LAHORE: Senior Pakistan Muslim League (PMl-N) leader Khawaja Saad Rafique on Saturday strongly criticised the recent increase in petrol and diesel prices, questioning how ordinary people would cope with rising inflation.
His remarks came after the government increased the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel for the fourth time since the Iran-Israel conflict began affecting global oil markets.
In a statement, Saad Rafique said the increase in petroleum prices had made people “cry out in pain.”
“How will people survive?” he asked while expressing concern over the growing financial burden on citizens.
He said the “US-Zionist war imposed on Iran” had become a cause of economic instability, rising poverty, and back-breaking inflation across the region.
The PML-N leader said that instead of increasing taxes and petroleum levies to meet government expenses, authorities should focus on preventing tax evasion and expanding the tax net.
“The real task is to stop tax evasion, reduce tax rates to a level people can afford, and broaden the tax net based on ground realities,” he said.
Saad Rafique added that if Pakistan’s tax collection system is reformed and made corruption-free, the country might not need to rely on expensive loans or impose heavy taxes on the public.
The government has increased the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel.
The price of petrol was raised by Rs 14.92 per litre, bringing the new price to Rs 414.78 per litre.
Simultaneously, the government hiked the price of high-speed diesel by Rs 15, with the new price climbing to Rs 414.58 per litre.
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The government has officially issued a notification confirming the uptick in petroleum prices.
It is the fourth time since the Iran War that the government has increased the prices of the petroleum products in the country.