Lahore businessmen demand withdrawal of petroleum price hike

LCCI head says industry already under duress due to the acute energy crisis.

LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the government to immediately withdraw a hike in petroleum prices to avoid further agitating the organisation which is already considering a civil disobedience movement.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that industry is already struggling for survival due to the acute energy crisis. “The increase in price will hit both the industrial and agriculture sectors and jack up inflation rate in the country.”

Sheikh said that the agriculture sector, which is Pakistan’s engine of growth, will be adversely affected as the increase in diesel prices will raise production costs as it is used in tractors, tubewells, harvesters, thrashers and other machinery.

Raising alarm over prices of electricity, he said that the government uses thermal means to produce electricity and after this increase, power tariffs will skyrocket.

“The LCCI has been calling on the government to promote alternate fuels as the trade deficit is fast widening due to heavy petroleum imports,” he said, adding that the timing of the price hike was also questionable because the industry is also under duress.