LAHORE: Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front (PIAF) has demanded of the government to pass on the dollar depreciation benefit to the masses and bring down the prices of petroleum products with same ratio.
In a statement, PIAF Acting Chairman Khamis Saeed Butt said that high dollar prices were termed as the main reason behind price spiral and since the dollar has come down considerably therefore the prices of petroleum products should also be curtailed with immediate effect.
He said that cut in POL prices announced a few days back was so meager that it hardly had any effect on the fast rising prices of daily use items.
Khamis Saeed Butt said that the business community of Pakistan had always supported Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif through thick and thin and appreciated the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for bringing down the dollar to 96 rupees but its trickle down should also reach the general public.
The PIAF Acting Chairman said that more than 60 percent of the electricity being consumed in the country is being produced through thermal means and it was very unfortunate that the prices of electricity were not decreased.
He said that unless and until a considerable decrease in POL prices and electricity rates were announced, the cost of doing business would not come down therefore the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar should intervene into the issue and direct the authorities concerned to pass on the benefit of dollar depreciation to the masses at the earliest.