In a last-minute development, Pakistan’s petroleum dealers have decided to postpone their nationwide shutter-down strike for two days following assurances from State Minister for Petroleum, Musadik Malik. The minister assured the dealers that their profit margins would be revised upwards within the next 48 hours.
An agreement was reached and signed by the minister, OGRA Chairman, Masoor Khan, and Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) Chairman, Abdul Sami Khan. The agreement states that the strike is deferred until Monday, July 24, 2023.
Previously, the dealers had issued a warning to close their petrol pumps indefinitely, starting from Saturday morning, after the outgoing government failed to fulfil its promise of increasing their profit margins to 5%, equivalent to Rs12/litre at the current petrol and diesel prices.
The written agreement stated, “The increased margins will be ascertained based on actual data acceptable to all concerned stakeholders. This revised margin number will be announced within the next 48-hours.”
At the conclusion of the meeting, Minister Musadik Malik stated that the government would collect petroleum sales data from 2,000-3,000 petrol pumps to determine appropriate profit margins. A source told The Express Tribune that this data-based decision aims to avoid criticism ahead of the next parliamentary elections scheduled for later in 2023.
However, another issue of concern remains unresolved as the LPG Industries Association (LPGIA) plans to proceed with their nationwide shutter-down strike on August 5-6. Chairman LPGIA, Irfan Khokhar expressed doubt over the government’s decision to import 60,000 tonnes of LPG gas, suggesting that the government itself is involved in the black marketing of gas. The determined price of LPG gas is Rs170/kg, but it is being sold at Rs220/kg in Karachi and Rs250-350/kg in remote areas due to the government’s inadequate policies and weak monitoring.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 22nd, 2023.
Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ