PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) provincial Chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao on Saturday criticised the federal government for the latest increase in prices of petroleum products, saying the government’s decision would further intensify inflation and add to the hardships of the people.
Speaking to party delegations at Watan Kor Peshawar, he said that despite a decline in global oil prices, the government had increased the rates of petrol and diesel, dropping a “petrol bomb” on the public. He warned that the hike would lead to a sharp increase in transportation, agriculture, industrial and daily commodity costs.
Sikandar Sherpao said the country was already facing inflation, unemployment and economic stagnation, and repeated increases in petroleum prices amounted to the “economic murder” of the people.
He maintained that the government was misleading the public by repeatedly citing external factors, whereas the real causes of the current crisis were incompetence, poor planning and unbalanced economic policies.
The QWP leader further said that the State Bank governor’s remarks had exposed a clear contradiction between the government’s claims of economic stability and the ground realities. He said the State Bank’s purchase of $27 billion from the local market over the past three and a half years reflected that there had been no real improvement in exports and that foreign exchange reserves were being maintained mainly by buying dollars from the domestic market.
He termed the situation dangerous, saying the policy had weakened the rupee and added further to the burden of inflation. Sikandar Sherpao said the government’s claims of economic stability and growth were merely hollow slogans, while the reality was that the national economy continued to face serious crises.
He said exports were declining, the volume of loans was increasing and there were no genuine reforms in financial policies.
