LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif rejected the reduction in fuel prices “extremely insufficient and unrepresentative of the massive cut in global oil prices”.
In a statement, Shehbaz said the fruits of global decline in oil prices are not being transferred to the people of Pakistan. He said the government failed to capitalize on the golden opportunity of buying dirt-cheap oil from the international market during the historic slump.
The PML-N president said this reduction is severely paltry and demanded that the government must reduce the price of fuel by at least Rs 50. There is no economic backlash of such a reduction in prices, he added. He termed the government’s decision of not buying oil at historic low prices criminal negligence. This, he said, could have helped lower electricity generation costs.
Shehbaz demanded that the electricity and gas tariffs must be reduced by at least one-third. This relief will help the nation already reeling from the fallout of the new coronavirus. He lambasted that PTI who boasted of giving people patrol at Rs 45 per litre have abandoned the nation when it is most plausible to do so.
He said the reduction of fuel prices by Rs 50 will lead to the reduction in the prices of flour, lentils, cooking oil, sugar and other essential commodities. This is crucial especially during the state of affairs due to joblessness during Covid-19. This government can neither deliver a financial package nor any level of relief to the poor, it should at least transfer this price cut to the people, he stressed.
