Transporters have threatened to increase fares and stage a countrywide strike after the federal government jacked up prices of the petroleum products following an increase in crude oil prices in the global market.
The transporters rejected the increase in oil prices, terming it unbearable. They said that they will hold a press conference to announce their strategy.
Meanwhile, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has slammed the government’s decision to make yet another hike in the prices of petroleum products taking them to almost highest level in the history of the country that would entail harmful consequences for business activities and unleash a new wave of record inflation for the common man.
ICCI President Muhammad Shakeel Munir urged the government to withdraw this unwise decision immediately to save the businesses and the people from dire consequences. He said this while addressing an emergent meeting of the business community that was called to discuss this burning issue.
Shakeel said that the petrol price has been hiked by about Rs12, high speed diesel and kerosene oil by around Rs10 and LDO by over Rs9 per litre taking these prices to the record high level in the country’s history. He said that the government has also increased petroleum levy by Rs4 per litre in these tough times and all these hikes were being made to appease the IMF, which has raised many questions on our sovereignty.
He said that hike in petrol and diesel prices would make a manifold increase in the energy and transport costs due to which the cost of doing business would multiply. He questioned who would do business and invest in Pakistan at a time when the government was making frequent hikes in utility tariffs and POL products.
He stressed that the government should make drastic cuts in all non-development expenditures and provide some relief to inflation-stricken people. He urged that in these difficult times, the government should avoid taking such harsh decisions and focus on promoting ease of doing business to steer the economy out of current challenges.
Meanwhile, the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) has expressed deep concern over the rise in prices of petroleum products and demanded the government to immediately review the prices.
In a statement, RCCI President Nadeem Rauf said that the business community is deeply concerned over the sharp rise in prices, adding that inflation is already in double digits and rising prices would lead to a storm of inflation. Petrol and diesel prices have a direct impact on transportation costs. The construction sector will be affected. Rising diesel prices will increase the cost of construction materials, he added.
The RCCI president underlined that the people are facing difficulties due to the high inflation and the business community was struggling to recover from the impact of Covid-19 pandemic. “We demand the government to reverse the price hike,” he said, adding that in order to reduce the import bill, it is necessary to promote alternative energy sources such as solar, wind and electric.
