By: Saifullah Baloch
After a total increase of 84 rupees per liter in June, the price of petrol has been increased for the past four years, and suddenly everything from public transport to daily necessities is beyond the reach of the poor. done Taking advantage of the downward trends in the global market, the government on Thursday night reduced the price of petrol by Rs 18.50 and diesel by Rs 40.50 per litre, making it necessary to immediately reduce transport fares and freight costs. According to the government announcement, the new price of petrol has been fixed at Rs 24,230, diesel Rs 236, kerosene Rs 196.45 and light diesel Rs 191.44 per litre. While announcing this good news to the nation, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif informed about the economic situation of the country and its background in his address. He said that the previous government had flouted the agreement made with the IMF on the strictest terms and we had to make petrol more expensive as a result of the rising oil prices in the global market. The common man was affected. The Prime Minister said that if we had any other way, these problems would never have arisen, but every penny of the decrease in oil prices in the world market will be handed over to the nation and also in the decrease in the prices of other imported commodities. People will get relief. It should be remembered that due to the Ukraine-Russia war, crude oil prices rose by an average of 40 dollars per barrel from March to June, and the previous government’s estimations of subsidies given to the public in the form of petrol proved to be wrong. Along with reducing the electricity rates, they were frozen till the budget of the next financial year (July 1). At the time of this relief package, the country was facing a growing financial deficit and had to make large international payments in June, which caused the foreign exchange reserves to fall to the level of 9 billion dollars. In addition to getting 3.2 billion dollars from Cochin, the DM government had to accept very strict conditions to get one billion dollars from the IMF under the bailout package of 6 billion dollars. At the time when Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif was addressing the nation, the price of crude oil was dropping by four dollars per barrel in the international market, due to which its new price became 91.63 dollars per barrel. Economists are citing the increase in interest rates by the US government as the reason for the decline in prices, and as long as this situation continues, oil prices do not appear to increase. According to local sources, keeping the 15-day average of oil prices in the international market, prices are determined by deducting other expenses and taxes in the country, as if the increase or decrease in domestic prices is subject to the 15-day prices at the global level. Unfortunately, the capacity to store oil at all times is only 30 days. India has this capacity of 120 days, while some oil importing countries, including China, have created such capacity that they accumulate large reserves of mineral oil in times of low prices, which can be used in times of high prices to moderate prices. is kept Pakistan has bright prospects of vast reserves of oil and gas, moreover, there are some other sources of energy, so considering the ground realities, adequate efforts should be made to utilize them all.