Govt asked to pass on price fall benefit

Prices of crude oil and palm oil have considerably dropped in global markets and keeping that in view the government should immediately pass its benefit on to the common man, said businessmen.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) pressed the government to push down petroleum product prices as the Brent crude benchmark was trading around $90 per barrel in the international market.

Similarly, the price of palm oil has dropped more than 50% in the past few months, going down from $2,000 per tonne in April to below $1,000 per tonne in the current month. However, “the price of cooking oil is not being slashed in Pakistan,” it added.

In the statement, the RCCI pointed out that the inflation rate in Pakistan was at the highest level in history with the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) surging to 45% and the annual CPI inflation reading close to 30%.

“Purchasing power of the common man has been hurt, due to which business activities are slowing down. Price benefit should be immediately passed on to the general public,” it emphasised.