KARACHI: Irfan Iqbal Sheikh, President FPCCI, has demanded that the government should slash the prices of the petroleum products by 10 percent immediately as the international oil prices have substantively come down; and, the benefit needs to be shifted to the masses.

He noted with a sigh of relief that oil prices are now under $100 per barrel. The move will bring down the inflation in a much more effective and tangible manner than raising the interest rate to a 14-year high of 15 percent, he added.

Irfan Iqbal Sheikh emphasized that the full force of the multiplier effect of the raise of the petroleum products has not yet materialized in Pakistan and inflation will keep rising in coming 2–4 weeks if the relief from international market is not shifted to the end consumer.

FPCCI Chief explained that global macroeconomic sentiments are not optimistic and growth forecasts have been significantly lowered to the tune of being recessionary; and, the phenomenon may drive the international oil prices even lower than $90 per barrel in coming weeks. However, he maintained, we have to tread a cautious path and gradually but progressively lower the domestic petroleum prices.

He has put forward two of the supplemental concerns of the business community with regards to the petroleum prices: (i) reliable and uninterrupted supply of the petroleum products in the backdrop of torrential rains across the length and breadth of the country (ii) further devaluation and volatility of the rupee in the inter-bank intra-day market observed on the first working day after Eid-ul-Azha holidays, i.e. Wednesday, July 13, 2022 – which has the potential to partially nullify the effects of the drop in the international oil prices.

FPCCI President has called for the prudent and diligent regulation of the markets to allow the country to benefit from the downward trends in international oil prices, edible oils and initial signs of receding supply constraints in some other commodities.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022