PPP Senator Raza Rabbani on Thursday condemned the hike in petroleum prices and electricity tariff.
In a statement, the PPP leader said the government should immediately take the hike in the prices back to provide relief to people during Ramadan.
The increased margins of the oil companies and dealers of petroleum have resulted in an additional profit of about Rs 360 million for the oil companies and dealers at the cost of the people. This collusion between the civil bureaucracy and the cartel of oil companies is at the expense of the people.
Most of the oil companies are making huge profits at the cost of a common Pakistani and then sending them outside of Pakistan. It is demanded of the government that the petroleum product prices be reduced immediately.
Increase in the rates of electricity, commercial and domestic is in negation of the PML-N electoral promises.
The prices are being increased while load shedding continues to haunt the people. The government has failed to redeem its electoral promise of immediately providing electricity to the people.
The government claims that increase in electricity rates is essential in order to prevent the reoccurrence of the circular debt, it has already been established that a majority of the pay off in the circular debt has gone to the owners of those powerhouses who support and are present in policy meetings of the government. This is the worst example of promoting crony capitalism.
The increase in prices of POL products and electricity will have a snowballing effect on the overall prices of essential commodities. The government has failed to give adequate relief to the people in terms of a corresponding increase in their salaries.
