Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Parliamentary Leader in Senate Sherry Rehman on Friday came down hard on the government, saying that it was introducing tax amnesty schemes for the rich and inflationary packages for the poor.
Speaking on the floor of the House, the senator questioned the rising petrol prices and their implications saying, “Even the darkest dictatorial regimes did not hike the price of petrol during the month of Ramazan. There would be relief packages for the people instead. There was never such a harrowing structural adjustment that would lead to the country being nuked by a petrol bomb. The government has already been reduced to ribbon cutting, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) makes the policies.”
She questioned the logic behind increasing petroleum prices by 14 percent. “Before May 1, the GST was 2% of the total petrol price, which was increased to a whopping 12% before Ramazan. This is the only Ramazan package the government has given. A horrifying third budget is on its way. We never know what federal levies or taxes the people would be slapped with overnight. The government is oblivious as to what the IMF is going to do. We are hearing that they will make the government impose further 12-15% taxes, increase the prices of petrol and dollar. As a result, the prices of commodities will sky-rocket,” she said.
The senator said that Prime Minister Imran Khan lacked the courage to face the House. “Since assuming power, he has only been to the parliament once. This government has taken loans of over Rs 3,000 billion in a span of nine months, contradicting all of its promises. Just like that, four million people have been pushed below the poverty line before this Ramazan. People cannot even afford to survive on roti and onions. Revolutions, like in the USSR, have started over the affordability of bread.”
He said petrol was the backbone of any economy, so rise in petrol prices impacted every sector and every commodity. “In Pakistan, the biggest user of petrol is the transport sector that consumes 48 percent. The price of a 50kg bag of urea was increased by Rs 150 because of the increase in the prices of petroleum products. All will be hit hard by this petrol price bomb. Transportation has become so expensive in Pakistan that food and public transport has come to a halt. In KP itself, the transport sector is warning of a wheel jam strike due to the increase in petrol prices,” Sherry added.
The PPP-Parliamentarian vice president said, “During the PPP’s tenure, the global price of oil was $120 per barrel, but the price of petrol was Rs 63 per litre, whereas the price of diesel was Rs 44 per litre. Today, the global oil price is $66, but the domestic price of petrol is Rs 108 per litre, and the price of diesel is Rs 122 per litre. We all resisted the conditions laid by the IMF and found better ways for bringing adjustments. Our government absorbed the shock instead of passing it onto the people.”
“It is very possible that if Iran is pushed further with sanctions, it would shut down the Strait of Hormuz, as the Revolutionary Guard said. Around 30 percent of the world’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz every day. Yesterday, the US sent the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to the Persian Gulf. If the US continues in this direction, oil prices will definitely go up further. With these international developments happening parallel to our own domestic economic issues, the government should inform us what course of action it is going to take,” she concluded.