Afaq Ahmed slams fuel price hike, demands end to petroleum levy

KARACHI:

Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM-Haqiqi) Chairman Afaq Ahmed on Saturday strongly criticised the government over the latest increase in petroleum prices, accusing it of using regional tensions as a pretext to impose additional financial burdens on the public.

Addressing a press conference at his residence, Ahmed said the recent increase of Rs14 per litre in fuel prices was unjustified, arguing that the government had long been collecting billions of rupees through the petroleum levy without providing any transparent account of how the funds were being utilised.

He said the levy had originally been presented as a mechanism to support the import and domestic refining of crude oil, but claimed that the promised objectives had yet to materialise.