Caretaker government hikes fuel prices ahead of election

ISLAMABAD: The caretaker government approved Saturday night a significant upward revision in petroleum prices, Geo News reported citing an official announcement.

The new rates will be in effect from July 1 (Sunday).

According to the notification, the caretaker government has cited the worsening economic condition as the reason for the price hike.  

The new per-litre prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene oil, light diesel, and high-speed diesel are Rs99.50, Rs119.31, Rs87.70, Rs80.91, and Rs105.31 respectively, as per the notification.

This implies a respective price hike of Rs7.54, Rs14.00, Rs3.36, Rs.5.92, and Rs6.55 in petrol, diesel, kerosene oil, light diesel, and high-speed diesel.

Earlier, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had recommended an increase in the prices of petrol, diesel, and kerosene oil by Rs5.40, Rs6.20, and Rs12, respectively, for July 2018.

OGRA forwarded a summary proposing the aforementioned revision to the Petroleum Division of the Ministry of Energy, sources had said.

Prior to the latest development, the caretaker leadership on June 11 had bumped up the prices by Rs4.26, Rs6.55, and Rs4.46 per litre, respectively, for petrol, diesel, and kerosene oil for the June 12-30 period.

Bilawal's criticism

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), had criticised the then-proposed move to raise petroleum prices.

In his statement, the PPP chairman had expressed concerns, advising it to focus on ensuring free and fair elections instead of considering another economic burden on the masses.

In line with the party chief's stance, former opposition leader in the National Assembly, Khursheed Shah, said the hike must be reversed. 

He added that the public must not bear the burden of the previous government's flawed economic policies.