Islamabad: Muhammad ShakeelMunir, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has said that the government has made yet another big hike in the prices of petroleum products within a short span of time that would entail very harmful consequences for the business sector and unleash a new wave of high inflation for the common man. He urged that the government should urgently withdraw this unprecedented hike to save the businesses and the people from its serious consequences.

ShakeelMunir said that the government hadincreased the price of petrol by Rs.14.49/litre, high speed diesel by Rs.14.44/litre, LDO by Rs.17.66/litre and kerosene oil by Rs.18/litrein the third week of October 2021, which was resented by almost every segment of society. However, the government has made another hike the POL prices in the first week of September that would plunge the business class and the general public into deep troubles. He said that the people were already facing great difficulties due to high inflation and the business community was struggling to combat the impact of Covid-19 pandemic. In these tough times, making phenomenal hikes in POL products would cause manifold increase in the cost of doing businessand a bring a fresh wave of high inflation across the country. He urged that the government should avoid taking such harsh decisions and focus on promoting ease of doing business to steer the economy out of current challenges.