LAHORE: Senior vice president of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry urged the government to pass on the benefit of crude oil price reduction in the international market to the trade, industry, agriculture sector and the masses.
After having a meeting with the delegation of businessmen at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mian Nauman Kabir said that price of crude oil is at the lowest ebb but government has not passed its full benefit to the trade, industry and agriculture sector.
The LCCI senior vice president demanded of the government to reduce petroleum price by at least Rs. 15/= per liter considering the lowest oil prices in the international market.
He said that price of crude oil in the international market has come down to around $40 barrel but policy makers are reluctant to pass on the benefit to the trade and industry and masses with the ratio.
Mian Nauman Kabir said that it is a sheer injustice that traders and masses are not given the benefit of crude oil price reduction. They are still suffering and paying heavy cost of electricity and transport fares.
“If the fuel would be heavily taxed the entire economy would suffer and the same happened in Pakistan as the repeated increases in the POL prices had ruined the industrial and economic activities”, the LCCI senior vice president added.
He said that only because of high cost of doing business in Pakistan, a large number of industrial units had already shifted their operations to other countries and the recent decision would force more industrialists to shift their industrial units.
He said that it is not the industrial sector alone but the agriculture sector is also suffering badly because of high prices of petroleum products.
“Pakistan agriculture sector is engine of growth. Cut in petroleum prices would bring down the input cost of agriculture production as high speed diesel is being used in tractors, tube-wells, harvesters, thrashers and other agriculture machinery.
