Was it the force of spirituality or public desperation to cling to an excuse for celebration? Eid was festive. Pakistanis stretched their budgets to capacity to partake in the revered Muslim festival, ignoring depressing factors.

Many analysts term the current economic crisis among the most precarious ones, if not the worst, historically. The economy is barely crawling (0.3 per cent growth), inflation has gone through the roof (38pc), and currency is dirt cheap (Rs300 plus in the open market in June). The list of economic casualties of the crisis is long. On the political front, clouds continue to be dense, feeding speculations of all manners.

Pakistanis were still not ready to resign themselves to fate, also because they couldn’t. Even if not fully cognisant of macroeconomic issues, they understand the current crisis’s impact on households. They adjusted swiftly to make do with whatever was affordable.

At Eidul Azha last week, again, they demonstrated their positive practical behaviour. A very large number of middle-class families suppressed the temptation of buying a goat and opted for joint qurbani of cows, where seven families share the cost to suit their budgets.

Compared to a roughly 40pc drop in Eidul Fitr, spending at Eidul Azha markets was estimated to be down by 25pc

“The cost of qurbani is not limited to the price of the cattle that has increased by 10 to 15pc, less than half of the inflation rate, because of the demand slump. The total spend includes the cost of transport to shift animals, arrangements for safekeeping, feeding from the time of purchase to slaughter on Eid, butchering and cleaning.

“Just to give an idea, the cost of transporting animals from Mundi to home doubled in a year from Rs2,000 to Rs4,000, on average, in Karachi. Feed for a goat per day was up from Rs150 to Rs250 and for cows from Rs250 to Rs400. Even seasonal butchers are demanding Rs6,000 for a goat,” said Warsi, who supervises qurbani operations of a charitable organisation patronised by non-resident Pakistanis.

Families cut corners and dedicated their Eid shopping to children this year. This explained the low footfall in regular bazaars and malls this year.

The public manoeuvre saved the Bakra Eid market from crashing, but cattle sellers said their profits dwindled as they were not able to fetch the asking price. The fact is that despite any let-up in the economy, the market shrinkage at Bakra Eid was less than Eidul Fitr in 2023.

Compared to about 40pc drop in Mithi Eid, spending at Eidul Azha market was estimated to be down by 25pc. If last year’s projection of Rs150bn is assumed to be true, this year’s market shrunk to Rs118 billion.

There has always been a net flow of funds from urban to rural areas on Eidul Azha. The reverse is true for Eidul Fitr. Experts believe more than 80pc of the Rs118bn spent landed in cattle farmers’ hands.

“The main markets of Karachi were deserted till two days before Eid,” Hanif, a cattle broker, confided. “There were many reasons that included the high management costs and higher health risks in the expected wet season,” he added.

Commenting on electronic and social media stories and reels, a watcher thought it created a false perception of heightened activity. In reality, many people exited the qurbani market for economic reasons.

“Sale and purchase of fabulously priced beautiful animals by a few didn’t compensate for many millions pushed out of cattle market this year.”

The predominantly cash-based trade at Bakra Eid renders the quantification of the volume of the market hard. The estimates are tentative based on intelligent guesstimates taking into account inputs from multiple sources, including bank reports of cash withdrawals and remittance inflows, exchange companies projecting informal inflows, charitable organisations active and numbers of registered cattle heads in government-supervised cattle markets and the average prices for sacrificial animals.

Multiple sources related to cattle farming and trade confirmed further perpetuation of the trend of collective qurbani this year. It meant a relative increase in the demand for cows compared to lamb and goats.

They also observed discrepancies in animal prices depending on multiple factors. Generally, cattle were pricier in Karachi compared to other cities, it was observed. “In Punjab, because of the cross-border influx of cows, they were relatively cheaper by at least 10pc in the first-tier cities there,” Aslam, a cattle dealer in Lahore, noted.

A leading leather products exporter Shujaat Ali lamented the wastage of valuable hides and skins on Eid. “Owing to low demand, prices of hides crashed last year to one-third of the value in 2021. The revival of the footwear industry has perked up the leather demand.” He expected the price of hides to recover, but in the absence of an organised collection and preservation system, he still feared wastage.

To block the proceeds of hides sale flow to illegal entities and terror outfits, the government has banned the collection of hides to raise funds. It dismantled the system of skin collection by philanthropic arms of political parties to a great extent, but this increased the rate of wastage of the valuable raw material consumed by tanneries and the leather industry in the absence of substitute arrangements for the preservation of hides and skins.

“Had the government replaced the old system with a more efficient system of collection and preservation of hides, we would have appreciated the move. Sadly, the exit of Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation, Mohsin-e-Insaniyat Association and Al Khidmat Foundation, all charitable wings of political parties, left a vacuum and disrupted the local supply chain of the leather industry,” Mr Ali argued.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, July 3rd, 2023