Qamar Zaman Kaira urges nation to change habits amid inflation

Staff Writer

Islamabad: Advisor to Prime Minister on Kashmir and Gilfit-Baltistan this week urged nation to change habits amid inflation.

Responding to the latest hike in the price of petrol, Senior PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said that “we must change our habits and unite.”

He made the statement during a press conference with Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif and Asad Mehmood in Islamabad.

Kaira said, “With a heavy heart, the government had to make an extremely unwanted decision,”

He said the money from the national treasury is draining due to subsidies as fuel prices increased when the incumbent government took charge.

The Adviser to the Prime Minister said that the experts and media question why the government is not making immediate decisions to stop the decline.

He said that the government has been trying to avoid burdening people and find a way to cushion them against the blow, but it had no choice except to make tough decisions.

The politician appreciated the public for accepting the government’s decision with a bit of protest.

Criticising the former finance and federal ministers, Kaira said they signed contracts with the IMF saying that the fuel prices would exceed Rs300 and subsidies would have to be abolished. Kaira added that they were right because they knew the details of the contracts.

“No government wants to become unpopular among the people, but what choice do we have?” Kaira questioned. “Whether to become Sri Lanka or to make efforts to steer out of this crisis.”

He added that it is not only Pakistan that is facing such crises, but the entire world’s economy is suffering.

“A labourer who avails Rs 80 subsidy for one litre petrol while a land cruiser owner takes Rs 8000 subsidy on 100 litre petrol. Can such a subsidy be continued?” he asked.