Transport associations to go on strike in Karachi

KARACHI: Karachi Transport Union (KTU) an association of bus owners, truckers, taxi drivers and others involved in the city’s public transport said on Tuesday that its members would go on strike on Thursday over the price hike.

Syed Mahmood Afridi, secretary-general of the group, said the strike would last until the government reversed decision.

Karachi is the country’s most populous city, with over 16 million people, and its main economic hub. A lengthy public strike there could further hobble the Pakistani industry.

Pakistan has a population of more than 180 million. Average income per capita is less than $3,000, so a rise in petroleum prices can make a big dent in a citizen’s pocketbook.

The International Monetary Fund has provided Pakistan with more than $7 billion in loans to salvage its economy, but it has demanded the government take at times difficult steps to reform its economy.

But the economic reforms, notably a revised general sales tax, are unpopular. The ruling party has tried to pursue a policy of ”reconciliation” in hopes of getting all parties onboard for economic changes, but it has had little luck so far, and its political opponents seem to sense its weakness.

Pakistan hiked oil prices by 9.9 percent on Tuesday, a move that threatens the stability of the fragile, US-allied civilian government at a time of economic turmoil in the impoverished country.

Spikes in international oil market prices _ spurred by uprisings in Libya and other parts of North Africa and the Middle East _ forced the raise in Pakistani prices, said Jawad Nasim, a spokesman for the country’s oil regulator. The price of a liter of petrol went from 72.96 rupees to 80.19 rupees.

Opposition parties and even some members of Pakistan’s governing coalition immediately denounced the raise, while a group representing public transportation workers in the country’s largest city threatened to go on strike.

It was not immediately clear if the People’s Party could afford to avoid another price hike this time.

Mohammad Sohail, an economic analyst, estimated the government had lost out on 17 billion rupees ($200 million) by failing to increase gasoline prices since November. Even the 9.9. percent increase on gasoline and other petroleum products wasn’t enough to cover losses, he said.