KARACHI: Pakistan’s leading commerce body on Monday urged the government to declare an “energy emergency” to shield the country’s economy from an intensifying conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran.
The US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s counterattacks on commercial and US interests in several Gulf countries have pushed global oil prices higher and disrupted key energy supply routes, including the Strait of Hormuz, which supplies roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas consumption.
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) said the regionally uncompetitive petroleum prices, already raised by an exorbitant Rs55 ($0.20) per liter last week, and the continuity of key policy rate at 10.5 percent will cause Pakistan’s cost of doing business to soar to unsustainable levels.
FPCCI President Atif Ikram Sheikh urged the federal government to declare an immediate energy emergency and implement reliable contingency measures to insulate Pakistan’s fragile economic recovery and its exports from the severe fallout of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“While the current 28-day petroleum reserve offers a brief buffer, it is insufficient for an extended regional conflict. We are exposed to a severe economic shock if tensions persist,” he said in a statement.
