Muhammad Saleem

FAISALABAD, Feb 26 (INP-WealthPK) – In the busy Clock Tower bazaars, the shelves are sagging with the Chinese stationery, cushioning the inflation-hit parents against pricey items and bringing reasonable profits to the traders, reports WealthPK. During the recent countrywide general elections, scores of press market traders did a roaring business by using the Chinese paper for printing. Sana Ahmed, a mother of three, told WealthPK that bearing the cost of stationery was an uphill task these days when surging inflation was hitting every segment of the society. She said the Chinese stationery, including copies, pencils, erasers and other materials, were helping parents in battling inflation and keeping the studies of their children unhindered. Like Sana, the shopkeepers are also very happy to trade in Chinese stationery. Muhammad Naeem, a bookseller of Aminpur Bazaar, said Chinese manufacturers were offering different styles of matchboxes, erasers, sharpeners, pencils, bags, copies and other materials at affordable rates.

He said most of parents were spending much on the education of their children, with stationery and allied material being a major financial burden for them. Sheikh Mudassar, a press market printer, told WealthPK that scores of imported paper varieties were available in Faisalabad but the quality and price of Chinese paper suited the traders. “We can get the Chinese paper easily, as scores of importers have started investing in this sector to ensure the presence of products locally.” Earlier, he said the majority of traders and printers had to struggle a lot to get the paper from big cities. Shabana Kausar, a private schoolteacher, told WealthPK that Chinese writing material and other products were changing the domain of schooling. She said lively school supplies were lessening the financial burden on the parents and enhancing the learning capacity of their kids. “Sensing the buying capacity of parents, the school administrations are also considering providing Chinese stationer to their students with the school logo,” she said.

INP: Credit: INP-WealthPk