’s real value sat behind a nominal colonial rent. It became visible when market figures were placed on the record. The admissions of guilt The club filed its defence with the Assembly admitting the buildings came after the lease, which said the government had to approve construction. Over the decades the club built its clubhouse, golf clubhouse, pool, two guest blocks, health club, administration block, mosque and a café in 2012. The Board of Revenue searched for permissions but none were on record. The club has not even paid its token Rs5,000 rent. The Additional Deputy Commissioner’s office sent a notice, dated 26 August 2020, saying that rent had not bee paid since 2011. Then the money. The club swears no public funds reach it but then lists them in the next breath: Rs2 million from President Zia in 1985, Rs2 million from PM Nawaz Sharif the same year, Rs50 million from CM Pervaiz Elahi in 2006, Rs10 million from CM Shehbaz Sharif in 2014. Four heads of government, four gifts from the public purse, to a private club. And who is the club for? Its rulebook answers. Every civil servant of Grade 18 and above may join for a token fee, and so may every commissioned officer of the armed forces. The other way to become a member is to inherit membership. The capture is not an accident of history. It is written into the founding charter. The roll of ordinary members, meanwhile, the club guards as confidential as if it were a list belonging to a Freemason Lodge. The instinct to maintain secrecy runs deep. When citizens used the Right to Information law to ask for the lease and the donor records, the club refused, and carried its refusal to the Lahore High Court, pleading, without blushing, that as a public limited company it was no “public body” and owed the public nothing. In January 2023, the court dismissed the plea. The land belongs to the state, the judge held. Handing over land worth billions of rupees almost free was an enormous benefit and rent of Rs5,000 a year “cannot be even termed as any rate whatsoever.” The same shrug was then offered to the Assembly when it asked who the club’s members were. Lahore Gymkhana — Credits: Express Tribune Institutionalising the giveaway The Gymkhana is no aberration. It is the template: in May 2023 the state made the template law. That month, a caretaker government in Punjab, an unelected stopgap whose only charge was to hold an election, approved a sweeping new policy. It had no mandate to make long-term land decisions but it made one anyway. On May 10 2023, the Colonies Department opened the door to hand prime state land to gymkhana clubs across the province, and fixed their rent at a tenth of market value. The discount was sewn into the rules. The Board of Revenue reports the harvest. The figure that matters is what the clubs actually pay, after the 90 per cent is shaved away: Rs20,000 an acre a year at Dera Ghazi Khan, Mandi Bahauddin, and Chiniot; Rs50,000 at Vehari, Sahiwal, and Dera Ghazi Khan; Rs60,000 at Kamalpur Syedaan in Attock; Rs100,000 at Saddar Gymkhana, Gujranwala; Rs120,000 at Jhang; Rs140,000 at Jhelum and Gujranwala City. An acre of prime city land, for the price of a secondhand motorcycle, every year. And the final irony: this generous policy, the Board says, does not reach the Lahore Gymkhana, because its lease is older. Elite enclaves on public land The Gymkhana is not the only refuge for the officer class in Lahore. Inside the GOR, that broad expanse of prime central land set aside for officialdom, stands the Punjab Civil Officers Mess on Tollington Road. At GOR’s gate stands the colonial Punjab Club. A short walk off, the Lahore Polo Club keeps its grounds and stables inside the Race Course, public parkland surrendered to horses and a handful of players. An exclusive school for the male heirs of the elite, Aitchison College (Chief’s College), spreads over 200 acres. None of these entities bought their land. It is public land, held in trust, enjoyed by the few. Islamabad tells the same story more starkly. The Islamabad Club, sprawled across 352 acres of CDA land, pays about three rupees an acre a month as its gates remain closed to ordinary citizens. The Gun and Country Club rose up on land meant for the Pakistan Sports Board; the Supreme Court declared it illegal in 2018 and ordered the land to be taken back, yet years later auditors could not trace some 38 acres, and the club sat on roughly 37 with no deed, no lease, no licence at all. The court said it aloud: there was no land in Islamabad for a public hospital [for the poor], but there was land aplenty for clubs for the rich. And the hunger has not eased. In Multan, the district administration moves to slice 15 acres off the Central Cotton Research Institute, founded in 1970, the cradle of more than forty cotton varieties, including the region’s first virus-free strain, to feed another gymkhana, while the country’s cotton reserves sit at a record low and we spend hard currency importing the very crop the institute exists to improve. The Pakistan Business Forum has written to the chief minister to stop it. The clubs took the parks. Now they reach into the seed bank. There has been an attempt to quantify this. In 2021, the UNDP put a number on the privileges captured by Pakistan’s elite. Cheap land and capital, tax breaks and soft inputs came to about $17.4 billion a year, which is nearly 6pc of the whole economy. The Gymkhana is merely a place where one may stand and watch the transfer happen: a 112 acres, for Rs5000. When the same hands value, grant, and enjoy the land This mechanism endures not through sloth but through strategy, as the actors make clear. The land belongs to the state. The men who grant it are senior civil servants in the Colonies Department, the Board of Revenue, the office of the Deputy Commissioner. The men who set the value of the land, and thus decide the rent, are with the same revenue service. And the men who enjoy the clubs are, by rule, civil servants of Grade 18 and above and senior officers of the armed forces. The same hands own the land, price the land, rent it, and carry the membership cards. When one cadre handles every aspect of a deal, its low price is no blunder. It is the purpose. No one at that table has any interest in making public land fetch a public price, for all of them gain from the opposite. The officer who would raise the rent, enforce the breach, or cancel the lease must act against his service, his colleagues, and likely his own leisure. That is what makes Sohaib Butt’s report so rare, and so telling. It took a man willing to go against the grain of his service to do the simplest thing: write down what the land is worth. This is the truth worth stating plainly. In Pakistan, real power does not change hands at the ballot box. Governments arrive and depart; the bureaucracy and elites abide. And on the matter of state land for clubs, those who never leave office and those who enjoy the clubs are one and the same. That is why such a file scarcely moves. And it is why it matters so greatly who, in the end, forced it into the open. Nestled within the Bagh-e-Jinnah, is one of the most picturesque cricket arenas of the world — Credits: Dawn archives Two-tiered justice The state can, of course, move on land with great speed if it wants. Take Islamabad, the capital that prides itself on order. For three months its bulldozers have flattened katchi abadis or the informal colonies where the city’s gardeners and nannies, washerwomen and labourers have lived for a generation. Around 25,000 people were driven out of Mulism Colony in Bari Imam alone. Settlements a quarter-century old, Rimsha Colony in H-9 and the largely Christian Allama Iqbal Colony in G-7, were marked for the same fate, along with the ancient villages of Saidpur and Nurpur Shahan.The state’s housing policy counts 60 such settlements in the city, home to between 300,000 and half a million souls; the CDA recognises barely 10 as lawful and brands the rest squatters. And here is the part that should silence the room: a Supreme Court order from 2015 was passed after the merciless clearance of the I-11 settlement left 25,000 people homeless. It stayed the summary evictions altogether. The bulldozers came regardless. The same legal system that cannot dislodge an unpaid colonial lease in 18 months had no trouble dislodging the poor in open defiance of its highest court. Punjab is no kinder about informality. It is just quieter about it. For three decades, it has promised to regularise its katchi abadis, and for three decades that promise has mostly stayed on paper. There is a law to sanction the work done and an agency to get it done but the number of settlements grows faster than the lists of “regularised” ones. Surveys are started and abandoned. Notifications are issued and forgotten. The poor who put up their housing on the edges of Lahore and Faisalabad and Rawalpindi live out their years in limbo, always one bureaucrat’s signature away from eviction. Three decades is a lifetime. A child born in one of these colonies has grown, married, and had children, and the family still cannot say for certain that the ground beneath their feet is legally theirs. Meanwhile, the new law enforcer is punishing and swift. The Punjab government created the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority (PERA), to clear what it deemed to be encroachments. It is aided by deputy and assistant commissioners and a uniformed force with black Vigos. Through 2025 PERA hired thousands of staff and opened stations across Lahore and beyond, as its drives targeted the small folk. Traders protested its methods: a shop photographed in the evening, sealed the next morning, fined Rs10,000 to Rs25,000, kept shut until the owner paid. Thella wallahs, vendors, kiosks punished for setting up on a footpath. But 112 acres of the city’s finest land, held on a dead lease, built over without leave, exempted by a rule the board invented, is “legitimate possession,” defended for generations. The bulldozer works swiftly for the weak but stalls for the strong. What Rs218 billion could buy instead of membership It is worth listing what Rs218 billion would buy in a place that cannot pay for medicine. In 2025-26, Punjab set aside Rs630.5 billion for its health sector, and proudly announced that for the first time this included Rs79.5 billion for free medicine. And yet Dawn reported that Rawalpindi’s three public hospitals (Holy Family, Benazir Bhutto, and the Teaching Hospital) were given a fraction of Rs4.5 billion they asked for. Their vendors are refusing to deliver stocks until the bills are cleared. The Lahore Gymkhana land, on the other hand, is worth Rs218 billion, or three times the free medicine funding. A single elite golf-and-dining estate, that pays Rs5000 in rent, is worth more than the tab for medicines in a province of 120 million people. The Assembly did its job It took an elected Assembly more than one attempt to set this right. The matter was brought up at the last session but did not move ahead for “mysterious” reasons. The House pressed further. A member moved an adjournment motion and the Speaker called it out: this was elite capture of state land. The Speaker formed a committee and for the first time in history, opened its hearings to the public and TV cameras. The House’s members killed it at the first sitting by placing on the record, all of them, that they sought no membership of the club, only the public interest. In a few weeks they ferreted out from their government two documents that settled everything. The first was the valuation, ADC(R) report (shown above), which turned Rs5,000 into a scandal by comparison. The second document ended the argument. The Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department gave a clean opinion on what the state may do: Clause 6 of the 1996 lease lets the government end the lease at any time, on six months’ notice. Clause 8 says that when it ends, the club is owed nothing for any building it raised. The Board of Revenue added that the state is bound to resume the land when public purpose requires it, or when the lease is broken. India reclaimed its gymkhana land by reading one clause of a lease. Punjab’s lawyers have now confirmed the province holds the same power to take back the Rs218 billion estate, with every building on it, on six months’ notice, and pay nothing. Credit for this denouement goes to the House of elected representatives. What they cannot do alone is sign the order. That pen rests with the executive, which is the same bureaucracy that would rather keep the file shut. Inside Lahore Gymkhana Cricket Museum, the first of its kind in Pakistan — Credits: Dawn archives Options The remedy is not exotic. The simplest one is to cancel the lease. The second option is to take back the land for public use, which is what Delhi did. We don’t need to look far to find precedent. When the Royal Palm Club in Lahore defaulted on its lease of Railways land, the state took the land back and pulled down structures. Indeed, members on both benches have said if it can be done to a club on railway land in Lahore, it can be done to a club on nazul (state) land in Lahore. The most durable option is a legal statute to dedicate the gymkhana estate to a fixed public use. And one use should unite the benches. The estate is a manicured, thirsty green in one of the most poisoned cities on earth. Take it back. Grow a native forest on it the fast and thick Miyawaki way and plan a park. Such greenery traps the dust, cools the air, and pushes back against the smog that sends people to our hospitals each winter. A golf course serves a hundred men. A forest would serve millions. We say the law protects everyone alike but we must admit it does not. The thella wallah is presumed to be illegal and is not given time to prove otherwise. The Lahore Gymkhana Club is presumed to be lawful no matter what the file says. Delhi has shown us the way. There was never a question of what the law allowed if elite land had to be taken back. The Assembly has proven this twice and put proof on record. What remains is the will to choose a public forest or park over a private fairway, the many over the few, the medicine over the membership. The House has spoken. The executive has not. For now, the silence belongs to the people holding the pen, and everyone can see why they would rather not sign.

GS리테일, '농식품 바우처' 핵심 채널로…결제액 14배 증가

GS리테일이 '농식품 바우처' 사업의 핵심 유통 채널로 자리 잡았다. GS25와 GS더프레시 전국 점포를 통해 취약계층의 장보기 접근성을 높이고 국산 농축산물 소비 확대에 적극 나서고 있다. GS리테일은 지난해 GS25와 GS더프레시의 농식품 바우처 결제액이 사업 첫해인 2023년보다 14배 규모로 늘었다고 4일 밝혔다. 올해 5월까지 이용 실적도 전년 동기 대비 2배 이상 늘며 역대 최대 수준을 기록할 것으로 전망된다. 농식품 바우처는 농림축산식품부와 한국농수산식품유통공사가 운영하는 식품 지원 사업이다. 취약계층의 건강한 식생활을 돕고 국산 농산물 소비를 촉진하기 위해 도입됐다. 지원 규모는 1인 가구 월 4만원부터 10인 이상 가구 기준 최대 18만7000원까지다. 이용자는 지정 사용처에서 국산 채소, 과일, 육류, 신선계란, 흰우유, 잡곡류 등을 구매할 수 있다....

GS25·GS더프레시, 농식품 바우처 결제액 2년 새 14배↑

GS리테일이 운영하는 편의점 GS25와 슈퍼마켓 GS더프레시의 농식품 바우처 이용 실적이 2년 새 약 14배 증가한 것으로 나타났다. 농식품 바우처는 농림축산식품부와 한국농수산식품유통공사(aT)가 운영하는 식품 지원 사업이다. 취약 계층의 건강한 식생활을 지원하고 국산 농산물 소비를 촉진하기 위해 도입됐다. 지원 규모는 1인 가구 월 4만원부터 10인 이상

GS리테일 "농식품 바우처 이용액, 작년보다 두 배 이상 늘어"

(서울=연합뉴스) 정수연 기자 = GS리테일은 올해 1∼5월 GS25와 GS더프레시의 '농식품 바우처' 결제액이 1년 전보다 두 배 이상 늘었다...

Govt proposes over Rs1.1tr federal development in Budget FY27

A representational image of calculator and planning sheet. — Reuters Federal ministries allocated Rs754.9bn under development programme.Provinces, special areas proposed Rs251.68bn allocation.NHA secures Rs264bn from corporations' Rs355bn budget. ISLAMABAD: The federal...

‘로코노미’가 뜬다… 편의점 업계, 지역 농산물 활용 제품 잇따라 출시

최근 지역 특산물이나 제철 식재료를 적극적으로 찾아 소비하는 ‘로코노미(로컬+이코노미)’ 트렌드가 유통가 전반으로 확산하고 있다. 지역 농가 상생이라는 기업의 사회적 역할과 MZ세대의 가치 소비 니즈를 동시에 충족할 수 있어 로코노미 시장은 더욱 커지는 추세다.실제 시장조사기업 엠브레인에서 발표한 ‘2025 로코노미 활용 식품 조사’에 따르면 전체 응답자의 82%는 로코노미 식품을 구매해 본 경험이 있는 것으로 나타났다. 88%는 향후에도 구매 의향이 있다고 답했다.이같은 흐름에 편의점 업계에서도 관련 상품 출시가 잇따르고 있다. GS리테일이 운영하는 GS25는 김밥 큐레이터 정다현 작가와 손잡고 ‘제철 맞은 김밥xGS25’ 시리즈의 첫 제품으로 ‘영양부추오리김밥’을 선보인다고 2일 밝혔다.‘제철 맞은 김밥’은 정 작가가 국내 농가와 협업해 지역 특산물을 활용한 김밥을 선보이는 프로젝트다. GS25는 농가 상생과 지역 경제 활성화라는 취지에 공감해 이번 협업을 제안한 것으로 전

아삭한 영양부추 편의점 김밥에 쏙...GS25, '제철 김밥' 시리즈 첫선

김밥 큐레이터 정다현 작가와 레시피 공동 개발 편의점 GS25가 지역 농가에서 재배한 제철 식재료를 넣은 특화 김밥 시리즈를 선보인다. GS25는 김밥 큐레이터 정다현 작가와 협업한 '제철 맞은 김밥 x GS25' 시리즈를 론칭하고, 첫 번째 상품으로 '영양부추오리김밥(3800원)'을 출시한다고 2일 밝혔다. '제철 맞은 김밥'은 정다현 작가가 국내 농가와 협업해 지역 특산물을 활용한 김밥을 선보이는 프로젝트다. GS25는 농가 상생과 지역 경제 활성화란 콘셉트와 취지에 공감해 협업을 제안했다. GS25 전문 MD(상품기획자)와 연구원이 정다현 작가와 공동으로 레시피 개발에 참여했다. GS25의 전국 단위 유통망을 활용해 판로 확대를 지원할 계획이다....

GS25, 정다현 작가와 '제철 맞은 김밥' 시리즈 론칭…농가 상생 나선다

편의점, 월드컵 맞춤 ‘치·안·피·맥’ 할인

편의점 업계가 2026 국제축구연맹(FIFA) 북중미 월드컵 개막을 열흘 앞둔 1일 치킨, 맥주 등에 대한 할인행사에 나섰다.GS25는 한국 축구 국가대표팀 예선 경기가 치러지는 오는 12일, 19일, 25일에 맞춰 치킨·피자·맥주·안주류를 할인 판매한다. 한국 경기 전날 오후 8시부터 경기 당일까지 순살 프라이드, 통모짜 치즈치킨, 한마리 후라이드 치킨 ···

편의점 3사, 월드컵 앞두고 치킨·맥주 등 할인행사

GS25 제공2026 FIFA 북중미 월드컵 개막이 열흘 앞으로 다가온 가운데 편의점 업계가 1일 치킨, 맥주 등에 대한 할인 행사에 나섰다.GS25는 한국 축구 국가대표팀 예선 경기가 열리는 오는 12일, 19일, 25일에 맞춰 치킨·피자·맥주·안주류를 할인 판매한다. 치킨은 한국 경기 전날 오후 8시부터 경기 당일까지 순살 프라이드, 통모짜 치즈치킨, ···

Petrol gets cheaper, why doesn’t life?

The federal government recently announced a Rs22 per litre reduction in petrol and high-speed diesel prices. The decision lowered petrol prices from above Rs403 per litre to approximately Rs381.78 per litre and was presented as a measure to provide relief to consumers facing persistent economic pressures. Yet the public response was far from enthusiastic. Instead of celebrations, many citizens reacted with scepticism. Others questioned whether the reduction would make any meaningful difference in their lives. The reason is simple: while petrol may have become cheaper than it was a few weeks ago, life itself remains expensive. Petrol still costs nearly Rs382 per litre, plus the prices of food, electricity, gas, medicines, transportation, and housing remain elevated. Consequently, many households do not perceive the reduction as a visible improvement. Public sentiment is also shaped by recent memory. Before regional tensions involving Iran disrupted global energy markets, petrol prices in Pakistan were substantially lower. Earlier this year, consumers were paying nearly Rs250-270 per litre. The subsequent surge in international oil prices pushed domestic fuel prices above Rs400 per litre. Although recent reductions have lowered prices somewhat, consumers naturally compare current rates with pre-crisis levels rather than with the record highs of recent weeks. From people’s perspective, the latest reduction appears less like meaningful relief and more like a partial reversal of earlier price increases From their perspective, the latest reduction appears less like meaningful relief and more like a partial reversal of earlier increases. Citizens evaluate economic conditions through their lived experiences. They judge affordability when purchasing vegetables, paying school fees, visiting hospitals, or receiving monthly utility bills. If these expenses remain, improvements in selected indicators rarely generate optimism. When fuel prices increase, transport operators often raise fares almost immediately. Traders cite higher transportation expenses to justify price increases. Manufacturers pass additional costs on to consumers. Yet when fuel prices decline, prices rarely move downward at the same pace. Prices rise rapidly but fall slowly. Consequently, households experience the full burden of inflation while receiving only limited benefits when costs begin to moderate. The food sector provides a clear example. Fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products, and livestock products all rely on transportation networks that connect farms to markets. During periods of rising diesel prices, transportation costs contribute to higher retail prices. Yet when diesel becomes cheaper, consumers often see little immediate change in the prices displayed at local markets. Part of the explanation lies in the broader inflationary environment. Businesses face multiple cost pressures simultaneously, including labour expenses, electricity tariffs, financing costs, rents, and regulatory charges. Once prices are adjusted upward, they are rarely reduced unless competitive pressures force businesses to do so. As a result, inflation tends to leave a lasting imprint on household budgets. Transportation expenses represent only one component of monthly budgets. Electricity bills, gas charges, school fees, healthcare costs, internet services, and housing rents continue to exert pressure on household finances. Even if lower petrol prices save a commuter a few hundred rupees per month, those savings can easily be offset by rising expenditures elsewhere. Perhaps the most telling indicator of affordability challenges emerged during Eidul-Azha this year. Anecdotally, many people observed that some families who traditionally performed qurbani every year either opted for smaller shares in collective sacrifices or chose not to participate at all because of economic constraints. When households begin reassessing even deeply valued annual practices because of affordability concerns, it serves as a powerful reminder that economic challenges extend far beyond the price of petrol. There is also a psychological dimension to affordability. Years of inflation have changed consumer behaviour. Families have become more cautious about spending. Businesses have delayed investments. Consumers increasingly prioritise necessities while postponing major purchases. Such behaviour reflects not only current economic conditions but also uncertainty about the future. Pakistan’s dependence on imported petroleum products further complicates the situation. While recent declines in international crude oil prices have created room for domestic reductions, future volatility remains a constant possibility. The writer is affiliated with the School of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu P.R. China, and the Department of Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship Development, MNS-University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan. Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, June 1st, 2026

편의점 3사, 6월 할인전 돌입… 축구·여름 특수 잡는다

편의점 3사가 6월을 맞아 스포츠 관람과 초여름 나들이 수요를 겨냥한 대규모 프로모션에 나선다. 대한민국 축구 경기 일정에 맞춘 치킨·피자·맥주 할인부터 아이스크림, 하이볼, 즉석 원두커피 행사까지 하절기 인기 상품을 앞세웠다. GS25는 6월 한 달간 대한민국 축구 경기일인 12일, 19일, 25일을 중심으로 치킨·피자·맥주·안주 행사를 진행한다. 치킨

'No sufficient outcome' yet of talks to secure discounts from Chinese power producers: Leghari

ISLAMABAD: Power Minister Awais Leghari said on Sunday that there had been “no sufficient outcome” of talks to secure discounts from Chinese power producers thus far, unlike over Rs3.5 trillion in savings secured through revised agreements with other independent power producers (IPPs) and public sector plants. In March, the government had informed a parliamentary panel that about Rs3.5tr in savings had been secured through revisions to power purchase agreements with 29 private and some state-owned power plants, spanning their three to 20-year terms. The move was aimed at reducing electricity rates. When Leghari was asked about negotiations with IPPs set up under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) for tariff rationalisation during a press conference on Sunday, he said, “Sufficient outcome has not come out yet.” The minister explained that CPEC-related IPPs were set up under a framework. Under that framework, “we have been trying for concessions in the form of debt-reprofiling, but sufficient results have not materialised yet”. He said a revision of the agreement could only take place while staying within a government-to-government arrangement, as both governments had provided enough guarantees. “We also have to respect investments that flowed in when no investor was ready to look towards Pakistan”, he said, hoping that “an agreement would be reached towards an improvement”. Leghari recalled that renegotiations with IPPs, the restructuring of agreements and the closure of old plants had helped secure Rs3.5tr in savings, and that the last agreements with IPPs would expire in 2053. He also said that a reduction in system losses, transfer of old Genco staff to distribution companies and the use of fiscal space for reduction in circular debt had helped cut the power sector’s budgeted subsidy to Rs890bn this year from Rs1.287tr last year, and it would be further reduced to Rs830bn in the coming fiscal year. In response to a question, the power minister said the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project had been out of system for about a year and a half because the project had design flaws. He said the Water and Power Development Authority would take another year and a half or so to repair the over Rs500bn project. “Its closure is causing remarkable losses, amounting to billions of rupees, and due to the non-availability of cheap electricity from this project, expensive electricity has to be arranged for,” he said. He further stated that a burden of Rs250bn on industrial consumers was removed by ending cross-subsidy. As a result, electricity tariffs fell across consumer categories over the past two years, he claimed. Presenting a chart, the minister maintained that the average domestic power tariff had dropped by 16 per cent between May 2024 and 2026 while commercial rates fell by 8pc. The industrial sector got the biggest relief whose average tariff dropped by 33pc while tariffs for general services, bulk consumers and the agriculture sector came down by 10pc, 13pc and 14pc, respectively, he said. The national average tariff reduced by 20pc to Rs42.26 per unit in May 2026, while this tariff was Rs53.04 per unit exactly two years back, he said. Responding to a question, the minister said his attempts to remove the electricity duty on power bills did not bear fruit owing to resistance from provinces. However, he added, lowered tariffs had automatically reduced the impact of tax burden on consumers. The minister also claimed that a “fake campaign was going on for weeks”, with allegations being made that the government was removing subsidies for low-end consumers. “It is completely false,” he said, adding that the government had introduced a mechanism for the registration of consumers eligible for subsidy, given the increased use of alternative energy sources, such as solar power, that reduced consumers’ dependence on electricity from the national grid. “The government wants to ensure subsidies go only to the eligible consumers, not the ineligible ones. A QR code registration system has been launched,” he said, adding that the initiative had shown positive results with around two million single-phase consumers registered in about a month. Leghari said the eligibility criteria for subsidy would be determined through public consultations and “verified eligible consumers will continue receiving their subsidy without interruption”. But, he also said that the subsidy could not be provided to those keeping their consumption below 200 units by the simultaneous use of solar power through multiple meters. The minister also said solar power self-generation capacity was estimated to expand to 50,000 megawatts in ten years from less than 20,000MW at present despite a shift from the net-metering mechanism to net-billing.

IMF asks Pakistan to raise GST to 19% in Budget 2026-27

This image shows the seal for the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC on January 26, 2022. — AFPEstimated impact of GST hike could be Rs250-300bn revenue.IMF proposes increase due to shortfall in tax collection target.IMF cites weak tax performance as reason for higher GST...

[더벨]아우딘퓨쳐스, 해군 PX 신규 입점 예정

더벨'머니투데이 thebell'에 출고된 기사입니다. 화장품 전문기업 아우딘퓨쳐스(대표이사 최영욱)가 군 유통 채널 내 입지를 대폭 강화했다고 29일 밝혔다. 국군복지단 인터넷 쇼핑몰 '와몰'의 운영 품목(SKU)을 확대하는 동시에 GS25 해군PX 신규 입점까지 확정하며 군 장병 및 가족 고객과의 접점을 넓히고 있다. GS25 해군PX에 네오젠과 써메딕 총 13개 SKU 신규 입점이 확정됐다. 특히 이번 입점에는 올리브영에서 좋은 반응을 얻고 있는 '네오젠 넥스트글로우' 3종이 포함됐다. 사회에서 소비자 인지도를 확보한 제품을 군 채널에서도 구매할 수 있게 되면서, 브랜드의 접점 확대와 반복 구매 기반 강화가 기대된다....

아우딘퓨쳐스, GS25 협업 해군 입점 "국내외 유통 채널 지속 확장"

화장품 전문기업 아우딘퓨쳐스가 국군복지단 인터넷 쇼핑몰 '와몰'의 운영 품목(SKU)을 확대하는 동시에 GS25 해군PX 신규 입점까지 확정하며 군 유통 채널 내 입지를 확대했다고 29일 밝혔다. 아우딘퓨쳐스는 최근 GS25 해군PX에 네오젠과 써메딕 총 13개 SKU 신규 입점을 확정했다. 군 채널에 입점되는 제품은 장병의 주요 피부 고민인 트러블, 모공, 주름, 진정, 보습 등에 대응할 수 있는 기능성 라인업으로 구성됐다. 야외 활동, 면도, 생활 환경 변화 등으로 피부 민감도가 높아질 수 있는 군 소비자 특성을 반영한 것이다. 특히 이번 입점에는 올리브영에서 좋은 반응을 얻고 있는 '네오젠 넥스트글로우' 3종이 포함됐다....

GS25, 강원도 낙천 양조장과 '일생막걸리' 출시…지역 상생 확대

KT, ‘티빙 생활구독팩’ 출시… OTT에 편의점·뷰티 쿠폰 더했다

KT가 온라인동영상서비스(OTT) 티빙에 생활 밀착형 쿠폰을 더한 구독 상품 ‘티빙 생활구독팩’을 선보인다고 26일 밝혔다. 유튜브 프리미엄과 디즈니+ 중심으로 운영해 온 생활구독 상품군에 티빙을 추가하며 콘텐츠 구독 라인업을 넓히는 것이다. 티빙 생활구독팩은 OTT 이용권과 매월 선택형 생활 혜택을 결합한 상품이다. 고객은 GS25 4000원권, 다이소