June 26, 2006	Monday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, June 25: Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has demanded of the government to curtail powers of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), which has increased rates of gas just a week after the announcement of budget 2006-07.

“After just one week of budget announcement, Ogra has increased gas rates neutralising the incentives given by the government to the public in the federal budget.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz should issue directives to clip the wings of Ogra and put its feet on the ground to define it,” demanded ICCI President Abdul Rauf in a statement issued here on Sunday.

Mr Rauf said the authority had already increased rates by 17.5 per cent in February. It was the second time in four months that increase in gas prices was proposed, which would bring another wave of inflation, he added.

In March, the prime minister had ordered Ogra to investigate the issue of extra bills to consumers during winter times but bureaucracy gave a cold shoulder to the directive.

He warned that 90 per cent of the country’s industry was using gas and increased gas prices would further raise industrial input cost.

In global trade when India and China were dominating the international market due to their cheap and quality products, Pakistan would face a lot of difficulties to achieve its export targets due to lack of competitiveness caused by high cost of production.