Islamabad : The shocking increase in the oil prices has opened -up a new floodgate of extremely unbearable pricehike across Pakistan.
Within hours from the government’s midnight announcement to hike the oil prices referring ME war crisis and its impact on the country’s fragile economy, everything in Pakistan became more costly.
The transporters raise their fairs for each short or long distance by 20 to 30 %. The manufactures , traders , whole sale dealers , vendors also increased the prices of their products even more than the impact of increase of oil prices. Name any thing from household items to industrial products the price of each and everything has gone up by 30 % and in some cases up to 50 %.
There is no system as such in Pakistan for price control and noone right from the manufacturers to vendors waits to pass on double than the impact of any hike in oil prices to the end users.
Since the oil prices stoke inflation worse than any other commodity , the manufacturers and traders go for a spree to push – up the prices of their saleable products whenever they see irrational increase in the oil prices.
The business and industrialists do not need to seek permission from any authority to go for any kind of profiteering at any time when any opportunity for profiteering crisis.
Pakistan’s free profiteering system has made the business community affluent in the last one and half decades and pushed millions of Pakistanis into chilling poverty.
Unfortunately , there is hardly any repentance in the ruling circles over bringing in anti masses business mechanism which only provides infefinate opportunities to business and industrial communities to fleece the end users. This carefully drafted policy by the ruling elite to favour businesses has trapped 250 million people of this country.
Since those who come to parliament come from the same segment of the society , which is major beneficiary of the current system of governance , there is hardly discussion at the decision-making level to make this system a balanced one to protect the consumer class in Pakistan.
The World Bank and other international institutions are calling upon the rulers of Pakistan for introducing a fairer system of governance in Pakistan to protect the commoners, but their calls are going unheared.
The same system came into play a couple of days ago for what the ruling elite said “Adjustment” in the oil prices to go for an extremely shocking decision of hiking oil prices in a big way. The government decision of increasing the oil prices without any schedule on August 5 at mid night has created a shocking situation for 90 percent Pakistanis. The people of Pakistan are unable to understand as to why the ruling elite went to use ME war as an opportunity to hike the oil prices , minimum by Rs 55 a litre , for the oil stocks which Pakistan purchased one and half months ago when the crudle prices were around $ 60 a barral and these stocks were available in local depots and supply chain. They are still struggling to find the beneficiaries of the biggest hike in the oil prices in the Pakistan ‘s 79- year history.
Amid extreme disappointment and disgruntlness , the floodgate of the worst pricehike is here to make lives of Pakistanis even more miserable.
Although the killing surge in the oil prices had landed in Lahore and Peshawar high courts and a decision is expected soon ,but the people are already trapped into the hell like situation and they paying its price.