LAHORE   -  Leaders of the main opposition parties on Saturday assailed Prime Minister Imran Khan for increasing the prices of petroleum products, demanding the premier to resign ‘immediately’ rather than putting more burden on the inflation-stricken people.

In separate statements, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari strongly criticised PM Imran Khan over ‘New Year gift’ and ‘petrol bomb.’

“Governments across the globe celebrate festive occasions by bringing down prices but on the contrary, Imran Niazi has dropped an inflation bomb on the masses,” Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement released by PML-N on twitter on Saturday. The Opposition Leader also demanded the prime minister to step down instead of punishing the masses due to said his incompetency.

Shehbaz hoped that the New Year would rid the masses of inflation, economic disruption, hunger, diseases, and injustice.

PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto also came down hard on PM Imran Khan and said that the increase in prices of petroleum products was Imran Khan’s New Year’s gift to the citizens and the only way to end inflation is to oust PTI’s government.

“Imran Khan claimed that 2021 would be the year of prosperity, but 2022 has arrived, where have the claims gone,” the PPP chairman questioned. He said that the country witnessed higher inflation than a year prior during the PTI’s tenure but they continue to blame previous governments and try to portray them as incompetent.

Bilawal said that the PPP faced the worst economic crisis in the world’s history but did not let the citizens bear the brunt of the inflation. He also urged the federal government to reduce the rates of petroleum products in line with international prices. Every year ‘Naya Pakistan’ proved to be more expensive than the last and then the government claimed the previous governments were incompetent, the PPP chairman said. He said the only solution to getting rid of inflation was ending Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government.

On Friday night, the federal government increased the prices of petrol and high speed diesel (HSD) by Rs4 per litre. According to a statement issued by the Finance Division, Rs4 increase in the price of petrol is part of a commitment made by the government under an agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a net fiscal adjustment of almost Rs550 billion during the remaining part of the current fiscal year.

Following this development, the price of petrol was increased from Rs140.82 to Rs144.82, that of HSD from Rs137.62 to Rs141.62, of kerosene from Rs109.53 to Rs113.53 and that of light diesel oil from Rs107.06 to Rs111.06, according to the Finance Division’s statement.