The oil prices fall in the international market below 70 dollars per barrel but in Pakistan the government dropped the petrol bomb on the people by enhancing the price by Rs 5.00 per liter.
It is 4th time that the current government led by PDM has increased the price of petroleum. In all four times the total price of petrol increased to Rs 100 per liter, whereas the price of high speed diesel by Rs 133.00 from the sitting Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s cabinet.
It was the prerequisite of the deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to get a 1.2-billion-dollar tranche, which is the part and parcel of a total 6.00-billion-dollar loan, that the government would enhance the price of petroleum products.
When the PDM led government came into power the price of petrol was Rs 152-00 per liter. Government could not take a stand for a long time and it had to bend its knees in front of IMF’s pressure as Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and babus sitting in his ministry had a fear in their minds that IMF would not offer the bailout package if the price of petroleum prices would not be enhanced.
If we look at the international market , the price of petroleum has dropped thrice in the recent past but the government of Pakistan failed to convey its benefit to the people as it was bound by the pledges made during the talks with the international donor agency.
At the beginning of the current calendar month , the government announced to decrease the price of petrol by Rs 5.00 but just after the lapse of just half month it brought the price again to the previous level by increasing the price by Rs 5.00 per liter.
Pakistan has the highest petroleum price at the moment as compared to the surrounding countries. Though the government is availing the facility of purchasing petrol on the cheaper rates from Saudi Arabia but it is so unlucky that it is not ready to transfer the benefits of “off price” to the people.
The experts say that at present the government is earning Rs 76-00 per liter on the sale of petrol to the public through filling stations of different companies . These companies are also earning huge profit , but the end consumer i.e. the public is paying more and more to run their vehicles .
Due to the continuous price hike of the petroleum products, the middle class is much affected as the elite class of the country has not any concern on the price issue . As far as the lower class of the society is concerned they do not utilize much petroleum products . The middle class has become the sandwich. Neither they can afford their own vehicles on a daily basis to reach their offices , universities and schools nor they can afford the much raise in fares of transport. The transporters raise Rs 10 per passenger at every price hike announced by the government.
On one hand the government is raising the petroleum products on a regular basis and on the other side it leaves the people at the mercy of the transport mafia as there is no check and balance in the country which can prevent these mafias from raising fares without any notification of the government.