Pakistan

ANP, MQM, JI unite against fuel price increase

Adjournment motions submitted in Senate, National Assembly after increase prices of petroleum products.

Express January 01, 2011

ISLAMABAD: Awami National Party (ANP) on Saturday submitted an adjournment motion in the senate against the increase in prices of petroleum products.

The motion was submitted by ANP Senators Zahid Khan and Afrasayab Khattak.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) have already submitted adjournment motions against the price hike. PML-N submitted their motion in the National Assembly while the JI submitted it in the Senate.

Updated from print edition (below)

Dropping the petrol bomb: Govt hikes fuel prices, inflation set to surge

The government on Friday increased the prices of petroleum products from 5.4 per cent to as high as 9 per cent effective January 1. This was done to offset the impact of continuous rise in oil prices in international markets, said a government spokesman.

The maximum percentage increase was recorded in petrol prices according to Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra). With a rise of Rs6.71 per litre, petrol will now retail at Rs 79.67 per litre, registering a nine per cent increase over the previous price of Rs 72.96 per litre and an almost 18 per cent increase compared to the rates two months ago. The decision is likely spur a second round of inflation as it would translate into an increase in transport costs. Inflation is already touching 16 per cent, against the revised target of 14 per cent, mainly due to massive government borrowings from the central bank, warn analysts.

Secretary Petroleum Imtiaz Kazi said that the government earns Rs250 billion annually in revenues from petroleum products.

High Octane Blending Component (HOBC) prices increased Rs 7.69 per litre to Rs94.36 per litre, registering a rise of 8.7 per cent over last month and soaring by 17.6 per cent over the price two months ago.

Meanwhile ex-depot prices for the ‘fuel for the poor’, kerosene oil, surged by Rs4.04 per litre, or 5.6 per cent, to Rs74.99 per litre. Kerosene’s price has surged by 13.4 per cent over the past two months.

Price for high speed diesel (HSD) increased Rs4.25 per litre, or 5.4 per cent, to retail at Rs82.58 per litre while light diesel oil’s price increased by Rs4.36 per litre, or 6.2 per cent, to retail at Rs70.97 per litre. Their prices have surged by 11.5 and 13 per cent over the past two months respectively.

According to Ogra, the prices of the petroleum products have increased from 3 to 9 per cent in the international market. Petrol prices have increased by 9.2 per cent, kerosene oil by 5.4 per cent, high speed diesel by 5.8 per cent, furnace oil by 3.1 per cent, and Arab light crude oil prices surged by 6.6 per cent, Ogra said.

Meanwhile the government is also under pressure from the international donors to phase out electricity subsides and while the pressure from the International Monetary Fund is mounting, the decision has been withheld due to its political fallout of such a move.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st, 2011.

COMMENTS (21)

ASAD NOUMAN | 13 years ago | Reply Just Blaming is not good enough. We as a Nation should stand up and strongly register our protest against the twisted inflation. But I doubt is it true we are a nation??

Amadeus | 13 years ago | Reply i just love the populist economics that is at play in the comments =D

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Ahmer Ali | 13 years ago | Reply Assalam-o-Allaikum Warahmatullah.Just few parties' protesting and demanding for oil prices' reduction is not good enough.All major opposition parties especially (PML-N,PML-Q) in National and Provincial Assemblies must be reunited against these government's cruel and brutal decisions and must withstand against the brutalities and cruelties of present corrupt leaders with the nation and the most importantly these present corrupt and NRO certified PPPP's leaders are provoking the nation for people's revolt and testing nation's patience to a great degree by increasing prices of initial commodities instead of reducing government taxes,reducing leaders',ministers' and bureaucrats' kingly expenditures and especially reducing army of ministers in federal and provincial assemblies so that government expenditures must be cut and taxes must be also reduced to curtail the already heavy-taxed nation which is already living miserable life from hand to mouth and over all the most importantly major opposition parties are army are just watching all this the sacrifices of the nation by the hands of present corrupt leaders as the silent spectators and even have powers to do a lot they are doing nothing at all except claiming the betterment of the nation and especially beloved Pakistan.

Nazir Habib | 13 years ago | Reply Raja Parvez Ashraf, MNA PPP and Minister for Power, should be MADE to pay for the nation when the electricity subsidy is withdrawn. After all he is the architect / artist / brainchild of the Power Generation Policy being followed by the PPP. "President Zardari, Sir, please dump this good for nothing minister and appoint Dr. Samar Mubarakmand as your Minister for Power. Your party will score a landslide victory in the next elections. My family household's votes are guaranteed for the PPP and also the neighborhood votes". The transporters will clamour and shout and sooner than later a strike will be announced. Where is the the CNG Green Bus Public Transport Policy and the Mass Transit System? But the minibuses and coaches are thriving. Salams and best wishes for 2011 and beyond.

The Only Normal Person Here. | 13 years ago | Reply It was inevitable. Petrol price hike is around the world.

Raqib Ali | 13 years ago | Reply I have to agree with Syed Nadir El Edroos. International price hike is responsible. Everyone wants to use oil but blame the government at the same time! All the comments seem ill informed. Do you really think that the government wants to lose votes especially when it has more foes than allies??? If I were the government, I would ban all petroleum import to teach everyone a lesson!!!

shahzad khan | 13 years ago | Reply ANP, MQM & JUI Unite against fuel price hike unite of making new issue,they are useless people and don;t have anything else that's why... ALL LOSERS

True+Pakistani | 13 years ago | Reply The days of horse carriages and donkey carts are coming back.that will be good for enviroment too... ;-)

Said Nabi Shah | 13 years ago | Reply sad news

Nak | 13 years ago | Reply International Oil price is running,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,so :(

Syed Nadir El Edroos | 13 years ago | Reply Why is anyone surprised? Everyone is making it seem as if the government planned to increase the prices just to teach the people a lesson. Global oil prices have increased sharply over the past three months and therefore an increase in domestic prices is hardly surprising. As for the government reinstating the petroleum development levy, hardly surprising either. With the RGST all but tucked away and the budget deficit on the increase where else is the state going to plug the whole from? It comes down to all the patrioitc Pakistani's who claim to be willing to give their lives for Pakistan but dont pay their taxes.

Iftikhar-ur-Rehman | 13 years ago | Reply ANP,MQM& JUI Unite against fuel price hike. SO WHAT???Nothing will happen even if all political parties unite.

Nasir Jamal | 13 years ago | Reply The increase on the occasion of the New Year is unfortunate. The PPP government has decided that it will not provide any relief to people under any circumstances.

kanwar | 13 years ago | Reply awum new year surprise by surprising govt

shahzad khan | 13 years ago | Reply its new year gift and the expecting more gifts in near future... cheers Pakistan

Hafiz shah Ali | 13 years ago | Reply I suggest that the Government should withdraw free fuel allowance for all ministers and government officials All government officials getting extra allowance ,the same should be withdrawn. Do you believe it, that nearly all officers in FBR get 100% of basic as extra allowance. These un-thought of price increases may lead to civil strife. And by the way where are the political parties who are supposed to represent and protect the interest of the masses?

Hafiz shah Ali | 13 years ago | Reply So when is the transport strike scheduled for demanding increase in fares?. The finance managers of the country should be sent to Siberia and left there. They have not demonstrated any positive plan for a economic turnaround.

saghir ahmad | 13 years ago | Reply Petrol bomb explosion amounts to killing people without gun fire. Already existing high inflation particularly will explode as a nuclear bomb to the hapless nation. We have a few such bomb,why not Govt test try dropping a few on people of the country. It will end all problems of the Govt.

Said Nabi Shah | 13 years ago | Reply very sad.the barbaric decision of cruel govt.it clears the way to bloody revolution

Mirza Abeer | 13 years ago | Reply NNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ajay | 13 years ago | Reply IMF and the world is doing a favor to Pakistan. Since nothing changes in Pakistan until it is the "end of times" or for the sake of "self-survival" of politicians, and given that every party , military and mullah each have their own agenda and speak with 2 faces, I forsee the developments as follows (just a guess work)- Step 1- Govt has no money and need IMF bail out for paying salaries. Nawaz and his ilk begin to understand the gravity of the situation!! They have got their pound of cake by making the government look bad in th e eyes of the people. They tried to save themselves by not having to pay agriculture tax and other taxes. So now they will agree to RGST. To mollify Nawaz, government will curb expenditure- ban all foreign travel except for Kayani, Gillani,Zardari & Qureshi.. Nawaz is not satisfied. He wants to limit the number of trips to 2 for each per year. He also wants all administrative expenditure to be reduced by 25%. Step 2- RGST will anger MQM. So MQM will now gets its pie what it has been asking. Govt will be forced to implement agriculture tax on all farmlands and abolish subsidies on fertilizer, seeds, etc. RGST will be further reformed and will be called RRGST. There will be a hue and cry from small farmers and peasents because of the unbearable prices. Number of farmer suicides will increase. So they will need to be excluded from these taxes as well as given special subsidies. But there is still not enough money to pay for flood rehabilitation and the burgeoning demands of the Pakistani Military as well as increasing oil bills!! Step3- Ultimately the military will begin to understand that it is looking like a BIG villan!! Each combat fighter plane costs at least 90 million US dollars. Not to mention the upkeep of gymkhanas, official residencies, malis, gardeners, etc etc. and ofcourse other armaments- tanks, subs, .... So to curtail military expenditure, people power forces military and foreign ministry to change its approach and thinking of its security paradigm. People will begin to question the utility of military- nothing has been achieved vis-à-vis India except feeding military appetite. Their ‘deep’ strategy in Afghanistan is hitting back at Pakistanis who are getting killed by Taliban as well as drones. Step 4- When Pakistan finds it difficult to pay back IMF loans and oil prices increase further, military and intelligence apparatus will have to be scaled down in favor nuclear weapons...otherwise the awam may turn against the military!! Step5- Last remaining hurdle- Mullahs to be taken care of as a final solution. Military needs to use its weapons and keep its focus on the right targets. Madrassas should be closed down with increased budgetary allocation for primary schools instead of colleges. For the cost for one college, 100 primary schools can be setup.

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