For the third time since May 27, the government increased the price of petroleum products late on Wednesday. The new price for gasoline has been set by the government at Rs. 233.89 per litre, while the new price for diesel will be Rs. 263.31 per litre.
The cost of gasoline has gone up by Rs. 24.03 per litre, the cost of diesel has gone up by Rs. 59.16 per litre, and the cost of kerosene and light diesel oil has gone up as well.
Miftah Ismail, the minister of finance, made the announcement during a press conference alongside Musadik Malik, the minister of state for petroleum, and Marriyum Aurangzeb, the minister of information.
With this increase, starting on June 16, the cost of gasoline will increase to Rs. 233.89 per litre, that of diesel to Rs. 263.31, that of kerosene to Rs. 211.43, and that of light diesel to Rs. 207.47.
The finance minister stated during a press conference that the government was forced to pass on the effects of rising international prices to consumers.
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail recently told a private news programme that it was essential to eliminate petroleum product subsidies until July in order to save the nation from going bankrupt. The minister claimed that the government has been instructed to stop providing subsidies for petroleum goods by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Background
The government had increased the cost of all petroleum products by Rs. 30 per litre on May 27 in order to comply with the IMF’s demand that the subsidies on petroleum goods be eliminated. A few days later, there was another increase of Rs. 30 per litre.
Prior to the rise on May 27, the cost of gasoline and high-speed diesel was, respectively, Rs. 149.86 and Rs. 144.15 per litre. Kerosene and light diesel oil were similarly priced at Rs. 125.56 and Rs. 118.31 a litre, respectively.
It is important to note that the federal government has set a goal to raise Rs. 750 billion from the petroleum development levy for the upcoming fiscal year 2022–2023
Since there is now no tax on petroleum products, the cost of all petroleum goods, including gasoline and diesel, might increase significantly if the government decides to start collecting the tax.
