PESHAWAR: Awami National Party leadership has said that the people of Pakistan are being overwhelmed by a storm of inflation, while the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government continues to place an additional burden on the public and remains engaged in “irresponsible theatrics”.

In separate statements issued here on Saturday, ANP central president Senator Aimal Wali Khan and provincial president Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that the government had first taken an “irrational, undemocratic and anti-people” step by increasing petroleum prices by Rs137 per litre, and then announced a partial reduction of Rs80, which they described as deceptive relief.

Mr Khan said that the public was still bearing an additional burden of Rs80 per litre, calling it a manipulation of public psychology whereby massive increases were followed by minor cuts presented as relief.

He claimed that according to global market trends, petrol prices in Pakistan should have been around Rs298 per litre, but the government fixed them at Rs458 and later Rs378, effectively putting pressure on citizens.

Rejects minor cuts in energy rates as ‘deceptive relief’

He added that diesel prices had also surged, significantly increasing transportation costs and the prices of essential commodities, further expanding the scope of inflation.

He questioned the government’s policy, stating that inflation had a direct link with diesel prices and asked how the administration planned to address the situation.

He further said that even middle-class citizens were now worried about how they would manage their expenses in the coming months.

Criticising the government’s compliance with IMF conditions, he alleged that such measures were depriving ordinary people of their right to live.

Separately, Mr Hussain said that reducing petrol prices by Rs80 after a steep increase was unacceptable and amounted to a mockery of the public. He said that while a global economic crisis existed, the government’s approach of shifting the entire burden onto citizens was deeply regrettable.

He questioned whether the global crisis affected only Pakistan, noting that other countries were providing relief to their people under similar circumstances.

He alleged that the recent hike in petroleum prices was not a result of global factors but an attempt to meet IMF conditions.

Mr Hussain said that past and present loans had failed to benefit the common people, adding that their advantages were largely confined to the ruling elite.

He warned that the public was sinking deeper into inflation, unemployment and insecurity, while petroleum prices in Pakistan remained among the highest compared to the global market.

He further claimed that due to flawed economic policies, more than half of the country’s population had fallen below the poverty line, and that claims of economic improvement had proven baseless.

He added that the current crisis had exposed the government’s performance, while people continued to suffer from the dual challenges of inflation and insecurity.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2026