The government on Friday approved an increase in petroleum dealers' margins, prompting petrol pump owners to withdraw their planned strike after their long-standing demand was accepted. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) meeting, chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb at the Finance Division, considered a summary submitted by the Petroleum Division and deliberated on the revision of dealers' margins.
The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain, Federal Minister for Petroleum Ali Pervez Malik, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema, along with federal secretaries and senior officials from relevant ministries and divisions.
Following the ECC's approval, All Pakistan Petrol Pumps Owners Association (APPPOA) Vice Chairman Nauman Butt thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the petroleum minister for increasing the dealers' margin. He said that the government had fulfilled a long-standing demand of the association, adding that the margin on petrol and diesel had been increased by Rs1.34 to Rs9.98 per litre.
The development came after the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) had issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the government to fulfil promises made by the petroleum minister to resolve dealers' issues. Addressing a press conference in Karachi, PPDA Chairperson Malik Khuda Bakhsh, flanked by Vice Chairperson Tariq Hassan, Anwar Kamal, Malik Sher Khan, Sindh Region President Haji Ameer Khan, Karachi President Saeed Khan and other office-bearers, had warned that dealers would be unable to continue their businesses if the government failed to accept their demands.
Bakhsh said that following a meeting of dealers from across the country, it had been unanimously decided to demand an 8% margin on petrol, adding that dealers' patience had run out with more than 14,000 members pressing the association to take action. He had warned that if the government failed to meet their demands within 72 hours, petrol pumps across the country would shut indefinitely from 6:00am on Saturday, remaining closed until their demands were fulfilled.