Petroleum dealers defer strike for two days
Business
Negotiations held with Musadik Malik
KARACHI (Web Desk) - The Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) on Friday deferred fuel strike across country for two days.
The moves comes as State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik arrived in Karachi to convince the PPDA to call off the strike.
The association would hold another round of negotiations with the government after two days, the PPDA said.
Fuel pump operators across Pakistan had announced a nationwide strike on July 22 (Saturday) in a bid to secure larger margins amid an inflation crisis, the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association said on Thursday.
"We will shut down all petrol pumps across Pakistan on July 22 at 6pm," said the association. It says it has more than 10,000 members.
In a statement, it said interest rates and inflation had hit operators' businesses and called for the dealership margin to be increased. It said sales had slumped by 30% due to Iranian fuel being smuggled into the country.
"Around 8,000-9,000 (operators) ... represented by us, will be shut on July 22," Abdul Sami Khan, chairman of the association, told Reuters.
Pakistan is dealing with a weakening currency and a prolonged period of inflation with the national rate hitting 29.4% in June, down from a record high of 38% in May.
The filling stations' closure means people may face a great deal of difficulty due to unavailability of fuel and it may also lead to panic buying.
