LAHORE: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has urged the government to withdraw the decision of hike in prices of petroleum products as the move might wipe up relief of markup rate cut announced for the industry recently.

FPCCI President Mian Anjum Nisar in a statement on Monday called for taking strict action against companies for not providing the petroleum products at lower prices, instead of surrendering before such elements in the larger interest of the country.

"It is good that the government took the ongoing issue of oil supply chain disruption as serious and tried its best to address the matter, which led to serious shortage in many parts of the country, but abrupt hike in prices of petroleum is not the right solution," he opined.

He said the government decision was a surprise because it was out of schedule and was not prompted by any summary moved by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, which was the legal procedure. He said the hike of up to 66 percent in the prices of petroleum products in one go was unjustified.

"The price of crude oil in the world market is still around $42 per barrel and as per calculations the ex-refinery price of patrol is worked out at around Rs45 per litre but the government increased the rate of petrol to more than Rs 100 per litre, which is great injustice," he added.

The LPG also saw an increase in its price for the second time this week, with a total increase of Rs 15. "Why is the government reversing its decisions? The economy is already in a precarious situation. This constant back and forth will only increase volatility, when we ought to be heading for stability," he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020