Call made to reduce fuel prices

PESHAWAR: Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday asked the government to reduce the prices of petrol and diesel in line with the 12 percent decline in petroleum products rates in the world.

In a statement, senior vice-president the chamber and a member of the executive committee of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi said that the government had recently increased Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) from Rs60 to Rs70 per liter of petrol and diesel, by passing on its impact to electricity consumers.

“It is being assumed that oil consumers will pay an additional PDL of Rs58 billion so that cross-subsidization can be provided to electricity consumers,” Zia opined. He praised the reduction in electricity prices and said that the decision to reduce the prices of petrol products on April 15 would also be highly appreciated by the public.

This will reduce inflation and reduce the cost of production for export industries, he went on to say. Sarhadi said that petrol was at the cheapest level in the world market, but prices were not being reduced in the country. “We demand that petrol prices should also be reduced forthwith and the additional collection being made through petrol levy should be stopped,” he concluded.