The Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) on Friday deferred fuel strike across country for two days after State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik visited Karachi to convince the PPDA to call off the strike.According to the PPDA, the association would hold another round of negotiations with the government after two days.
It should be mentioned that that the fuel pump operators across the country had earlier announced a nationwide strike on July 22 (Saturday) in a bid to secure larger margins amid an inflation crisis. The PPDA said on Thursday, “We will shut down all petrol pumps across Pakistan on July 22 at 6pm said the association. It says it has more than 10,000 members.”
The association further stated that interest rates and inflation had hit operators’ businesses and called for the dealership margin to be increased. It said sales had slumped by 30% due to Iranian fuel being smuggled into the country. However, it deferred the strike call after negotiation with state minister and formation of committee to look into their demands.
