KARACHI: Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) president and former provincial minister, Mian Zahid Hussain, on Monday said that expected rise in oil prices should be taken seriously, as it would damage the economy. “Oil prices remained subdued for three years but now OPEC has joined hands after 2008 to increase prices, which is a bad news for all the oil importing countries including Pakistan,” Hussain said in a statement. The oil prices had helped Pakistan to save seven billion dollars, but it had not helped country to boost exports, investment or substantially reduce trade deficit, he said. Now, OPEC had agreed to cut production by 700,000 barrels per day, which had resulted in five percent hike in international oil prices, while second meeting of the cartel was scheduled next month, which could trigger massive price hike. “In such a scenario, cost of doing business will climb, hitting production and exports, increase inflation and could eat up the forex reserves,” he warned.