Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front (PIAF) has strongly criticised the government for making increase in petroleum prices and termed it a very bad news for the country's economy, trade and industry which were already facing a number of challenges.
PIAF also demanded of the government to ensure representation of private sector in Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra). The PIAF office-bearers, including Chairman Sohail Lashari, Senior Vice Chairmen Nadar Kamal Osman Vice Chairman Junaid Iqbal Sheikh in a statement on Monday expressed their displeasure over the decision. While strongly reacting on this anti-industry and anti-people decision, they said the government did not bother to pass on the benefit of decrease of oil prices in international market and earned billion rupees, which was a sheer injustice and now made a huge raise in the petroleum prices.
They said that PIAF had for the last many months been calling on the concerned government circles to take measures for the promotion of alternative fuels as trade deficit was fast widening due to heavy imports under the head of petroleum products. They said that the timeline for the increase in the prices of petroleum products was also raising questions.
At a time when the whole industry is 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. The office-bearers demanded of the prime minister to withdraw the recent increase in the petroleum prices and government taxes on petroleum should be reduced otherwise industry would be collapsed within no time.