Surge in POL prices: PML-N to hold protest inside, outside parliament

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has rejected hefty surge in petroleum prices and announced to hold forceful protest against this increase inside and outside the parliament. The PML-N Organising Secretary Khawaja Saad Rafique in his reaction said the government had taken this anti-people step just to please International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"It appears the government had raised POL prices to take revenge of its failure in getting RGST enforced," he said. Expressing concern over high inflation in the face of heavy deficit, Khawaja Saad Rafique said this step would cause fresh wave of poverty and inflation. He was of the view that hike in POL prices was made bypassing the National Assembly.
Another PML-N senior leader Mohammad Pervez Malik MNA said the decision to increase the petroleum prices shows indifferent attitude of the PPP-led government vis-à-vis plight of people of Pakistan. He was of the view that POL price hike is just like stabbing the already wounded economy. "It appears the PPP government has no sympathy with the Pakistani nation, trade, industry and agriculture sector," he said, adding: "This act of atrocious regime would not only cripple the economic activities in the country but would also make the people's lives more miserable."
The PML-N leader was of the view that the government was increasing utility prices blindly and heartlessly under the IMF pressure totally ignoring the interest of the country. He said the country produces almost 59,140-barrel oil per day but the government was also selling this oil on the international prices. He further said that petroleum product prices in Pakistan were already high posing massive challenges to make the local industry competitive in the globalised competitive environment.
He added that with increase in POL, industrial production cost would further rise and export oriented industries would face more difficulties to compete in the international market with competitors like China, India and Bangladesh. He said that hike in diesel price would devastate the agriculture sector of Pakistan, which was backbone of our economy and feeding to more than 70% of the population.
He said that instead of cutting-off lavish expenditure, PPP led government was continuously increasing the POL, electricity and gas prices, which have created on alarming situation. He warned the government to immediately withdraw the recent hike in the POL prices; otherwise, the PPP leadership would be responsible of consequences the country's economy would have to face.