ISLAMABAD: The government Saturday reduced the prices of motor spirit (MS) and High Speed Diesel (HSD) by reducing the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) cost of supply/ex-refinery prices in a fortnightly review for (November 1-15) of petroleum products.
The government reduced MS by Rs1.57 per litre and HSD by 84 paisa, while keeping the prices of kerosene oil (SKO) and Light Diesel Oil (LDO) at the level of October prices. After the approval from the Finance Division, the new price of MS is Rs102.40 per litre from Rs103.97 per litre.
The rate of HSD has also been reduced to Rs103.22 per lire from Rs104.06 per litre with effect from November 1, 2020. The rate of SKO is Rs65.29 per litre and LDO is Rs62.86 per litre. The government has kept the general sales tax (GST) on all petroleum products at standard rate of 17 percent.
An official of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) said that the price reduction of two petroleum products, MS and HSD would have negative impact on revenue around Rs1 billion in the next 15 days. The rate of GST has reduced from Rs15.11 per litre to Rs14.88 per litre.
The government has reduced the ex-refinery price of MS from Rs50.39 per litre to Rs47.53 per litre. However, rate of Petroleum Levy has increased from Rs28.46 per litre to Rs30 per litre. The rate of PL on HSD has also revised upward.
The industry had projected a countrywide demand of high speed diesel at 714,908 metric tons in the month of October. However, its actual sale stood at 597,570 metric tons registering a decline of 16.40 percent. The petrol is used in motor vehicles.
The industry had projected a demand of petrol at 760,818 million metric tons in the month of October. However, its actual sale stood at 609,875 million metric tons that witnessed a decline of -19.8 percent. Industry officials said that the demand of petrol and diesel was based on the actual sales number of August and September. However, the actual sale was less because the increase of availability of smuggled products from Iran.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020