By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The information ministry on Sunday branded as fake a widely circulated notification that claimed the government had ordered a complete weekend lockdown to conserve fuel, urging citizens to stop sharing unverified social media posts that could sow confusion during an acute energy crisis.
In a post on its official “fact checker” account on X, the ministry displayed the undated document stamped with the word “fake” in bold red letters. “Avoid sharing fake news and false posts,” it said. “Be a responsible citizen and only trust verified sources.”
The forged notification purported to quote Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directing “additional measures” in response to what it called “the continuing Gulf oil crisis.” It declared a “complete and comprehensive lockdown throughout the country” every Saturday and Sunday, beginning April 5, running from 12:01 a.m. Saturday until 11:59 p.m. Sunday.
The ministry’s swift rebuttal came as Pakistan grapples with the fallout from a surge in global oil prices triggered by the US-Israeli conflict with Iran and subsequent disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier this month, Sharif announced a package of austerity measures aimed at curbing fuel consumption, including a 50 percent cut in fuel allowances for official vehicles — with exemptions for ambulances, public buses and other essential services — for the next two months. The government also directed that half of public-sector employees work from home, exempting those in critical services.
On Friday, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired a high-level consultative meeting to review contingency plans in case the Middle East crisis worsens and places further strain on Pakistan’s fiscal and external accounts. Participants discussed a range of possible steps, including fuel rationing, extended holidays for educational institutions, reduced working days in the private sector and a 50 percent work-from-home policy across both public and private sectors. Potential lockdowns were mentioned as one option, according to officials familiar with the discussions, but no decisions were finalized or announced.
The government has already taken visible steps to shield consumers. This month it raised petrol and diesel prices by 55 rupees (about 20 cents) per liter to reflect higher import costs. Yet it also released a fresh tranche of 27 billion rupees to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority to cover price differential claims, effectively subsidizing the difference between international and domestic rates.
Earlier in the week, Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Shah said his provincial administration was considering a “smart lockdown” as a fuel-saving measure. But representatives from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa pushed back during Friday’s meeting, warning that any broad lockdown would cripple economic activity and hit daily-wage workers and private-sector employees especially hard.
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