Petrol prices in Pakistan rise by PKR 60 in a week, hit record levels

The prices of petroleum products in Pakistan have risen by a massive PKR 60 per litre in about a week taking them to record levels and there have been arbitrary increases in the prices of necessary items by many traders, local media said.

In Pakistan, the prices of petroleum products determine the prices of almost everything due to the role of fuel in transportation.

As the country increased the prices of petrol and diesel, the traders arbitrarily increased the prices of all daily use and necessary items, and the transporters increased the fare to a mind-boggling level, local media said.

Even the Punjab government is considering increasing the fare of Orange Train from PKR 40 to 60. At a time when inflation is practically killing people, at least the government should not increase the fare of public transport, said an article in local media.

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on June 2 announced that the federal government has decided to raise the prices of all petroleum products barring one by another PKR 30 -- just a week after making a similar increase, Pakistan media reported.

After the latest round of hikes, petrol is priced at PKR 209.86, diesel at PKR 204.15, kerosene oil at PKR 181.94 and light diesel at PKR 178.31. Only kerosene oil's price was hiked by less than PKR 30. Diesel is widely used in the transportation of goods.

Pakistan on May 26 raised the prices of petroleum products by PKR 30 per litre.

After Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government again increased the prices of petrol in Pakistan earlier this month, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) staged a protest across Karachi, according to Pakistan media.

The demonstrations were staged at 11 major points across Karachi. The protesters were carrying placards and banners and chanted the slogans against the federal government for following the previous government.

People from all over the region participated in the demonstration to record their protest against the hike in petrol to PKR 60 per litre in just one week, becoming the highest rate of all time. This massive hike has impacted the common people in the country.

Addressing the protest demonstrations, JI district chiefs and other leaders demanded of the government to withdraw the hike immediately. The JI leaders said that political groups in the ruling regime contest each other when it comes to pleasing the foreign master in the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Another leader in the protest said that the government instead of providing relief to the masses is continuing to increase the petrol price as per directed by the International Monetary Fund. The leader further added that rising petrol prices twice in just one week was tantamount to the economic massacre of the nation.

The JI leaders, addressing the demonstrations, dubbed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)'s tenure a continuation of the previous era of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)'s coalition government, Pakistan media reported.

The protesters demanded the government withdraw the hike, take solid measures to get rid of the IMF program and dictation and bring in a proper austerity drive within the elite ruling class. They also warned the government of mass-scale protests if the situation is not changed.

Pakistani government employees had announced sit-in outside the country's Finance Ministry from Monday, demanding a raise in their salaries owing to the unprecedented increase in the fuel and electricity tariffs, the Pakistan media reported.