KARACHI: Consumer spending during the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr this yearincreased by around 15 percent, breaking the Rs1 trillion trajectory, asrepeated heatwaves didn’t dampen customer sentiment across Pakistan.
The rise in spending has been credited to a mix of political, social andeconomic factors, reported *Dawn.*
An analyst said irrespective of salaries not rising, an increase in familyincome has been witnessed and now the concept of a single earning memberhas been replaced by several earners in households.
Increased awareness because of the internet and television is causingpeople to budget more proficiently which allows creating the financialspace required for expenditures on special occasions.
Director Operations, Emporium Mall Lahore Afnan Shah Khan cited improvementin law and order situation had enabled families deprived of outdooractivity on festive occasions an excellent opportunity to come out.
Mr Khan projected a 20 percent rise in the market compared to last year andshared footfall crossed over a million during Ramazan this year against830,000 in Emporium Mall last year.
Another market analyst believed another major factor was the public’sbuying power. The analyst said people didn’t go out shopping with emptypockets and had a budget for Eid whatever their social status.
The market watcher commented it was unreasonable to compare budgets acrossvarious social classes since a small accessory for one individual couldcost more than the total Eid budget of a low-income family.
A trader in Karachi’s largest shopping area Saddar said not only peoplewere procuring clothes, accessories, foods and beverages but also buyinghome appliances, cell phones, furniture.
This wasn’t restricted to retail shopping, as according to fintech expertsand banker’s online sales also broke records.
However, not everyone agreed with the discernment of a rising Eid economyand some people believed expert opinion was based on simple observations.
A mid-career banker said several shoppers were utilizing plastic cards andlarge brands, business houses tend to record all their transactions.
He added now it was easy to scope of money movement and determine the totalamount of transaction on a given day as compared to the past.
He said making an exact determination wasn’t possible due to the extensivecash economy.