Quetta, Jan 3 Pakistan’s Punjab province is facing a severe economic crisis due to the prolonged closures of border crossings with Afghanistan, with monthly losses estimated at more than Pakistani rupees 80 billion, a report said on Saturday, citing the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).
According to LCCI President Faheem-ur-Rehman Saigol, the continued closure of trade routes has severely disrupted bilateral trade, with cement and agricultural chemicals sectors among the hardest hit. He noted that following the October 2025 border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, all major trade routes were closed, halting cross-border trade, the Balochistan Post reported.
“The suspension of trade has not only damaged the economies of both countries but has also put the livelihoods of thousands of traders at risk on both sides of the border,” said Saigol.
Citing LCCI sources, the Balochistan Post reported that nearly 3,000 traders remain stranded due to the closures, including around 1,200 Pakistani and 1,800 Afghan traders.
Reports suggest that large quantities of fresh fruits, dry fruits and other food items transported from Afghanistan to Pakistan are rotting in trucks parked at border points, resulting in significant financial losses.
Saigol said that Pakistan’s agricultural and industrial exports depend heavily on the Afghan border, which also serves as a crucial transit route to Central Asian countries. “The halt in trade is increasing economic pressure. Incomes are falling, inflation is rising, and both the public and investors are growing increasingly anxious,” he added.
Meanwhile, residents engaged in border trade in Balochistan’s Turbat staged a protest on Thursday against the closure of the Abdoi border crossing with Afghanistan, claiming the Pakistani government’s actions had deprived them of their main source of income.
The rally, led by Border Movement figure Sardar Wali Yalanzai, started at Ghulam Nabi Chowk and concluded at Shaheed Fida Chowk, where protesters raised slogans against the government and described the restrictions as “economic blockade”.
The protesters stated that the weeks-long closure has taken an economic toll in the region, where cross-border fuel and goods trading forms the main source of income.
Yalanzai and other speakers accused authorities of giving traders “false hopes” by repeatedly saying the crossing would reopen “today or tomorrow”.
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