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 and also leading to the postponement of exams.
The prime minister announced the holiday to commemorate the historic day when Pakistan successfully carried out nuclear tests in the Chaghai Hills in 1998.
However, due to this sudden holiday, the provincial authorities once again postponed the Karachi matriculation exams scheduled for Tuesday.
The holidays also result in the closure of all government departments, banks and Pakistan Stock Exchange, courts and all educational institutes.
According Geographic news, Pakistan, which already suffers from inflation and has a weak economy, already has 120 public holidays every year. Due to a single day off, the national GDP faces a loss of 1-2%, which is equivalent to more than 100 billion rupees.
A single holiday impacts the national fund between 1.1 and 1.3 billion dollars
Economic analyst Khurram Schehzed said a single holiday can affect the national treasury between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion. However, he added that a “sudden” holiday has a greater impact.
“If a decision is made after the end of a business day, the impact is double,” Schehzed said during his speech at Geographic news “Geo Pakistan” program.
He explained that this happens because many businesses, industries and corporations have already planned their next day and have to cancel their activities.
Personally I am not in favor of holidays: PML-N senator
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Irfan Siddiqui, while speaking on the same programme, said that it is an important day for the country.
When asked why the government decided to announce a holiday suddenly, Senator Siddiqui said that he is personally not in favor of holidays.
He said that this is not a good tradition, however, if this holiday was not announced then perhaps no one would discuss this day. The senator added that this decision was taken in Islamabad and he had no part in it.
