Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for months held out against the tax rises and subsidy slashing demanded by the International Monetary Fund, fearful of backlash ahead of elections due in October.
"If they don't, the country will certainly default and we'll end up like Sri Lanka, which will be even worse." It is no longer issuing letters of credit, except for essential food and medicines, causing a backlog of thousands of shipping containers at Karachi port stuffed with stock the country can no longer afford.
"The cost is so high that we eat our breakfast late and the second meal at around seven, with nothing in between," said Ulfat, who declined to give her second name.State Bank governor Jamil Ahmed last month said the country owed $33 billion in loans and other foreign payments before the end of the fiscal year in June.