Islamabad April 16 2022: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Friday said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had rejected the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority’s (Ogra) summary to increase petroleum prices as the government did not want to shift burden to the masses.
“The past government took wrong decisions for cheap popularity. It also intentionally created ambiguity about petroleum prices,” Abbasi told media at a news conference here.
He said the Ogra recommended to increase the price of high speed diesel by Rs51, which would have taken the new price to Rs196 per litre. “While it recommended to increase petrol price from Rs150 to Rs171 per litre,” he added.
He said it was not possible to shift burden to the masses in the holy month of Ramazan, hence the prime minister decided to solve the issue after a complete review.
He said the prices had been notified at existing petroleum levy [which stands at zero] and GST [also at 0%]. But if taxes are included then the prices of high speed diesel will have seen an increase of Rs120 per litre to jump to Rs265 per litre. Similarly, the petrol price would have soared to over Rs231, he added.
He said Imran Khan’s individual decisions had put the country in trouble. “Petroleum prices are soaring globally but this has also been happening in the past. The real reason behind hike in petrol and diesel prices in Pakistan is devaluation of Pakistani rupee,” he said.
Shahid Khaqan said the previous government’s wrong policies had a negative impact on country’s economy and the agreements which were signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be brought before the masses.
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