The Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) has strongly condemned the increase in gas prices saying that at a time when the utility prices were already touching the skies, the decision would hamper the momentum of economic growth.
Talking to reporters the president RCCI Jalil Ahmad Malik said that it was high time for the government to ensure the representation of all the stakeholders including industrial, commercial and domestic users in oil and gas regulatory authority (Ogra) instead of taking decision unilaterally.
On the one hand, increase in gas prices would hit the country's export while on the other, it would dent the local business, he maintained.
He said that at the moment, when inflation was already skyrocketing and disturbing the whole business scenario, the recent increase in POL and gas prices would not only hit the overall economy but also increase the cost of production.
"Increase in petroleum and gas products will also minimise the chances to control the increasing trend of deficit in the balance of payments", he added.
Malik said that increase in gas prices would further take up the transportation charges, making the poor of the country poorer adding that it would have been better that the government should have borne the increase itself instead of passing the burden on to the people.
The RCCI president further said that around 40 percent of the people in the country were still living below the poverty line, which means they can hardly get one-time meal a day. "Higher gas prices mean higher food, higher transportation charges and higher utility bills", he added.