A majority of the markets and business centres of the city remained open on Monday, while offices, banks and the Lahore Stock Exchange remained closed. The business in markets was higher than observed on usual days, traders said. Markets and business centres on the Mall, Hall Road, Panorama Shopping Centre, Anarkali, Defence, Liberty Market, Gulberg, Cantonment, Iqbal Town, Ichra, Mozang, Abid Market, Model Town Link Road and other areas remained open. Banks and the Lahore Stock Exchange, however, remained closed, while the offices dealing with banks also observed the public holiday.
The federal and Punjab governments announced a public holiday on Monday to mark the death of Nusrat Bhutto. The State Bank of Pakistan announced banks will remain closed. While offices on Main Boulevard, Davis Road and Model Town were closed, the city’s markets remained open and business carried on as usual. Voicing the opinion of traders, Liberty Market trader Babar Ali Bhatti said business activity had been slow of late due to load shedding and the economic slump, thus traders could not afford to close down markets like this. They were pleased to report that they had more business than usual on Monday.
People thronged to the markets because of the public holiday and the wedding season. Another trader, Safdar Ali, said there was a 30 percent increase in the number of customers in the market. “Normally, I get around 50 customers on average a day, but on Monday, the number of customers was more than 60,” he said.
A banker, Rahim Butt, said he was shopping for his sister’s wedding. “My bank was closed and I got an additional day for shopping for her,” he said.
Offices in close dealings with bank also remained closed. An importer, Muhammad Mobeen, said he his office worked very closely in collaboration with banks, and when the banks were closed, his office remained similarly closed. “My business involves transactions through banks, which were closed, therefore, I did not open my office,” he added.
Markets open, offices shut
