The government of Pakistan on Friday announced a further increase in the already record-high petroleum prices. Petrol price was raised to Rs145.82 and high speed diesel price has been increased to Rs.142.62 per liter with effect from Nov 5 in an effort to revive the IMF program.
The Ministry of Finance announced the decision after 1:30 am on Friday. Earlier this week, the Prime Minister had rejected the proposal of OGRA to increase the prices amid protest by the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan.
The government raised petrol price by Rs8.03 and the price of high speed diesel by Rs8.14 per litre owing to the import parity price, tax rates and the exchange rate. Prices of light diesel oil and kerosene have also been increased by Rs6.27 and Rs5.72 per litre respectively.
As per the notification, the ex-depot price of petrol was raised to Rs145.82 per litre in comparison to Rs137.79. The fuel is commonly consumed by small vehicles, two-wheelers, private transport and rickshaws directly impacting the budget of middle-class citizens as well as citizens of lower-middle class.
The ex-depot price of HSD was raised at Rs142.62 per litre compared to Rs134.48. Its price is considered highly inflationary as it is popularly consumed by heavy transport vehicles, agricultural engines like trucks, tube wells, buses, tractors, threshers as well as trains.
The ex-depot price of kerosene was fixed at Rs116.53 per litre compared to Rs110.26, increased by Rs6.27. The ex-depot rate of light diesel oil (LDO) was raised to Rs114.07 per litre from Rs108.26, reflecting an increase of Rs5.72. LDO is mostly consumed by flour mills and a number of power plants.
This is the first time in Pakistan’s history that prices of all petroleum products have surpassed Rs110 per litre.
According to reports, the increase was primarily owing to exchange rate loss and a spike in tax rates.
