Eid hype: Cattle prices remain high as vendors refuse to yield to low demand

Vendors say they would keep their animals instead of selling them at reduced prices.

ISLAMABAD:

The “invisible hand of the market”, described by economists as the self-regulating force of supply and demand, is indeed ‘invisible’ in Islamabad’s capital market. Despite a substantial decrease in the number of people purchasing sacrificial animals for this Eidul Azha, the vendors at capital’s cattle markets are adamant on keeping the prices of the animals high.

Vendors hailing from different parts of the country said they brought the animals to the I-11 cattle market expecting to earn maximum profits, which easily exceed the costs of the animals’ upkeep and transportation. But despite an unflattering response from customers, the vendors said they would keep their animals instead of selling them at reduced prices.

“These animals are like tokens for us and we could easily sell them even after Eid,” said Ghulam Nabi, who brought goats and camels to Islamabad’s cattle market from Swabi. “We are not demanding any profit from the customers. We rear these animals so we can sell them on the eve of Eid, so these are like our monthly savings,” he argued. However, another vendor, Abdul Manaf, said the decrease in demand forced him to reduce the price of his veal from Rs200,000 to Rs160,000, but he still could not find a customer for the healthy animal. He said he is not ready to further decrease the price of the veal, saying that his family members were not willing to sell the veal in the market at a nominal rate.

Customers on the other hand had hoped that as the Eid day nears the prices would eventually drop; some had even postponed their purchase based on the speculation. However, the sticky prices of the animals have left customers worried that they will not be able to perform their religious sacrifice this year.

“My expectation was that before one day of Eid, prices of the animals would decrease but it did not happen this year,” said Adil Munir, a local. He said few of my friends have planned to visit the cattle markets in Rawat and Deena on Eid day hoping to find sacrificial animals at economical rates.

Tausif Ahmad, a resident of Rawalpindi told The Express Tribune that he visited the cattle market several times but could not purchase an animal and this year due to their high prices. “It is sad that the vendors have increased the prices of the animals so high. Many people including myself will not able to fulfil the important ritual of Islam this year,” he sighed.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th,  2011.