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Welcome to the age of hoarding
As global economic uncertainty mounts, stockpiling is returning with a vengeance.
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Stockpiling is returning with a vengeance as global economic uncertainty mounts.
PHOTO: AFP
Gillian Tett
When the Iran war erupted on Feb 28, Pakistan’s government knew it faced a double economic squeeze. Not only does it import its fuel through the Strait of Hormuz – which is now blockaded – but, crucially, it also relies on imported fertiliser inputs like potash.
But then Pakistani Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb saw two factors that (slightly) eased the shock: Pakistan has been developing solar power in recent years and its companies started 2026 with fertiliser stocks “that were much larger than last year”, as he told this week’s spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “We were fortunate.” In the light of this, Mr Aurangzeb is considering a new step: creating “strategic reserves” of items like fertiliser in addition to “commercial reserves”, he says.
