KARACHI, Dec 31: Except for little relief in telephone charges - consumers experienced escalating prices for oil products, electricity and gas during the year 2003.
Consumers are now paying Rs33.78 per litre to buy petrol as compared to Rs32.50 per litre on January 1, 2003, up by four per cent. Similarly, high octane blending component (HOBC) price has surged to Rs37.67 from Rs36.41 per litre, showing an increase of 3.5 per cent.
An eight per cent increase has been witnessed in kerosene oil to Rs22.38 from Rs20.70 per litre a year back. Light diesel oil (LDO) has become costlier by 5.8 per cent to Rs18.63 as compared to Rs17.60 per litre.
Diesel prices has shown a rise of 6.6 per cent to Rs22.78 from Rs21.37 a litre in the outgoing year.
A research analyst at Invest Cap and Securities said that the global crude oil prices remained highly volatile during 2003. From the start, prices were under inflationary pressure due to anticipation of Gulf war.
New York crude prices at one time touched 12-year high level of $40 per barrel. However, contrary to expectation, prices have not returned to previous levels after end of war due to severe winter, tension in the Middle East, and weakening dollar.
In gas prices, a consumer who was paying bill of Rs67.95 per month on consumption of up to 3.55 million cubic feet per month, is now getting the bill of Rs69.31. Similarly, the bill of Rs102.37 a year back for consuming 3.55-7.10mcf per month, is now charged at Rs104.42.
Consumers, who were getting a bill of Rs163.78 per month a year back on consuming 7.10-10.64mcf per month, are now getting the bill of Rs167.06. On consuming 10.64 to 14.2mcf per month, the end-users are getting a bill of Rs217.32 as compared to Rs213.06 a year back.
A spokesman of Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) said that electricity tariff has shown a rise of around six per cent in the outgoing year.
In telephone charges, local call rates remained unchanged at Rs2.31 for five minutes in the year 2003. However, the nation-wide calling charges had plunged to Rs8.50 per minute from Rs10.50 per minute in the last one year, a spokesman of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) said.
He said that call rates are likely to decline in case few more companies enter the telecommunication market in 2004 owing to stiff competition.
CURRENCY: Rupee has gained around 1.5 per cent against the dollar in the calendar year 2003 in the interbank market followed by a one per cent gain in the kerb market against the greenback.
Euro performed extraordinarily against the rupee during the outgoing year. The rupee lost 14.4 per cent in the interbank and 15.2 per cent in the kerb market in 2003.
Moreover, the rupee lost 8.2 per cent in the interbank (8.7pc in kerb) and 8.4pc in the interbank (9.0pc in kerb) against pound sterling and Japanese yen respectively during 2003, an analyst at Invest Cap said.