ISLAMABAD: Federal government decided on Sunday to keep unchanged the price of petrol, while reducing the price of high speed diesel (HSD) by Rs 5 per litre with effect from May 1, 2023.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced on Sunday that government decided not to increase the price of petrol; however, the prices of HSD, kerosene oil (SKO) and light speed diesel (LDO) would be reduced with effect from May 1-15. The prices of SKO and LDO have been reduced by Rs 10 per litre.
The price of petrol is Rs 282 per litre, the price of HSD is now reduced from Rs 293 to Rs 288 per litre; LDO price is reduced from Rs 174.68 to Rs 164.68 per litre and SKO rate is reduced from Rs 186.07 to Rs 176.07 per litre.
“In fortnightly review of petroleum products, government has decided to revise the existing prices of petroleum products,” Finance Ministry issued a statement.
Over the past year, the price of HSD has been raised by 102 percent and petrol by 81 percent, according to the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistic (PBS).
The depreciation of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar is major factor contributing to the surge in petroleum prices in domestic market.
The local currency has fallen by 52 percent to Rs 283.47 to the dollar by April 20, 2023, compared to PKR 185.92 on the same day a year ago.
The government is charging Rs 50 per litre on petrol and HSD to meet the condition of IMF. However, government remained unsuccessful in imposing general sale tax (GST) on petroleum products due to higher prices and low consumption. It has been estimated that government may face a shortfall of Rs 300 billion against budgeted PL target of Rs 750billion in current fiscal year.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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