HCSTSI president urges govt to reduce prices of POL products

HYDERABAD: President of Hyderabad Chamber of Small Traders and Small Industry Mohammad Farooq Shaikhani has said that one of the main reasons for inflation in Pakistan is instability in the prices of petroleum products.

The price of petroleum products in the world market continues to go down despite the war in Russia, Ukraine and Israel, Palestine, which is a clear proof that the world economy is also in decline.

He said that the government of Pakistan should immediately reduce the prices of petroleum products by 25 to 30 rupees because international oil prices have now reached $81.30 per barrel and have averaged $85.70 per barrel in the last 50 days.

While Russia and Saudi Arabia have also significantly reduced their oil production and according to the opinion of international observers, this growth will continue in the same way in 2024.

He said that the prices of food items, transport fares and daily necessities of life in Pakistan are increased enormously with the increase in the prices of petroleum products, but whenever the prices of petroleum products decrease, there is no reduction in the prices of all things which is only because the government does not have a better mechanism to increase and decrease the prices.

He said that food prices are not related to economic policy at all in most countries of the world, they are directly controlled by the mechanism created by the government, which minimizes their burden on the general public and traders.

He said that for the last 6 months, most of the electricity production in Pakistan is being done from its own resources, which include Thar coal, wind energy, nuclear, hydropower projects, but fuel price adjustment charges are still being added to the bills and electricity. The cost per unit is also very high.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023