The government on Tuesday increased petroleum products' prices by up to Rs 7.67 per litre, while the price of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) was also raised by Rs 7.02 per kge, effective from Wednesday (today) for the next fortnight.
According to a notification issued by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), the price of petrol was increased by Rs 7.67 per litre to Rs 93.57 per litre, High Speed Diesel (HSD) by Rs 4.58 to Rs 101.79 per litre, High Octance Blending Component (HOBC) by Rs 7.64 to Rs 120.16 per litre, Light Speed Diesel Oil (LDO) by Rs 4.78 per litre to Rs 90.11 per litre and Kerosene by Rs 4.64 per litre to Rs 92.83 per litre.
For Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Potohar region, CNG price has been increased to Rs 85.67 per kg from Rs 78.65 per kg, while the price of CNG in Sindh and Punjab has been raised to Rs 78.26 per kg from Rs 71.24 per kg. A senior official of the Petroleum Ministry Told Business Recorder that the increase in fuel prices was due to the increase in the price of crude oil in the global market by $4.5 per barrel. Pakistan is importing crude oil from the Gulf market which has witnessed a substantial hike in the price of crude oil and in the last two weeks the price of crude oil has surged by $4.50 per barrel, from $96 to $100.5.
Within one month, it is the second increase in the prices of POL products as on July 16, the government had increased the price of petrol by Rs 1.41 per litre, HOBC by Rs 5.64 per litre and kerosene oil Rs 1.94 per litre. While in June, the government had reduced oil prices twice in a month following decline in prices in global market.
At present different POl products are being sold on following rates in Pakistan: HOBC at Rs 112.52 per litre, Petrol at Rs 85.9 per litre, HSD at Rs 97.21 per litre, LDO at Rs 85.33 per litre and Kerosene Oil at Rs 88.19 per litre. Earlier, the government on the advice of Ogra had approved an increase in the prices of petroleum products.
The Ogra on Monday moved a summary regarding a revision in oil prices for the next two weeks recommending the government not to shift the impact of international crude oil prices on consumers by adjusting the Petroleum Levy (PL).
Ogra has recommended the government to put an hold on oil price hike for providing relief to consumers in holy month of Ramazan. An Ogra official said that the government was collecting over Rs 25 billion every month from consumers on account of the petroleum levy and General Sales Tax (GST).
The regulatory authority has proposed the federal government to cut the rate of the petroleum levy to pass on the benefits to consumers. However, the official said that the Finance Ministry opposed the proposal, as it was an easy source of collecting tax from consumers to bridge its budget deficit. The rates of the levy on petroleum products are currently at their maximum level, as fixed by parliament. The levy on petrol stands at Rs 10 per litre, HSD at Rs 8 per litre, HOBC at Rs 14 per litre, and kerosene at Rs 6 per litre.
Comments
Comments are closed.