Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has warned that planned protests and sit-ins could cost the economy around Rs12,000 crore a day, citing research by the Planning Commission.
Aurangzeb issued the warning on Sunday ahead of separate planned marches on Islamabad by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI).
The JI march has already set off from Karachi, while PTI has announced nationwide protests for September 27 seeking the release of party founder Imran Khan and calling for the supremacy of the Constitution.
The government has vowed to prevent any march on the federal capital.
Aurangzeb said protests will impose “self-inflicted pain” on the economy at a time when Pakistan was already facing financial pressures linked to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, including disruptions to supply chains and higher freight and insurance costs.
He said consultations with the Planning Commission’s economic wing had estimated that previous protests and sit-ins, combined with current economic conditions, could result in a daily loss of Rs12,000 crore.
The services sector, including financial services, communications, retail, transport, wholesale and hospitality, would account for Rs8,600 crore of the estimated loss, Aurangzeb stated.
Industrial activity would lose Rs2,500 crore, while agriculture would face a Rs900 crore loss. He added that the government could suffer a further Rs1,700 crore in revenue losses.
Aurangzeb also warned of additional costs to the national treasury from logistics, transport, fuel and security deployments during protests.
He said Pakistan’s export-led growth could also be affected, noting that the government had set an export target of around Rs10.1 lakh crore for the current fiscal year, with a six per cent increase expected.
The minister noted that a strike in December 2025 had taken 1.5 months to recover from economically, while disruptions in August had also affected growth.
Aurangzeb warned that civil disobedience and internet connectivity problems had previously reduced IT exports by 80 per cent. IT exports stood at around Rs22,700 crore in July and August, or about Rs364 crore a day.
