Oil price in international market has come down by 15 percent from US$ 82.60/barrel in April 2010 to about US$ 70/barrel now and government should immediately pass on this reduction to people by making proportionate cut in domestic oil prices.

This was said by Mr.Zahid Maqbool, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) in a statement. He said that whenever oil price in international market moves up, government doesn’t waste any time in transferring its whole impact to people, however, when its price comes down, full benefit is not shared with consumers, which is a discriminatory approach.

He said government has increased prices of petroleum products six times & reduced only thrice since July last year and this trend of relatively consistent increase in oil prices in the recent past has played a major role in undermining the economic situation of the country.

Mr.Zahid Maqbool said that frequent hike in POL prices and utility tariffs has pushed up exorbitantly the cost of doing business in the country. The result is that almost all areas of the economy and the welfare of people have suffered badly.

He said that the stress of higher oil prices on important sectors like manufacturing, industry and agriculture has caused sufficient slow down in the overall economic growth apart from increasing unemployment and poverty in the country.

He said another negative impact of high oil prices is that it has made power generation more costlier because Pakistan mostly depends on thermal power. This has also eroded the competitiveness of Pakistani exports in addition to enhancing domestic inflation.

ICCI President said justice demands that government should urgently reduce oil prices in domestic market to provide some relief to business, industry and the common man.