Prices of utility stuff up 

Price hikes have been adding to public woes and inviting opposition’s ire over government's failure to provide the people with relief.

 The Utility Stores raised the prices of essential commodities followed by Ogra announcement of inflated rates on Wednesday.

The prices of toothbrushes increased from Rs 14 to Rs 35, toothpaste from Rs 5 to Rs20, milk chocolate by Rs5 and shaving cream by Rs20 

Reportedly, the Ogra notified the increase in the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by Rs3 per. The price of a domestic cylinder has gone up from Rs 1,382 to Rs 1,416.

LPG distributors demand that the government reduce taxes on LPG imports as a widening gap in demand and supply of Sui gas, liquefied gas prices might be up in winter.

The government has been under fire for failure to provide relief to the people struggling for survival in wake of the outbreak of Covid pandemic. 

In June, the opposition came down hard on the government for an unprecedented increase in prices of petroleum products.

Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif called the decision ‘atrocious’ and said:  “This government is the backing the mafias. It first gave licence to sugar mafia and now it has let the petrol mafia go on looting-spree. Imran Niazi’s promises to the people have proven false.”

Pakistan People’s Party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari dubbed the hike ‘anti-poor’. The PPP chairman said Prime Minister Imran Khan can’t save the sinking economy by robbing people of their hard-earned money.