Whole world struggles with price hike not just Pakistan, says Asad Umar

ISLAMABAD: Federal planning minister Asad Umar said Monday that the experts across the globe are mulling over how to control commodity prices as the whole world is embroiled in crisis led by the demand surge and tumbling supply postCovid, ARY News reported.

The markets all over the world had shut down in the wake of the Covid outbreak and the supply side has conceded setbacks that caused the demand-supply equation to impair, Asad Umar said in a press conference today.

Pakistan dealt with the pandemic smartly which the world has now acknowledged and all the essential industries were resumed but this doesn’t change the fact that globally the industries were marred.

There were little productions but growing demand by consumers.

Of the hiking petrol prices, he said the crude oil cost has surged to $81.5 in the international market after which we raised petrol prices 17.5 per cent.

However, the planning minister said that to minimize the effect of this surge, the government slashed sales tax on petrol to 6.7 pc. It was 17 pc earlier, he said.

Similarly, there was another slash in the levy to Rs5.6, which was Rs30 before, according to Asad Umar.

He said the inflation is not a national issue but a global phenomenon.

PM Imran Khan calls urgent session on rising inflation

Earlier today, keeping in mind the fast changing market situations across the board in Pakistan in the wake of petrol price hike and rupee depreciation, Prime Minister Imran Khan has reportedly convened an urgent huddle to defuse the situation.

The huddle will discuss the ways to resolve mounting pressure on the people and to hammer out policies to curb inflation in the ongoing state of affairs.

According to the source privy to the matters, the session will be chaired by PM Imran Khan and it is to take full account of the sitauation at hand and to find ways to circumnavigate the cascading effects of petrol price hike.