The opposition on Saturday criticised the government’s decision to raise petrol and diesel prices by Rs55 per litre, calling it an “inflation bomb” for the public and demanding that the hike be reversed.
The decision to raise fuel prices came as Pakistan faced the economic fallout from the US–Israel war on Iran, which has disrupted trade through the Strait of Hormuz — a crucial route for the country’s oil imports.
Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas described the move as the “worst form of governance and a grave anti-people decision.”
“When people are already struggling to make ends meet, such decisions are tantamount to rubbing salt into their wounds,” he wrote on the social media platform X.
Pointing out that the government was already collecting more than Rs100 per litre in petroleum levy, Abbas questioned whether the additional burden would fall on the public or the ruling elite.
The government has raised the petroleum development levy (PDL) on petrol by Rs20, bringing it to around Rs105 per litre, in a move aimed at offsetting what would otherwise have been a larger increase in diesel prices. At the same time, the levy on high-speed diesel (HSD) was reduced from Rs77 to Rs57 per litre.
As a result, the ex-depot price of HSD has been set at Rs335.86 per litre for the coming week, up about 20 percent from Rs280.86 per litre. The ex-depot price of petrol was revised to Rs321.17 per litre from Rs266.17 per litre, marking an increase of roughly 17 percent.
Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas said the government should focus on cutting its own privileges, protocol, and unnecessary expenditures instead of placing the burden on the public, and immediately provide relief to the people.
“This is not a time for political point-scoring but one of national survival. The government should reduce its expenditures, ensure transparency, bring the entire national leadership on board, and immediately adopt practical measures to provide relief to the public,” Allama Raja Nasir Abbas demanded.
Abbas, who serves as vice chairman of the opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP), warned that a prolonged Middle East conflict could have serious consequences for food security.
Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas called on the government to support the agricultural sector by providing subsidies on inputs such as fertilisers and seeds to prevent a potential food crisis.
He also said that government employees had been “severely affected” by rising inflation and urged that they be granted two months’ additional salaries ahead of Eid.
Meanwhile, the political committee of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) held a meeting on the current situation and issued a statement on Saturday strongly condemning the “cruel” fuel price increases, describing them as an “inflation bomb” on the public.
The party criticised the ruling coalition for “burdening the people with inflation instead of providing relief, while the extravagance of the ruling elite continues to escalate unabated.”
PTI argued that the government should have “protected the public from the shocks of global market prices by reducing the heavy burden of the petroleum development levy.”
The party’s political committee demanded the immediate reversal of the petroleum price hikes and called for the government to provide the “maximum possible relief” to citizens.
“On the one hand, there is an abundance of state aircraft and lavish perks for government officials imposed through Form 47. On the other hand, petrol prices have been pushed out of reach for the poor public,” the statement said.
“This contradiction proves that the rulers are concerned only with maintaining their own lavish lifestyles,” the PTI statement read.
The opposition party further argued that the government of former prime minister Imran Khan had “provided every possible relief to the public” during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite severe pressures on the global market.
In a separate post on its official X account, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) said: “The Rs55 per litre ‘petrol bomb’ imposed by Shehbaz Sharif’s illegitimate Form 47 government will push ordinary Pakistanis deeper into economic crisis.”
The party added, “This ruthless lack of empathy stands in stark contrast to the extravagant spending on private jets, luxury vehicles, and all manner of privileges for the elite.”
PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas A issued the statement as part of the party’s ongoing criticism of the government’s fuel pricing policies.
In his statement, PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram described the fuel price hikes as the “worst petrol bomb in history.”
“Petrol and diesel are becoming more expensive, but why are the rulers’ planes and protocols so cheap?” he asked, adding that the public was questioning why they must “bear the costs of rulers’ private jets.”
The PTI leader argued that the government’s increase in fuel prices would also make transport, food items, and other essentials more costly, warning that the hikes could trigger a “new storm of inflation.”
“Petrol is expensive, electricity is expensive, flour is expensive. Where should the public turn? There is extravagant protocol for the rulers, but a hell of inflation for the people,” Sheikh Waqas Akram said.
He questioned what “sacrifices those demanding sacrifices from the public are making” and asked whether the costs of rulers’ planes and protocols could not be reduced.
“Petrol is expensive, employment is low, poverty is high. What kind of economic policy is this?” Akram added, urging the government to lower the petroleum levy if it was “truly serious about relief for the people.”
PTI MNA Junaid Akbar also commented on the situation, highlighting…
PTI MNA Junaid Akbar said the government “used the global market as an excuse” to raise fuel prices by Rs55, while continuing to impose taxes exceeding Rs100 per litre on petrol to fund their own luxuries.
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