Govt Again Jacks Up Oil Prices.

ISLAMABAD -- The coalition government on Wednesday once again increased the prices of petroleum products up to Rs59.16 per liter to completely withdraw the subsidy to fulfil one of the conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the revival of loan programme.

Addressing a press conference along with Musadik Malik, Minister of State for Petroleum Division, here, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said that the government has decided to completely withdraw the subsidy on oil products by increasing the prices. According to details, the government has increased the petrol price by Rs24.03 per liter to Rs233.89 per liter and High Speed Diesel by Rs59.16 per liter to Rs263.31 per liter. Meanwhile, the government has also enhanced kerosene oil price by Rs29.49 per liter to Rs211.43 per liter and Light Diesel Oil by Rs29.16 to Rs207.47 per liter. The new prices would be effective immediately.

'In the wake of rising petroleum products prices in the international market and exchange rate variation, maintaining the fuel prices at the subsidized rate is constantly increasing the fiscal deficit and current account gap besides putting pressure on country's foreign exchange reserves. Therefore, the government has decided to consider the proposal of OGRA to increase the petroleum products prices. However, the Petroleum Levy and Sales Tax have been kept at zero to provide relief to the end consumers,' the ministry of finance said.

The Finance Minister admitted that inflation would increase following the decision to enhance prices but he also stated that government has no other option as prices are increasing in international market. The country could have gone to default if the government does not take tough decisions, he explained.

In a press conference along with Musadik Malik, Minister of State for Petroleum Division, Miftah Ismail said that oil prices in international market has surged to $120 per barrel, which was around $85 to $90 per barrel in February when previous government kept oil prices unchanged till June 2022. He said that previous government has violated the agreement with the IMF, which created problems for the incumbent...

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