The government’s decision to reduce petrol prices by Rs.9 per litre, kerosene oil by Rs.5 and high-speed diesel by Rs.4 per litre is a laudable step which will provide some sort of relief to the inflation hit people as well as to business community, however, there is a need to further reduce petroleum prices, particularly the price of diesel as consumption of diesel in the country is much higher than the consumption to petrol, said Mian Shaukat Masud, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry in a statement. With this reduction, price of petrol now stands at Rs. 57.66 per litre, light diesel oil Rs 48 per litre, high-speed diesel Rs 57.14 per litre, HOBC at Rs 72.08 and kerosene oil at Rs 51.87.

ICCI President said the oil prices in the international market have drastically come down from the peak of Rs.147/barrel in July this year to below Rs.50 per barrel and this huge reduction demands that government should further bring down petroleum prices in commensurate with their reduction in international market to give real relief to the common man as well as to trade and industry. He said the country consumes petrol of just 155,000 metric tones (1 billion litres) per month while the consumption of diesel stands at 700,000 metric tones (9 billion litres) in a month which shows its significance to our agriculture, trade, industry and transportation sectors. Therefore, government should make more cut in the price of diesel to give worthwhile benefit to all stakeholders. He said diesel was selling at Rs.38/litre in March 2008 which is now selling at Rs.57.14 per litre still costing Rs.19 per litre more to the country.

 

Mian Shaukat Masud said the cost of doing business in the country has gone up significantly due to hike in electricity, gas and oil prices and this phenomenon have made our products uncompetitive in international market and added that business & industry need sufficient reduction in input cost to promote their business activities and to make Pakistani products more competitive in world markets. He said that the only way to reduce cost of production for business entities is to decrease the prices of electricity, gas & oil products; therefore, justice demands that government should make further reduction in the prices of these utilities so that inflation could come down and economic activities could get a boost.

ICCI President said the high oil prices put a cumulative effect on the prices of all commodities because of its being one of the basic inputs in industry and transportation. Thus the high oil prices are one of the causes of inflation and erode the competitiveness of our products in the international market. He said the domestic consumers are yet to see a corresponding reduction in the fares of airlines, trains, buses and trucks. He said the delay in this decision is causing price hike of essential food items, affecting the purchasing power of the consumers. He said good governance demands that the transport fares should be decreased proportionate with the reduction in diesel prices. Similarly, as oil prices are coming down in the international market, the electricity tariff should also be decreased as it will definitely cause cut in the manufactured goods prices, providing considerable relief to the common man, he concluded.