Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Omar Ayub says since August last, PTI government has not passed on over 150 billion rupees to consumers and provided a shield to the people.

In a policy statement in the National Assembly, he said petroleum prices are less in Pakistan as compare to oil importing nations in the region, which include China, turkey, India and South Africa.

He said Hi-Speed diesel prices per liter are 173.73 rupees in Pakistan, whereas its cost is 128.42 rupees in China, 130.10 in India, 140.31 in South Africa, and 164.05 rupees in Turkey. Petrol prices in Pakistan are 98.90 rupees per liter, while its rate in China is 144.50 rupees per liter, India 143.28, South Africa 151.54, and Turkey 180.46 rupees.

Omar Ayub said that Prime Minister Imran Khan and the cabinet deliberated upon the recommendations of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority regarding petroleum prices.

He said that it has been decided to refer the matter to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) for further debate and final decision to determine petroleum prices.

National Assembly today also passed two resolutions moved by Riaz Fatyana unanimously. The first resolution urged the federal government to restore the regulatory customs duty on cotton import without any delay to prevent massive import and dumping of the cotton and set minimum support price for the crop to protect farmers and encourage cotton cultivation in the country.

On the eve of World Labour Day, the House, through the second resolution, recognized rights of every worker formal and informal in Pakistan.

The House committed to investing time and effort to reduce economic gap in development oriented poverty reduction focus and gender equitable mechanism.

It will put all efforts to ensure that all UN conventions on Labour Rights ratified by Pakistan time to time are fulfilled.

Nine bills were introduced in the house. They are: “The Control of Narcotics Substances (Amendment) Bill 2019”, “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019” (Article 1, 5, 59, 106, 175 A and 2018), which is aimed at creation of Hazara province in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administrative basis, “The Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Bill 2019”, “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019” (Article 1, 5, 59, 106, 154, 175 A, 198 and 2018) aimed at creating Hazara, South Punjab, Bahawalpur provinces, “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (Article 51, 76 and 106)” , “The Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) (Amendment) Bill, 2019” , “The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (Amendment) Bill, 2019” , “The Islamabad Capital Territory Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill, 2019”, and “The Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019.”