ICCI, ICSTSI slam hike in POL prices

Islamabad:President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari on Friday slammed further hiked prices of petrol and diesel taking them to over Rs300 and LPG cylinder Rs459 mark for the first time in the history of Pakistan, which would have negative impact on the people and the businesses,.

He urged the government to privatise the power companies to get rid of losses.He also urged to focus on increasing the share of hydropower to provide cheap electricity to consumers across the country, said a press release.

ICCI head leading a delegation visited the Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders and Small Industries (ICSTSI) and addressing their members, said that Pakistan’s total revenue last year was around Rs7,000 billion and the power sector’s total revenue was around Rs12,000 billion, but still the sector is in great loss.

He said that Pakistan has the potential to generate over 100,000MW of hydropower and if exploited, it can make the country a rich economy of the region.He said that the value of dollar had doubled in 10 years from 2009 to 2019, but the value of dollar has doubled within a period of just over two years as its value on 31 May 2021 was Rs154, which has surged to Rs305 on 31st August 2023. He said the total impact of high energy prices and rising dollar rate would unleash a new wave of unbearable inflation for the people and cause closure of many SMEs.

He urged that the government to immediately engage the business community in consultation to devise a way forward for the revival of the economy, otherwise the businesses and the overall economy would plunge into deep troubles where things can go out of control.

Sajjad Sarwar, president, ICSTSI said that the imposition of many taxes on the electricity bill, including sales tax, advance income tax, electricity duty, fuel price adjustment, F.C. surcharge and TV fee is accounting for almost 40 per cent of the total bill.

He said that the price of electricity has increased by over 90 per cent in the last five years, while the rising inflation has reduced the purchasing power of the people and trade activities are badly suffering.

He said that many small traders are now unable to pay high electricity bills and rents of shops and urged the government to remove all taxes on electricity bills and POL products to provide some relief to the people and the traders.

Faad Waheed, senior vice president of ICCI said that an increase in energy tariff and POL products would further increase the production cost and many industries would face the risk of closure.Bakhtawari, former president ICCI and Secretary General UBG said that Pakistan needs to boost exports to revive the economy.