Govt won’t drop ‘petrol bomb’ as it completes tenure: Zaeem Qadri
Earlier, OGRA had forwarded a summary to the power division suggesting an increase in various petroleum products
May 31, 2018
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s member provincial assembly Syed Zaeem Hussain Qadri remarked that the current government will not drop a ‘petrol bomb’ on people as it completes its tenure.
The ruling PML-N government is expected to transfer power to caretaker setup today and the general elections will be held on July 25.
While referring to the summary submitted by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority seeking an increase in fuel prices, Qadri said that the government won’t approve the summary, adding that the decision will be made by the caretaker setup.
Qadri was speaking on Geo News programme Aapas Ki Baat Wednesday night.
Earlier on Wednesday, OGRA had forwarded a summary to the power division suggesting an increase in various petroleum products effective from June 1.
OGRA recommended hike of Rs8.37 per litre in petrol prices and Rs12.5 per litre in diesel prices. The authority also recommended an increase of Rs8.30 and Rs11.65 in kerosene oil and diesel oil, respectively.
The government in the budget for the fiscal year 2018-2019 had recommended an increase of nearly 200% in petroleum levy. According to experts, the increase is feared to cause a rapid rise in inflation.
On May 1, the government had bumped up the prices of petroleum products following the rejection of the state oil and gas regulatory authority's proposal to make an even bigger upward revision.
According to the Ministry of Finance notification, the new approved prices were decided as: petrol up Rs 1.70 to Rs 87.70 per litre, diesel up Rs 2.31 to Rs 98.76 a litre, kerosene oil up Rs 3.41 to Rs 79.87 per litre, and light diesel up Rs 3.55 to Rs 68.85.
