Miftah Ismail, Finance Minister, announced on Thursday that the government has decided to raise the price of petrol products by Rs. 30 per litre, with the new prices taking effect at midnight. “The government has decided to increase the prices of Petrol, High-Speed Diesel, Kerosene Oil, and Light Diesel Oil by Rs. 30 per liter from Friday, May 27, 2022. The new prices will go into effect at midnight. The new price of petrol will be Rs. 179.86 & diesel will be Rs. 174.15 per liter,” tweeted the Finance Minister.
According to the Finance Minister, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif made this difficult decision in the best interests of the national economy. He stated that it is a difficult decision for the government to impose such a burden on the general public.
Miftah stated that the decision was made in order to resurrect the International Monetary Fund’s $6 billion bailout programme (IMF).
The increase comes just a day after the government and the IMF failed to reach an agreement on a financial bailout due to the former’s unwillingness to reverse fuel and electricity subsidies, resulting in budget uncertainty for fiscal year 2022-23.
According to a press release from the Finance Division, maintaining current petroleum product prices at current subsidized rates constantly increases the government’s twin deficit while also posing significant risks to the energy supply chain.
According to the statement, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and Refineries are having difficulty obtaining international bank confirmation for LCs/SBLCs, local banks are hesitant to open LCs, and importers are having difficulty obtaining insurance coverage for very high-priced cargoes.
“In order to rationalize the petroleum products prices, the government has decided to revise the existing petroleum products prices. To keep prices of petroleum products affordable, prices are increased partially”, the statement added.
With the Rs. 30 per liter increase, the new price of petrol would be Rs. 179.86 per liter, up from the previous price of Rs. 149.86 per liter. The new high-speed diesel price would be Rs. 174.15 per litre, up from Rs. 144.15 per litre. According to the Finance Division, the new price of kerosene would be Rs. 155.56 per litre, up from Rs. 125.56, and the new price of light diesel oil would be Rs. 148.31 per litre, up from Rs. 118.31 per litre.
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