ISLAMABAD, Feb 24: The government defended recent increase in the domestic prices of petroleum products when the matter was raised by the opposition members in the National Assembly on Thursday.

Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Resources Mir Naseer Khan Mengal said the prices had to be increased by the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC) because the government could not afford to subsidise them after suffering a loss of Rs40 billion in recent months.

The issue was raised in a call-attention notice tabled by four members of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal alliance, Mohammad Hussain Mehanti, Mohammad Laeeq Khan, Abdus Sattar Afghani and Mrs Aisha Munawar. The notice said increases of Rs2 to Rs5 per litre during the last two months had caused a "grave concern amongst the public".

Mr Mengal, while defending the price increases, blamed on high oil prices in the world market, said the rates of the petroleum products in neighbouring India were higher than those in Pakistan. However, he asked the members to wait for the report of a subcommittee of the Senate standing committee on petroleum and natural resources that was studying the present system of determining petroleum prices after every fortnight.

In a similar debate in the Senate earlier this month, the opposition members had called for transferring the job of petroleum price fixation from the OCAC of oil marketing and refining companies to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority.

Before the National Assembly started a three-day debate on the present unrest in Balochistan province, Law, Justice and Human Rights Minister Mohammad Wasi Zafar laid before the house four presidential ordinances seeking amendments in different existing laws.

They are: The Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils (Amendment) Ordinance 2004, the Pakistan Engineering Council (Amendment) Ordinance 2004, the Police Order (Amendment) Ordinance 2004 and the Federal Employees Benevolent Fund and Group Insurance (Amendment) Ordinance 2005.

Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Omar Ayub Khan introduced the Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan (IDBP) (Reorganisation and Conversion) Bill 2005 that provides for the reorganisation and conversion of the IDBP into a public limited company.