Daily Times

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Khurshid Shah issued a statement on Sunday in which he criticized the caretaker government’s decision to increase petroleum products’ prices.

In a statement, former opposition leader in National Assembly (NA) Khurshid Shah demanded the caretaker government to withdraw its decision. He also asked the interim government to provide maximum relief to the nation.

The caretaker government, on Saturday night, had approved a significant upward revision in the petroleum prices with the new rates effective from July 1 (Sunday).

As per the official notification issued by the caretaker government, the new per-liter prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene oil, light diesel, and high-speed diesel are Rs99.50, Rs119.31, Rs87.70, Rs80.91, and Rs105.31, respectively.This effectively implies a price hike of Rs7.54, Rs14.00, Rs3.36, Rs.5.92, and Rs6.55 in petrol, diesel, kerosene oil, light diesel, and high-speed diesel respectively.

Earlier, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had recommended an increase in the prices of petrol, diesel, and kerosene oil by Rs5.40, Rs6.20, and Rs12, respectively, for July 2018.

According to sources, it forwarded a summary proposing the aforementioned revision to the Petroleum Division of the Ministry of Energy.

Prior to the latest development, the caretaker leadership, on June 11, had raised the prices by Rs4.26, Rs6.55, and Rs4.46 per liter, respectively, for petrol, diesel, and kerosene oil from June 12 to June 13.

Published in Daily Times, July 2^nd 2018.