PM slashes petroleum prices after global dip
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday announced a reduction of Rs40.54 per litre in the price of diesel and Rs18.50 per litre in that of petrol in order to pass on the benefit of the drop in global oil prices to the consumers.
Addressing the nation on television and radio, the prime minister said that by slashing the petroleum prices, the incumbent government was also fulfilling its promise of passing on the benefit of any decrease to the consumers in Pakistan.
He pledged to continue passing on the impact of reduction in global oil prices to the people in the coming months. “There has been a major reduction in global oil prices and therefore the government had decided to pass on the relief to the Pakistani consumers,” he said.
According to a notification, the government, besides reducing the prices of petrol and high speed diesel, also slashed the price of kerosene oil by Rs33.81 per litre and the light diesel oil by Rs34.71 per litre from midnight Thursday.
Accordingly, the per litre price of petrol comes down from Rs248.74 to Rs230.24, high speed diesel from Rs276.54 to Rs236, kerosene oil from Rs230.26 to Rs196.45 and light diesel oil from Rs226.15 to Rs191.44.
Holding the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government responsible for all the economic woes, Shehbaz expressed determination of the coalition government to put the country on the path to economic development and prosperity during the next 14 months.
“The previous government signed an agreement with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) on tough conditions and laid down landmines for us by suddenly reducing the oil prices, which the treasury could not bear," he said.
“When we took over [in April], our economy was destroyed. Oil prices were touching the roof. We had no other option but to increase the petroleum prices, knowing its impact on common man. If we had any other option, we would have never opted for difficult decisions,” he said.
The prime minister also criticised the previous government of poor performance during its more than three-year tenure. “The Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower project is an example of poor performance of the past governments,” he said.
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The project was supposed to be completed in four to five years but it took 20 years, the prime minister said, adding that the project cost was around $4-5 billion, whereas its original cost was $1 billion.
Similarly, he added, the Haveli Behadur Shah project was another example, which was not completed in time. “We should learn lessons from the bad experiences of the past that wasted huge funds of the country's economy,” the prime minister said.
“In the coming months, the government will focus on three vital areas of economy – agriculture, IT (information technology) and the export-based industries,” the prime minister told the nation.
“The nation will see a big change in the agriculture sector in the next 14 months. I have formed a task force to prepare a plan to boost the agriculture sector,” he said, adding that the government would announce a policy to bring a revolution in the agriculture sector. “We will improve the agriculture sector with better decisions and policy making.”
Shehbaz said that IT was another sector that had the potential for the youth to earn money. He pledged to revolutionise the sector by equipping the youth with IT skills that would boost IT exports. “We will bring substantial increase in IT exports in one year,” he said, adding that export-based industry was another sector the government was focusing on.
The prime minister said that government had inked an agreement with the IMF. Acknowledging Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and his team's efforts in concluding the agreement, he expressed commitment to make the country economically independent.
“There are nations which had agreements with the IMF, some even 25-30 years ago but then they changed their directions, worked hard and today those countries have become prosperous,” he said.
“We’re hoping that this is our last agreement with the IMF. Self-sufficiency is the only way. It is the only honourable way to live. But it is not easy to achieve. The path it is leading to is filled with thorns,” he added.
“I have faith that Pakistan will see that time. If we follow what the Holy Quran has ordained us with, I have no doubt that difficulties will vanish,” the prime minister said, appealing to the nation to work hard to achieve the goal.
The government said that prices of petroleum products had been fluctuating in the international market, while rupee-dollar parity was also impacting the end consumers. However, the prices are showing a downward trend during the ongoing fortnight in the international market.
(WITH INPUT FROM APP)