Businessmen irked by unprecedented oil price hike

The business community has called on the government to withdraw the sudden hike in prices of petroleum products to save businesses and the public from its serious consequences.

In a statement on Saturday, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Shakeel Munir hit out at the government for increasing prices of petroleum products for a second time within a short period of 20 days.

“This will entail harmful consequences for the business community and unleash a new wave of inflation in the country,” he said while expressing concern. “Government should withdraw the unprecedented hike to provide relief to the people.”

Munir said that the government raised petroleum product prices by a substantial margin in the third week of October 2021, which was resented by every segment of society.

“However, it increased prices again in the first week of November, which will put the business class and the general public in deep trouble.”

The ICCI president underlined that people were facing difficulties due to the high inflation and the business community was struggling to recover from the impact of Covid-19 pandemic.

The upward revision in petroleum product prices by a big margin amid the ongoing testing times would increase the cost of doing business manifold, he added.

Munir urged the government to avoid taking such decisions and focus on promoting ease of doing business.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2021.

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