Khurram Dastgir Khan, the Minister of Energy, has stated that the government would increase the price of petroleum products before June 30.
“The next price rise is anticipated to be announced before June 30, because our public finances are in such a bad situation,” Dastgir said on Monday in an interview with a private television station.
The comments came only days after the government raised the price of petroleum goods by Rs30 per liter in a bid to restart the IMF program.
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail made the news at a hastily arranged press conference. He believes that obtaining an agreement on a staff-level deal with the IMF will be simpler given that positive discussions on the EFF’s rebirth are taking place with the Fund.
The current government is dedicated to resurrecting the program’s delayed $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF), which is critical for a country with diminishing foreign exchange reserves and mounting debt and import obligations.
The new pol prices were Rs179.86 per liter petrol, Rs174.15 per liter diesel, Rs155.56 per liter kerosene oil, and Rs148.31 per liter light diesel after the decision.
According to Dastgir, the move to raise petroleum product pricing was critical in reducing the country’s expanding current account deficit. “It is with a very heavy heart that the decision was taken by the government, as we need to reduce our deficit”
“On a daily basis, millions of liters of petroleum are consumed; the government was incurring losses to the tune of Rs102 billion per month due to petroleum product subsidy. Therefore, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after consulting his allied partners decided to reduce the subsidy and increase funding for the direct relief measures for the public,” the minister added.
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