Ex-PM urges govt to deregulate fuel prices

Awaam Pakistan (AP) President and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday criticised the government over what he described as flawed governance and inconsistent policymaking, urging authorities to deregulate petrol prices and promote electric vehicles (EVs) to ease the country's economic burden.

The criticism came after the government on Thursday increased the petrol price by Rs137 per litre, taking it to a record Rs458.4; however, a day earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a televised address, announced a Rs80 per litre reduction in the petroleum levy on petrol, bringing its price down to Rs378 per litre.

Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club, Abbasi said that no country in the world fixed oil prices administratively, as these were determined by market forces.

"Petrol prices should be deregulated and left to private companies to import and sell fuel," he said, adding that a similar discussion had taken place in parliament in 2018, and the decision was considered appropriate.

He maintained that a competitive market environment already exists and that deregulation would yield immediate results. "You will begin to see a difference from day one," he remarked.

Abbasi noted that petrol and diesel cannot be sold below their purchase cost.