AT a time when the negotiating teams of the Government and Jamat-i-Islami (JI) are engaged in talks to mull over ideas to bring down the prices of oil prices, the Government has hiked the price of petrol and diesel in a wholesale manner, sending wrong signals about the outcome of the talks. The Government increased the price of petrol by Rs 12.9 per liter and that of diesel by Rs 3.72 per liter for 08 September. This is one of the worst upward adjustments of the oil price ever since implementation of the decision to determine oil prices on a daily basis.
No doubt, the Government has cited volatility in oil prices in the international market due to compounding confrontation between the United States and Iran, mainly on the issue of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz but there are genuine complaints that both increases and decreases in the price of oil in the global market are not proportionately reflected in Pakistan. The strategy of the Government appears to be to take the prices to a level where any downward revision agreed to during discussions with the JI does not impact upon its revenue. In their first round of talks in Lahore on Monday, JI presented six proposals and hopefully the Government will come up with its response during the next round on Thursday. However, the latest increase in oil prices and comments made by members of the governmental team on proposals of the JI cast doubts about the possibility of any worthwhile relief, which has become a national demand.
