Lahore: Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Vice Emir Liaquat Baloch said on Tuesday that the federal government could abolish the petroleum levy by implementing the party's economic proposals and cutting wasteful expenditure, potentially saving hundreds of billions of rupees.Speaking at a press conference at the JI sit-in in Lahore, Liaquat Baloch said the JI had presented the government with practical and workable proposals aimed at reducing the burden of taxes and levies on petroleum products without creating additional pressure on the national exchequer.Excessive taxes and levies, he said, had pushed up the cost of petrol and diesel, adversely affecting households, industry, agriculture, trade and small businesses. The combined burden of taxes and levies on petroleum products at around Rs130 to Rs148 per litre, he said.The JI Vice Emir argued that the government could reduce fuel prices by changing the way locally produced petroleum was treated under the pricing mechanism. Separating domestic production from imported petroleum in determining prices, he said, could provide consumers with around 30 percent relief and save approximately Rs120 billion.The JI leader said the government could also raise refinery utilisation by importing crude oil and using currently idle capacity. Refineries, he said, were operating at only around 43 percent of their capacity and that utilising the remaining capacity could save the national exchequer about Rs100 billion.The JI, said Liaquat Baloch, had proposed rationalising federal spending on programmes and liabilities that, following the 18th Constitutional Amendment, should largely be handled by the provinces. According to him, this could generate savings of up to Rs900 billion.Other proposals include reducing the interest rate by two percentage points, which he said could save around Rs100 billion, and rationalising cash reserves to save approximately Rs448 billion. He also called for renegotiation or termination of unsustainable agreements with independent power producers a nd an end to electricity subsidies available to government officials and the ruling elite.Baloch urged the government to cut its own expenditure and privileges instead of repeatedly increasing the tax burden on citizens. He warned that failure to provide relief would lead the JI to expand its protest campaign, with options including a train march, wheel-jam strike and march towards Islamabad. 'Our struggle is not for political gain but to free 250 million Pakistanis from inflation and unjust taxation,' he said.Baloch further said the JI's nationwide protest against the petroleum levy and rising fuel prices had entered its 24th day and would continue until the government provided meaningful relief to consumers. He said the next round of talks between the JI and government negotiating committees would be held in Islamabad on September 10.He said the government had requested that the JI suspend its sit-ins after negotiations began, but the party had rejected the request. 'The protest will end automatically once the petroleum levy is withdrawn,' he said.JI Lahore Emir Ziauddin Ansari, Central Punjab Emir Javed Kasuri, JI Emir's adviser on political affairs Raja Arif Sultan, Information Secretary Shakil Ahmed Turabi and other party leaders were present.