Shaukat Tarin suggests buying Russian oil, reducing margins of refineries

Former finance minister Shaukat Tarin slammed the government for passing on the burden of oil prices to the end-consumer, suggesting that it should instead look to reduce margins of refineries, get discounted Russian oil, and shift to targeted subsidies.

His remarks on Twitter come after the government raised the price of petrol by another Rs30 on Thursday night, taking total increase to Rs60 in a matter of days.

Tarin said the government should call fresh elections "as it cannot handle the economy".

On Thursday night, Finance Minster Miftah Ismail announced that the government has increased the petroleum prices by another Rs30 per litre, taking it to its highest level, to meet an International Monetary Fund (IMF) condition for the revival of the EFF program.

This increase took the price of petrol to Rs209.86 and that of high speed diesel (HSD) to Rs204.15.

In a tweet, Tarin said that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), instead of passing on the burden of fuel prices onto the public, should reduce margins of refineries.

The senator reiterated that the government should get oil from Russia at discounted rate and shift to targeted subsidies.

“Don't be a post box, use imagination the way (Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf) PTI used to do," said Tarin. “Call fresh elections as you cannot handle the economy,” he added.

On Thursday, Pakistan economy suffered another blow after Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) downgraded Pakistan’s outlook to negative from stable. It affirmed Government of Pakistan's B3 local and foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings.

It said Pakistan's weak institutions and governance strength add uncertainty around the future direction of macroeconomic policy, including whether the country will complete the current IMF programme and maintain a credible policy path that supports further financing

Tarin voiced concern about the developments and hit out at the incumbent government for mismanaging the economy.

“Pakistan continues to be economically mismanaged by the PDM government,” he said. “Power tariff being raised by 50%, downgrading of credit rating and raging load shedding and inflation. Allah save our people from their incompetence,” Tarin had tweeted earlier on Thursday.