Pakistan Government Extends Grocery Store Hours to 10 PM

The federal government’s Committee for Monitoring and Implementation of Fuel Conservation and Additional Austerity Measures on Wednesday approved two significant policy changes — extending the operating hours of standalone grocery and kiryana stores to 10:00 PM across all days of the week, and prolonging the applicability of existing austerity measures until June 30, 2026.

The decisions were reached during a high-level meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, in which the committee reviewed exemption requests submitted by various ministries and divisions and finalized its recommendations accordingly. Those austerity measures whose expiry had previously been set for June 13, 2026 will now remain in force through June 30, 2026 under the new extension.

On the matter of retail hours, the committee formally decided to extend the closing time of standalone grocery and kiryana stores to 10:00 PM on all days of the week, including Saturdays and Sundays — a move aimed at improving public convenience and supporting small traders.

Separately, the committee ruled that consular attestation services at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its liaison offices in Quetta, Karachi, Peshawar, Gujrat, and Lahore will now also remain operational on Fridays, ensuring greater public access to these facilities throughout the working week.

The meeting was attended by the ministers for petroleum, climate change, and IT and Telecom, the Special Assistant to the PM on finance, the Special Assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister, federal secretaries from cabinet, commerce, petroleum, and IT and Telecom divisions, as well as senior officials from relevant ministries.