Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a public holiday on Tuesday (today) across Pakistan on account of Youm-e-Takbeer, bringing the country to a standstill which also led to the postponement of exams.
The prime minister announced a holiday to celebrate the historic day when Pakistan successfully conducted nuclear tests in the Chaghai hills in 1998.
However, due to this sudden public holiday, the provincial authorities once again deferred the matriculation exams in Karachi slated for Tuesday.
During the holidays, all government offices, banks, the Pakistan Stock Exchange, courts, and schools close.
According to Geo News, Pakistan — which is already suffering from inflation and has a weak economy — already gets 120 public holidays every year. Due to a single day off, the national GDP faces a 1-2% loss which equals to more than Rs100 billion.
Single holiday impacts national kitty $1.1-1.3bn
Economic analyst Khurram Schehzed mentioned that one public holiday can cost the national treasury between $1.1 and $1.3 billion. He also noted that an unexpected holiday has an even greater financial impact.
“If you take a decision after the end of a business day then the impact is double than that,” said Schehzed while speaking during Geo News programme “Geo Pakistan”.
He explained that this happens because a lot of businesses, industries and corporations have already planned their next day and have to cancel their activities.
Not in favour of public holidays personally: PML-N senator
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Irfan Siddiqui, while speaking on the same show, said that it is an important day for the country.
When asked why the government decided to announce a holiday all of a sudden, Senator Siddiqui said that he is personally not in favour of public holidays.
He said that this tradition isn’t good, but if the public holiday hadn’t been announced, no one would be talking about it. The senator added that the decision was made in Islamabad and he wasn’t involved in it.
