BY : ANI Correspondent:
ISLAMABAD: President of the All Pakistan Anjuman e-Tajran and Traders Action Committee Islamabad, Ajmal Baloch, along with Secretary and Chairman of the Traders and Market Development Committee of ICCI Khalid Chaudhry and other market leaders, has urged the government to reduce petroleum prices in accordance with the decline in international crude oil prices.The traders’ representatives stated that before the Iran US conflict, crude oil was trading at around 72 dollars per barrel, whereas it has now fallen to approximately 67 dollars per barrel in the international market. They said that despite this decline, the government has failed to provide relief to consumers, calling it unfair and unjustified.The joint statement was also endorsed by Raja Zulfiqar, Shahid Abbasi, Asad Aziz, Kamran Kakakhel, Syed Amir Shah, Ajab Khan, Waseem Abbasi, Shehzad Abbasi, Yousaf Rajput, Syed Altaf Hussain Shah, Chaudhry Zafar Iqbal, Zahir Abbasi, Ahmad Khan, Naeem Iqbal, Chaudhry Waheed Cheema, Rana Bilal, Yasir Abbasi and Akhtar Abbasi.The traders maintained that locally produced petroleum is also being sold at international prices, allowing oil companies to earn huge profits. They alleged that the government has contributed to the current wave of inflation and insisted that traders should not be blamed for rising prices.They further demanded that petroleum should not be used as a source of government revenue and called upon Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to abolish the petroleum levy and other taxes imposed on fuel, announcing new prices in line with international market trends.
