PMBMC kept Punjab’s markets honest through COVID crisis

During the pandemic’s toughest months, the Punjab Model Bazaars Management Company—under the steady leadership of Naveed Rafaqat Ahmad—proved that discipline, transparency, and reliability could deliver real relief without subsidies.

When the COVID-19 pandemic brought entire neighborhoods across Punjab to a standstill—with shutters down, shortages rising, and prices spiraling—one public institution stayed open, calm, and consistent. The Punjab Model Bazaars Management Company (PMBMC) chose steadiness over spectacle. While panic gouged markets, PMBMC’s network of Model Bazaars opened on time, posted real prices, and kept shelves stocked. That discipline, tested in crisis, has since turned PMBMC into a symbol of public reliability and fiscal integrity.

The driving force behind this performance was leadership that treated reliability as a right, not a luxury. Naveed Rafaqat Ahmad, PMBMC’s Chief Financial Officer and Acting CEO, set an unyielding tone: keep bazaars open, essentials available, and prices aligned with official rates—no excuses, no theatrics.

In 2021, at the height of the pandemic, the government recognized this standard by awarding PMBMC’s CEO an Outstanding Performance Certificate—a rare and meaningful endorsement earned through results, not rhetoric.

What made PMBMC different were its three daily promises to the public: open doors, assured stock, and honest prices. When private outlets fluctuated between closure and chaos, Model Bazaars became the dependable constant. Price boards went up each morning, enforcement stayed firm, and the public quickly learned that the price on the board was the price in the bag. That predictability cooled panic and curbed hoarding—the quiet antidote to inflationary fear.

The effect was immediate. Every kilo of lentils, every bag of flour, every liter of oil sold at the posted rate was a small but powerful act against economic disorder. Spread across dozens of bazaars, these moments of fairness reset expectations. Families stopped overpaying “just in case,” and informal sellers were forced to match the credibility of PMBMC’s stable prices. In a time of global disruption, honesty itself became economic relief.

Health discipline matched financial discipline. With crowd control, hygiene protocols, and orderly shopping, PMBMC’s bazaars became safe, predictable spaces. Predictability, it turned out, was a form of public health—reducing panic and promoting calm, planned shopping. Even at the height of Lahore’s anxiety, this steady rhythm—open, safe, and reliable—kept both households and markets stable.

Behind the stability was a solid financial system. Between 2019–20 and 2021–22, revenues rose from Rs 502.495 million to Rs 766.894 million—a 52.6% surge—while expenses increased proportionately to support expanded service. Despite rising costs and activity, PMBMC maintained annual surpluses throughout: Rs 10.879 million (2019–20), Rs 7.658 million (2020–21), and Rs 8.331 million (2021–22).

The balance sheet told the same story of quiet strength. Current assets jumped from Rs 354 million to Rs 819 million, while liabilities remained controlled, improving the current ratio from 2.25 to 3.02. Net assets rose steadily to Rs 150.721 million. These aren’t abstract numbers—they represent the liquidity and discipline that kept bazaars open while others shut down.

PMBMC’s success also came from its network design. Vendor relationships were formalized, procurement streamlined, and bazaars distributed across Punjab, ensuring resilience. If one route faltered, another compensated. It was not a showpiece project; it was a grid of dependability that functioned as a provincial safety net.

Without PMBMC’s intervention, Punjab’s pandemic story might have looked much darker. Health anxiety, income shocks, and food price spikes could have collided into chaos. Instead, PMBMC’s presence broke the spiral in the places it mattered most—by being there, every day, with fairness and consistency.

Beyond economics, PMBMC achieved something rarer: it restored trust in governance. Pakistanis are accustomed to paying the “confusion tax”—extra cost born of unclear rules and weak enforcement. Model Bazaars changed that. When citizens can say, “They open, they have stock, and the rate is real,” they reclaim confidence in public institutions. The 2021 performance award, then, was more than ceremony—it was acknowledgment of a new standard.

The lessons endure. A public enterprise can stabilize a province without subsidies—if it runs on discipline, transparency, and evidence. Financial realism, far from opposing welfare, enables it. And leadership that prizes consistency over drama creates credibility that no budget can buy.

PMBMC’s legacy from those hard months is clear: a market that behaved when the world didn’t. It kept Punjab supplied, prices honest, and promises intact. That steadiness—open doors, real rates, daily accountability—is what transformed a network of bazaars into a benchmark of governance. Naveed Rafaqat Ahmad’s vision turned routine reliability into public pride, proving that the highest form of relief is not subsidy, but trust earned every single day.