ISLAMABAD, Oct 14: The Pakistan Peoples Party on Saturday expressed its shock over the Musharraf regime’s refusal to reduce oil prices despite downward trend in international market.

The PPP’s Information Secretary, Sherry Rehman has questioned why a select few oil refinery giants were being protected at the expense of the people of Pakistan, and quoted a World Bank report that also said that Pakistani consumers had been the worst victims of the regime’s flawed petroleum pricing strategy.

“It is heavily biased in favour of oil refineries, offering them tax concessions, below import-parity-plus margin sale of diesel and kerosene and tax relaxation on CNG and LPG,” said Rehman. She also said that the regime is going an extra mile to protect refineries through a 5-10 per cent import duty, forcing the consumers to pay correspondingly higher charges for the products.

“The regime’s approach towards pricing reflects no consideration for the masses who are made to pay a far higher price for petroleum products compared to other countries,” observed Rehman.

“The World Bank report clearly points out that there is a huge gap between prices of petroleum products in Pakistan and those in the international market. It also highlights how, by way of tax manoeuvres, the government protects CNG and LPG producers.”

Criticizing State Information Minister for misleading the public by implying that the government is already providing a subsidy over petrol prices, Ms Rehman said: “Perhaps the minister needs to refresh his knowledge. Instead of offering a subsidy on petrol, the regime has made petroleum as its biggest source of revenue.” — Our Reporter