ISLAMABAD: Business community of the federal capital on Wednesday said the increase in oil prices would trigger inflationary impact, which would ultimately affect the overall business environment.

The executive body of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) in a meeting strongly condemned the 10 to 15 per cent hike in POL products, saying that it would further dampen the business activities leading to strangulation of the economy.

Speaking at the meeting the ICCI president Mian Shaukat Masud said the increase in POL prices always led to severe stagnation of the industry as it raised the cost of production which subsequently increased the prices of finished goods.

The meeting observed that the decision to increase oil prices, particularly at a time when trade and industry was passing through a difficult phase, was a totally unwise decision.

‘As a result of this hike consumers will have to face very high prices in the local market while in the international market prices of our products would become more uncompetitive leading to further contraction of exports,’ Mian Shaukat Masud said in a statement.

He said 70 per cent of electricity in the country was generated through thermal sources and this hike would significantly push up prices of electricity which would translate into increase in the prices of all items making life of common man more miserable.