Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front (PIAF) has criticised the government for increase in the petroleum products prices and termed it a "very bad news" for the country's economy which was already facing a number of challenges.
The PIAF Chairman Sohail Lashari, Senior Vice-Chairman Nadar Kamal Osman and Vice-Chairman Junaid Iqbal Sheikh have strongly reacted on this anti-industry and anti-masses decision and said in the past, the government did not bother to pass on the benefit of decline in oil prices in international market and thus earned billions of rupees. Contrary to the fact, the government raised the prices immediately as soon as international prices went up which was a sheer injustice, they said.
They said that the PIAF had for the last many months been calling on the concerned government departments to take measures for the promotion of alternate fuels as trade deficit was fast widening due to heavy imports under the head of petroleum products. They said the timeline for the increase in the prices of petroleum products was also raising questions. At a time when the whole industry was suffering due to energy crisis and high cost of doing business, the raise in POL prices is bound to give a further blow to the industry, they added.