The New Beginnings :
The new appointments of the caretaker setup just took place two days back on 14th August 2023, with P.M Anwar Ul Haq as the head of the caretaker government, but what was peculiar to the common man was a sudden massive jump in the fuel cost.
The Unjustified Increase In Price And The Interim Government :
Under the previous Finance Ministry of Mr.Dar the people were usually uncertain about the prices, but the media release of 15th August 2023 by the Finance Division has left everyone stunned.
The press release gave a notice for the price of MS(Petrol) went from 272.95 to 290.45 after an increment of +17.50 and the price of High Speed Diesel went from 273.40 to 293.40 after an increment of 20.00, now the coming days are quite unpredictable of what’s going to happen and what the government’s contingency plan would be.
The Public Sentiment :
Pakistan is currently going through a state of Political and Economic turmoil and this instability has lead to Pakistan being obliged to do what the “Global Lender” Inter Monetary Fund orders, which has in return forced the Government to impose immense taxation on the people which has caused exasperation amidst the people which is also fueled by the ever uncertain “U.S Dollar”.
The Government’s Side :
The Interim Government’s position on tackling all of this is unorthodox, as they put the whole blame on the IMF for compelling them to impose excessive taxes on the people whereas, the oil prices in the global market are reasonable as compared to before.
Conclusion :
There is no doubt that the catastrophic management of the economy has burned the citizens, but there are also some other factors such as political instability, excessive taxation and continuous borrowing of foreign exchange which has influenced the price hike in fuel and the living conditions.
