It ought to be of some concern to ordinary Pakistanis that the Oil and Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has recommended a rise of Rs2.76 and Rs3.12 per litre in prices of petrol and diesel respectively from 1 January 2021. While the final decision will be taken by the petroleum division after due consultation with the prime minister, it is still very strange for the Authority to recommend such a rise when Brent crude is collapsing in the international market on the back of epic demand destruction caused by the second wave of the coronavirus. Indeed, it is just such concerns, especially the prospect of an awkward slowdown just when economies across the world are only beginning to pick up, that countries like the USA are busy rolling out giant stimulus packages to protect their businesses and consumers. The Pakistani economy is already in dire straits. In fact, the effects of the rather large assistance package that the government came up with at the time the first wave of the pandemic hit Pakistan have largely petered out. And as talk of another lockdown does the rounds, people and official entities are going to need more help than usual to counter the trend of already high prices and very low growth. For fuel to become more expensive at this point amounts to taking the life out of the recovery at such a sensitive time, especially since fuel inflation translates into higher prices across the board because of increased transportation costs, etc. And, to make things worse for the common man, a petrol bomb might not be the only thing that greets him in the new year. According to chatter doing the rounds in the media, there is a genuine fear that the government might finally cave in to IMF demands and hike the gas tariff as the bailout program has demanded since its inception. So far Prime Minister Imran Khan had resisted all such pressure because of the problems it would cause to consumers as well as businesses across the country. But the Fund is clearly in no mood to relent. And after putting up something of a decent fight, the government seems on the verge of accepting the inevitable. Therefore, even as indicators such as the current account and export revenue continue to surprise to the upside, the ones that matter like inflation and growth are likely to continue to be a bother for the government as well as the people. *