As committed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Pakistan government on Thursday revived the petroleum levy and increased prices of all petroleum products by about Rs14-19 per litre with immediate effect.
According to a notification issued by the country's finance ministry, the government imposed a Rs10 per litre petroleum levy on petrol and Rs5 each on high-speed diesel (HSD), kerosene and light diesel oil (LDO), reports Dawn.
As a result, the per-litre price of petrol has been increased by Rs14.85, HSD by Rs13.23, kerosene by Rs18.83 and LDO by Rs18.68.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad soon after the price hike notification was issued, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said the petroleum levy had been imposed to revive the IMF programme suspended four months ago after the PTI government reneged from signed agreements.
Because of the subsequent fuel price hikes and the revival of the petroleum levy, “substantial progress” has been achieved with the IMF and it had agreed to increase the programme size to $7bn from $6bn, he said.
The minister said that under the PTI’s agreement with the international lender, petrol and diesel prices should have been Rs70 per litre higher as it had committed to not only increasing the levy to Rs30 per litre but also imposing a 17pc GST.
Ismail said the PTI caused a Rs233bn loss of revenue on account of the petroleum division alone and, combined with other things, led to about Rs5 trillion fiscal deficit — the highest ever in Pakistan’s history.
