THE government’s decision to introduce daily revision in petroleum prices is a step that deserves serious reconsideration.
While international oil markets remain volatile because of heightened tensions in the Middle East, exposing ordinary citizens to daily fluctuations is neither prudent nor people-friendly.
At a time when inflation has already eroded household incomes, the need of the hour is stability, not greater uncertainty.
Minister for Petroleum Ali Pervaiz Malik himself acknowledged that the new mechanism would “surely add to the burden on citizens.
” That admission naturally raises an important question: if the policy is expected to increase hardship, why adopt it?
While international oil prices have risen due to renewed tensions in the Middle East, the increase has not been of such an exceptional magnitude as to warrant daily revisions in domestic fuel prices.
The current situation undoubtedly requires caution, but it does not necessarily justify exposing consumers to changing fuel prices every single day.
Daily revisions will create confusion across the economy.
Every morning, people could wake up to different fuel prices without knowing whether transport fares, freight charges or the cost of essential goods will change as well.
Businesses, transporters and ordinary commuters all need a degree of predictability to plan their expenses.
Constant fluctuations are likely to fuel uncertainty rather than confidence.
There is also an undeniable political dimension.
One cannot help but ask whether the PML-N, had it been sitting on the opposition benches instead of in government, would have accepted such a policy without criticism.
Our political parties have too often pursued one set of economic principles while in office and another while in opposition.
The government should reconsider this decision and at least return to fortnightly adjustments in petroleum prices.
Such a mechanism would still allow prices to reflect international trends while providing consumers and businesses with a reasonable level of certainty.
Stability itself has economic value.
The people are already under immense financial pressure.
Higher electricity and gas tariffs and the increasing cost of living have stretched household budgets to the limit.
Adding daily uncertainty to fuel prices risks compounding those difficulties.
The government must recognize that while markets may fluctuate every day, the lives and livelihoods of ordinary citizens cannot be expected to do the same.
