KARACHI: (HRNW) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh Vice President Rizwan Niazi on Wednesday strongly criticised the latest increase in petroleum prices, warning that the move would trigger a fresh wave of inflation and further aggravate the financial hardships of the public.
In a statement issued here, Rizwan Niazi said the increase of Rs4.93 per litre in petrol and Rs7.15 per litre in high-speed diesel reflected the continuation of what he termed anti-people economic policies. He alleged that instead of providing relief, the government was shifting the burden of economic mismanagement onto ordinary citizens.
He said every increase in fuel prices led to higher transportation fares, rising food prices, increased agricultural input costs and escalating business expenses, making life increasingly difficult for people already struggling with inflation.
“The country is already facing an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis. Raising petroleum prices at such a time is unfair to workers, salaried employees, farmers, traders and the middle class,” he said.
The PTI Sindh leader claimed that the government had failed to fulfil its promises of providing relief to the public, adding that citizens were being confronted with new price hikes every few weeks while essential commodities had already moved beyond the reach of many households.
Rizwan Niazi said higher fuel prices would adversely affect every sector of the economy and further weaken purchasing power. He maintained that the government’s economic priorities had intensified public hardship and increased the cost of doing business across the country.
He urged the government to immediately reduce what he described as unnecessary taxes and the petroleum levy imposed on fuel products, introduce effective economic reforms and adopt measures aimed at controlling inflation.
He warned that the continued increase in petroleum prices would not only deepen the economic difficulties faced by the public but also have wider negative implications for the national economy.
