Pakistan's military leader, General Pervez Musharraf, set November 16 as the deadline for defaulters and threatened ``dire consequences'' if it wasn't met. The target includes defaulters of loans from public-sector banks, taxes, even utility bills. Pakistan owes over Rs 200 billion to public-sector banks only. This is money that was given out by previous governments as political favours and never paid back. Because most of this money is owed by powerful businessmen and politicians, like former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and other heavyweights, there has been no move to recover the money with the result that these banks are on the brink of bankruptcy. Politicians and others also owe billions of rupees in unpaid telephone, electricity and gas bills, besides unpaid tax claims and other dues.

So far, the governmenthas been unable to collect this money. But the new army administration has made this its top priority. ``This is more a political thing than an economic issue. The money will only prop up the banks but will do little for the economy. On the other hand, it will make the government very popular amongst the people as this is a step to nab the country's powerful elite,'' says one analyst. The threat seems to be working. Zubyr Soomro, the president of United Bank Limited, one of the worst-affected banks, says that people are ``swarming in to pay their dues.''

The move, however, has had other implications as well. In Karachi, real estate prices in the posh Clifton and Defence areas have fallen by as much as 15 per cent in the past week as people are selling real estate to meet the deadline.``It has become a buyer's market as people are anxious to sell some property to make payments on November 16,'' says Salahuddin Haider of VIP Estate Agency, the city's main estate agent.