LAHORE: The Businessmen Panel (BMP) has said that hefty tax of 40 rupees on per liter of diesel and 34 rupees on per liter of petrol is a disaster for the economy and has put a heavy burden on the people of the country as Pakistan’s annual inflation climbed to 4.4 percent in January against 3.7pc in the same month last year mainly due to hike in petroleum prices. In a statement issued here on Saturday, Secretary General BMP (Punjab), Mian Usman Zulfiqar said these heavy taxes on petroleum products is shocking and determined the non-seriousness of the finance ministry for the welfare of the people. I think officials of the finance ministry don’t know the cost impact on the farmers and businessmen who already faced high costs of business and inputs and these figures will put further disappointing them. Usman said high oil prices mean that Pakistan’s export competitiveness goes down and with our exports already falling, this is something the country can ill afford. It also raises questions about the decision to depreciate the Pakistani rupee. The logic of depreciation was to make the export sector more competitive but in an import-dependent economy, depreciation is likely to increase domestic prices by a similar amount. The petrol price had to go up simply because the value of Pakistani currency has gone down and petrol is an imported good. The only way to control its price is to reduce the tax charged to consumers. Published in Daily Times, February 18th 2018.