KATHMANDU: Lawmakers have called on the government to immediately make adjustments to the price of petroleum products as well as on other essential commodities.

Taking part in the discussions on the proposal of urgent public importance in the House of Representatives on Friday, lawmakers emphasized the need of taking effective measures to providing relief to the people hit hard due to the skyrocketing price of petroleum products.

Gagan Kumar Thapa of the Nepali Congress reasoned that the spike in the petroleum prices was due to the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. He demanded providing relief to the people on petroleum products by reducing customs and the road toll. Thapa underscored the need of bringing the Petroleum Act pronto.

CPN (UML)’s Dr Bhim Bahadur Rawal said the dependence on a single country for fuel import should be ended and arrangements ought to be made for an open-market system. He also suggested increasing the electricity use.

Gokul Prasad Baskota of the UML said that a large proportion of the country’s foreign exchange was being spent on petroleum products and food grains, which risks pushing the country towards an economic crisis in the future.

Nepali Congress’ Dr Minendra Rijal said all should pay attention to providing relief to the people by reducing the market inflation.

Also taking part in the discussions were Min Bahadur Bishwokarma, Yashoda Gurung Subedi, Rajendra Kumar KC, Prem Suwal and Met Mani Chaudhary, among others.

All lawmakers drew the serious attention of the government on the urgent need of addressing the price hike problem to provide relief to the poor people.