PIAF chairman rejects jump in oil prices.

LAHORE -- The Pakistan Industrial and Traders Associations Front has rejected jump in prices of petroleum products for the second half of December 2020 despite the fact that Pakistan's headline national inflation is still in high range of over 8 per cent, warning the authorities that inflation above 6 percent could hurt economic growth.

In a joint statement with vice chairman Javed Siddiqi, Mian Nauman Kabir said that for the second half of Dec, the government increased the prices of petrol by Rs3/litre, diesel Rs3.01/litre, kerosene by Rs5/litre and Light Diesel Oil (LDO) increased by Rs2/litre.

The increase will be effective from today (Dec 16) till the end of the month.

Mian Nauman said that the high speed diesel is used mostly in the transport and agriculture sectors.

Therefore, any increase in its price will lead to inflationary impact.

Kerosene oil price has also gone up, which is used in remote areas where liquefied petroleum gas is not available for cooking purposes.

So, any increase in its price will have an impact on the life of the poor.

The price of light diesel oil has also been hiked, which is used in industries.

Mian Nauman Kabir said that oil prices and inflation are closely connected in a cause-andeffect relationship.

As fuel rates move up, inflation, which is the measure of...