Flour millers in Punjab on Friday urged the government to immediately withdraw the fresh increase in petroleum and gas prices, saying that it would result in increase their input cost, resulting in price increase for the masses.
In a joint statement, Chairman of the Punjab chapter of Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) Chaudhry Abdul Jabbar, former PFMA president Asim Ahmad Raza, Liaquat Ali Khan and Mian Muhammad Riaz claimed that the fresh increase in POL prices would negatively impact the national economy, hurting trade and industry, besides harming the people’s interest.
Chaudhry Abdul Jabbar said that petroleum prices were already high and a further increase would be devastating for the domestic economy and trade. He said that the government should immediately withdraw the fresh hike.
Former PFMA Chairman Asim Ahmad Raza said that the input cost was already too high and prolonged power outages and high electricity and gas tariffs were already causing irreparable loss to the industry. He said that the government’s move would multiply hardships of the masses.
Liaquat Ali Khan, another flour miller, said that the industry was already under pressure because of hike in wheat prices. Flour prices, he said, were high because of the increase in prices of raw materials and any further increase in fuel prices would raise the input cost, rendering flour prices beyond the reach of the common man. Rejecting the fresh hike in fuel prices, Mian Muhammad Riaz said that the government had given an unpleasant gift to the masses on Eid.
