Thaindian News

Lahore, April 1(ANI): A petition challenging the recent increase in petroleum prices in Pakistan has been filed in the Lahore High Court.

The Pakistan Government had increased the price of diesel by 13 per cent and that of petrol by about 10 per cent late Thursday night.

This is the single biggest surge in oil prices since July 2008 and is expected to generate about 11 billion rupees in revenue for the government.

Petitioner Mateenul Haq stated that the government, unable to control unnecessary expenditure, was penalising the public by increasing the prices of commodities, the Dawn reports.

The petitioner pointed out that the recent upsurge in petrol prices would lead to a further increase in prices of other products and services, and would therefore create more difficulties for an already burdened populace.

The petitioner therefore requested the court to issue directives to reverse the petrol price hike.

The government had raised the petroleum prices by up to 13 per cent to pass on the full impact of international market to consumers.

Informed sources said the Ministries of Petroleum and Finance and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had advised the government to raise the prices of petroleum products by 10-12 per cent.

The government had absorbed a loss of 35 billion rupees over the past four months, the sources added.

The recent instability in the Middle East has led to a recent hike in oil prices. The impact of March prices in the international market has now been fully passed on to the consumer. (ANI)