ISLAMABAD - The PPP-led ruling coalition Friday greeted the nation on the eve of New Year with another bombshell by jacking up petroleum prices up to Rs 7.69 per litre making mobility literally unaffordable for commoners already battling outages. According to details released by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) the latest increase would come into effect from today (Saturday). The overall increase ranges between 5.4 to 9.2 percent so the governments move will only unleash a new tsunami of price hike for Pakistanis. The government has raised price of petrol by Rs 6.71 per litre, HOBC by Rs 7.69 per litre, kerosene oil by Rs 4.04 per litre, High Speed Diesel (HSD) by Rs 4.25 per litre and LDO by Rs 4.36 per litre. The new prices of petroleum products will stand as: petrol Rs 79.67 per litre, HOBC Rs 94.36 per litre, kerosene oil Rs 74.99 per litre, HSD Rs 82.58 per litre and LDO Rs 70.97 per litre effective from January 1, 2011. While addressing a press conference, Syed Jawad Naseem, spokesman Ogra said that import incidental had been excluded from the ex-refinery price as per first phase of ECC decision on deregulation of petroleum products. Distributors and dealers margins had been fixed according to ECC decision also, he said adding that government was discouraging subsidy which had resulted in problems in past. As a matter of fact, such a high increase in POL prices has come as a big shock, which will have hefty crippling impact on the inflation stricken masses and the fragile economy, which is already in depression. Furthermore the fresh hike in oil prices pushing up the overall inflation and making it all the more harder for the common man to meet both ends. The increase in price will eventually affect everybody regardless of their status but it will exclusively affect the salaried class and the underprivileged sections of the society more so than the others. There will be further increase in inflation by the risen prices of oil products, and our industrial production will face more hindrances, which was already under the adverse effects of gas and electricity charges and shortage. However, the fresh increase in prices of petroleum products will unleash a massive spell of price spiral, further burdening the people who are already unable to bear the existing inflation.