Islamabad:
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that the former government made wrong decisions for cheap fame, Imran Khan left by burdening the people.
According to OGRA recommendations, the price of petrol and diesel is more than Rs 200 per liter. Due to the weakness of the rupee, the situation has reached this point.
Addressing a press conference after the rejection of both summaries of petroleum products, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that the previous government had decided to maintain the price of petrol till June 30. No cabinet approval was sought. Billions of rupees were paid by the government of Pakistan. If prices remain the same till June 30, then Rs. 240 billion will have to be paid out of one’s own pocket. The government of Pakistan will pay Rs.
He further said that prices of petroleum products are rising in the world market, OGRA’s recommendation was rejected, the government pays Rs 21 per liter on petrol and Rs 51 on diesel, these were personal decisions of Imran Khan, 200 per month. There will be an additional burden of Rs. 1 billion, additional loans will have to be taken to repay the additional amount of Rs. 200 billion. In order to gain cheap popularity, the previous government kept the prices of petrol and diesel so high.
Former Prime Minister said that OGRA has recommended to increase the price of petrol to Rs. 171. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif did not accept the recommendation of OGRA. The TI government has deliberately created confusion in the prices of petroleum products. The Prime Minister said that they do not want to impose more burden on the troubled people. Unfortunately, the previous government made wrong decisions for cheap fame. It has a monthly burden of Rs 200 billion.
He said that today’s press conference should be considered as the first step of the economic charter, no doubt it will have to be re-engaged with the IMF.
