KARACHI, Oct 16 : The Karachi Chamber of Commerce Industry (KCCI), while appreciating substantial reduction in the petroleum products’ prices on Monday, termed it the right decision in the wake of decline in their prices in the international market and appreciation of the rupee.
“The decision taken by the caretaker government will provide relief to common man and the business community in the ongoing phase of inflation, besides having a positive impact on the economy,” Chairman Businessmen Group (BMG) Zubair Motiwala and KCCI President Iftikhar Ahmed Sheikh said in a joint statement.
They said it was the second consecutive cut in petroleum prices which would certainly help in bringing down the inflation to some extent. They urged that an effective price control mechanism and strict implementation of government rates of various household products must be ensured with a view to provide relief to the inflation-stricken poor masses.
Zubair Motiwala lauded the government’s decision of passing on the benefits of reduced oil prices in the international market to the people of Pakistan and expressed the hope that the caretaker prime minister would also take measures to reduce the power tariffs and devise effective strategies for dealing with the ongoing gas load shedding and low gas pressure.
Highlighting the issue of gas supply and pressure in all seven industrial town zones of Karachi, Motiwala also stressed on need of urgent steps to ensure ‘wheels of industries keep on spinning’ for smoothly carrying out production activities and meeting export targets.
He pointed out that Karachi Electric’s sales to industries had dropped by 9.5 percent in the last three months since electricity tariff started increasing. He suggested to opt other possibilities like reducing thefts, pilferages and technical line losses etc. along with review of agreements with Independent Power Producers (IPPs) for reducing power tariff as well as burden on power consumers.
Expressing concerns over increase in gas price for local industries, the BMG chairman underscored the need of practical and pragmatic steps to ensure smooth functioning of local industries as the recent drop in energy consumption clearly indicates that industries are not functioning and closing down.
KCCI President Iftikhar Ahmed Sheikh said that the reduction in petroleum prices would reduce the cost of production which would ultimately extend a direct benefit to the people.
“The industrial sector would definitely benefit from the reduction in POL prices mainly as fuel and electricity are regarded as the lifeline of any economy and play a pivotal role in the socio-economic development of a country,” he argued.
The KCCI president stated that tariffs of Inter-city transportation must also be brought down which were immediately raised whenever POL prices go up but meagerly reduced when the prices go down. “We need self-assessment as to how prices can be reduced after cut in oil prices,” he added.
He appealed to the government to link the transporters tariffs with the prices of prevalent price of petroleum products by devising a formula whereby the benefits of reduced oil prices trickle down to common masses and the industries.
