Two senior government officials on Saturday defended the decision to increase the price of all petroleum products in the country, saying that the government had tried to provide relief to the people amid rising international prices.
Addressing a press conference with Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Division
In a sudden move on Friday evening, the government had increased the prices of all petroleum products by up to nearly
The price of petrol (motor spirit) was raised by a whopping
During the press conference, Babar explained that the government set the prices of petroleum products on the basis of
'The price of petrol is
Giving an 'example', he said that on
Clarifying why the government had announced the new fuel prices on
'We didn't want to do this,' he said, adding that by increasing prices now, the government had reduced the total increase by spreading it over 35 days. 'This means all the oil marketing companies (OMCs) will also face a minor loss in July [but there will be] net benefit for consumers.'
Referring to the oil crisis, Babar claimed that the reason behind it was 'hoarding by certain OMCs'.
'Nearly all OMCs did not have stock of 21 days as per licensing agreements; PSO had an 18-day stock too. Not only did we repeatedly ask the
'Unless OGRA is strengthened and enforcement capability made so strong that it takes action against companies not keeping proper stocks, this is likely to happen again,' he cautioned. '[The government] will change rules and if needed then act itself [to ensure this does not happen].
'At this time, there are 9,000 legal registered petrol pumps, which means they sell oil at some OMC level whereas there are 1,500 or more illegal pumps which have no agreement with any OMC. The government will crack down on these.
'Because the price had risen to very high levels in the international market and the price here was very less, companies started hoarding. This is why committees conducted raids. We have to get rid of this once and for all. We will change rules and laws and take administrative action against illegal pumps. It is unfair that the government cannot provide relief to the people when it wants to.'
Khan criticised the PML-N and alleged that when an investigation was instituted during the PML-N's tenure, the [then] finance minister called Investigation Officer
'The PML-N gave protection to these mafias. On the contrary, the premier's stance is to break the back of and end these mafias and to go to the very end to do so.'
Earlier in the day, Information Minister
'There has been less increase in
© Pakistan Press International, source