Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) President Muhammad Ikram Rajput has expressed serious concerns about the government’s decision to set petroleum product prices daily, warning that the move could create significant difficulties for industry, trade, transport, and the general public and increase economic uncertainty rather than promote stability.

Muhammad Ikram Rajput said petrol prices had increased by approximately Rs22 while diesel prices had risen by more than Rs14 over the past three days, placing an additional burden on inflation-hit consumers. He said that if fuel prices changed daily, industrialists and traders would be unable to accurately determine production costs and product prices, severely affecting business planning.

He said government data showed that taxes, duties and levies accounted for approximately 37 percent of the price of petrol and 31 percent of the price of diesel. Instead of directly passing the impact of fluctuations in international petroleum prices on consumers and industry, the government should also review the existing system of taxes and levies, he added.

The KATI president said every daily change in fuel prices would translate into new transportation costs, revised freight rates and higher product prices. Rising costs of goods transportation, container services, raw materials and delivery of finished products would affect the entire supply chain, ultimately pushing up prices across all sectors, including essential commodities.

He said frequent changes in fuel prices would also undermine the competitiveness of export-oriented industries because accurately estimating production costs would become increasingly difficult, and investor confidence could also weaken. Small and medium-sized enterprises would be among the sectors most severely affected by the situation, he added.

Muhammad Ikram Rajput said any decline in petroleum product prices in the international market should also be passed on immediately to consumers, industry and transporters. “It is not acceptable for increases to be passed on immediately while reductions are delayed,” he said.

He called upon the Prime Minister, the Federal Minister for Petroleum and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) to reconsider the decision to determine petroleum prices on a daily basis and, after consultation with the industrial, commercial and transport sectors, introduce a transparent and predictable pricing mechanism that could protect business costs, consumers and the national economy from unnecessary fluctuations.

The KATI president said Pakistan’s economy needed policy continuity, economic stability and business confidence rather than prices that changed every day.