Petrol-diesel prices: 'Shehbaz Sharif endorsed Imran Khan's decisions'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary-General Asad Umar has said that Shehbaz Sharif has endorsed Imran Khan’s decision by retaining the petrol and diesel prices, ARY News reported on Friday.

While talking to ARY News programme Sawal Yeh Hai, Asad Umar said that the new government has blamed Imran Khan to retain the prices of the petroleum products just to gain popularity among the masses.

He questioned Shehbaz Sharif’s decision to retain the petrol prices contrary to the previous statements of his own party leaders. He rejected the allegations of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Miftah Ismail against Imran Khan.

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Umar detailed that petroleum prices have soared in the global market due to the Ukraine-Russia war. “Imran Khan, as the prime minister, decided to temporarily keep the petroleum products prices unchanged,” he said.

Regarding the political developments, Asad Umar said that an unnatural alliance was formed against Imran Khan. He was of the view that the fate of the alliance will be exposed in the coming days. He added that the new setup has even failed to constitute its cabinet after spending four days then how can they run the government afterwards.

The politician criticised that the media trial of the PTI government would be started if four days are wasted but now, the media is completely silent on the issue.

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Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif rejected the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority’s (OGRA) summary to increase the price of petroleum products.

According to the details, the current price of petroleum products will be maintained for now. The petroleum regulatory authority had sent a summary to the PM, recommending an Rs21.53 increase in per litre Petrol prices.

The OGRA had sent the summary to the Petroleum Division for making the hike in fuel prices in Pakistan from April 16.

Sources told ARY News that the suggested hike was made on the basis of the 70 per cent of GST and Rs30 per litre levy. For petrol and diesel, the prevalent levy stands at Rs30 per litre and 17 per cent of GST.

It was learnt that the OGRA suggested increasing the petroleum price up to Rs21.53 per litre in accordance with the prevalent tax rate, Rs51.3 on diesel, whereas, an Rs77.56 hike was proposed on kerosine oil on the basis of full tax and levy.