CM’s aide slams federal govt for raising petroleum levy

PESHAWAR: Adviser to Chief Minister on Finance and Inter-Provincial Coordination Muzzammil Aslam on Wednesday criticized the federal government’s economic decisions by expressing concerns over wheat pricing, economic growth rate and increasing petroleum levy.

In a statement, he stated that the recent reduction of Rs100 per 40 kg in the wheat support price had inflicted a loss of Rs75 billion on farmers across the country.He emphasized that based on current market rates, farmers were suffering a loss of Rs1200 per 40 kg, which translated into a staggering Rs600 billion loss for Punjab and Rs300 billion for the rest of the country totaling approximately 3.2 billion dollars in losses.

He warned that if this situation continued, the country would be forced to import wheat, and the same amount of money lost domestically would be paid to foreign farmers through imports.

Muzzammil Aslam further highlighted that Pakistan’s economic growth rate this year was projected to remain between 2.5 to 3.0 percent, falling short of the 4 percent target. He noted that industrial output for the first eight months of the fiscal year has declined by 1.9 percent, and in March alone, the decline reached 5.9 percent. He pointed out that the country’s agriculture sector is going through one of its worst periods in history, even in the absence of any natural calamities.

Criticizing the federal government’s fiscal policies, he said that increasing the petroleum levy from Rs30 to Rs70 per litre was a deliberate move to keep petrol prices high. He said that preparations were underway to raise gas prices, and added efforts were being made to impose a new tax on fertilizer in the upcoming budget.