Zardari calls petrol price hike an ‘oppressive move’

ISLAMABAD: Former president Asif Ali Zardari has condemned fresh surge in petroleum prices by the government and called it an ‘oppressive step’, ARY News reported.

In a statement issued by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman through his spokesperson, Mr Zardari said Prime Minister Imran Khan and Finance Minister Asad Umar must recall their old statements in which they used to strongly censure the then government’s decisions to increase petrol prices.

He said the poor segment of the society would be the ultimate sufferers in the wake of petrol prices hike. ‘How the poor people would manage impending increase in bus fares’, he asked.

The PPP chairperson said inflation would surge after government’s decision to raise prices of petroleum products.

The government on Wednesday incr­eased the prices of diesel and petrol by Rs5 and Rs6.37 per litre, respectively, for the month of November.

“The government has decided to absorb the substantial impact of increase in the prices of petroleum products and only partially pass on the increase to the consumers for the month of November. The decision has been taken to minimize the burden on the public at large,” said a statement issued by the finance ministry.

The statement said that the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had recommended an increase of Rs9.02 per litre in the price of petrol but an increase of Rs5 had been allowed by the government. Likewise as against the recommended increase of Rs13.22 per liter in the price of High Speed Diesel (HSD), an increase of Rs. 6.37 has been approved. For Kerosene Oil (SKO),  the recommended increase was Rs6.47 per litre but the government allowed an increase of Rs.3.0per litre only. As for Light Diesel Oil (LDO), the recommended increase of Rs6.48 has been approved as the tax/levy on this product is already quite negligible.