Relief but…

2026-03-29 - 00:30

PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif surely took a pro-people decision by rejecting a summary proposing an increase of Rs. 95 per litre in petrol prices and Rs. 203 per litre in High-Speed Diesel (HSD). In his address to the nation, he noted that, given international market trends, petrol should currently cost Rs. 544 per litre and HSD Rs. 790, yet ‘we are getting them for just Rs. 322 and Rs. 335’ respectively. No doubt, the government is striving hard not to pass on the burden to the people of Pakistan and this is understandable as the entire economy revolves around availability and pricing of the POL products. People of Pakistan witnessed a long period of super-inflation and in the face of squeezing incomes they cannot afford another steep rise in the cost of living. It is, of course, the responsibility of any government and more so the elected one to address challenges in a way that minimizes impact on the common man. Therefore, the austerity measures and the decision to divert Rs. 100 billion from the development budget to provide relief in oil prices are steps in the right direction. However, the future scenario is not encouraging as, media reports suggest, provinces are not willing to contribute their share to the oil subsidy and instead want to pass any increase in global prices of oil to the domestic market. This shows insensitivity of the provinces to the plight of the inflation-ridden people as it is not a question of oil prices alone but their chain effect on goods and services. Escalation in oil prices is a temporary phase but we have repeatedly seen in Pakistan that industrialists and businessmen never revert back to original prices and continue to extort money from pockets of consumers even when the global situation normalizes. We, therefore, urge the proposed national leadership dialogue to take decisions to effectively shield the interests of the common man.