Pak auctions off Sharif’s buffaloes

◗ A total of eight buffalos were auctioned off for nearly ` 2.3 million at the prime minister’s residence, as Khan’s new administration aims to cut expenditure and increase revenue collection

Islamabad, Sept. 27: The Pakistani premier’s house milked its livestock reserves Thursday as dozens gathered for a buffalo auction in the capital Islamabad, in the latest push for Prime Minister Imran Khan’s highly publicised austerity drive.

A total of eight buffalos were auctioned off for nearly ` 2.3 million ($ 19,000) at the prime minister’s residence, as Khan’s new administration aims to cut expenditure and increase revenue collection to boost Pakistan’s struggling economy.

“The auction was not just good. It was very, very good,” said government official Javaid Iqbal, who oversaw the sale.

An auctioneer shouted prices to a crowd carrying stacks of rupees in the residence’s backyard, where the shiny, black buffalos for sale were tied to nearby trees. The animals were purchased in 2014 by the government of ousted premier Nawaz Sharif, with supporters of the erstwhile leader flocking to the auction and paying several times the market price for a piece of history. “I bought a buffalo for 300,000 rupees, which is three times higher than the market price. But I am happy because it’s a memory tied to my leader Nawaz Sharif,” Malik Tayyib Nawaz told us.