KARACHI: Khurram Dastgir Khan, the Minister of Energy, has stated that the government will raise petroleum product pricing again before June 30.
“The next price hike is expected to be announced before June 30, because our public finances are in a dire state,” said Dastgir.
The comments came only days after the government raised the price of petroleum goods by Rs30 per litre in an attempt to resurrect the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
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Finance Minister Miftah Ismail made the news at a hastily arranged press conference. He believes that obtaining an agreement on a staff-level deal with the IMF will be simpler given that positive discussions about the EFF’s revival are taking place with the Fund.
The current government is dedicated to resurrecting the program’s stalled $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF), which is critical for a country with diminishing foreign exchange reserves and mounting debt and import obligations.
The latest pol prices were Rs179.86 per litre petrol, Rs174.15 per litre diesel, Rs155.56 per litre kerosene oil, and Rs148.31 per litre light diesel after the announcement.
According to Dastgir, the move to raise petroleum product pricing was critical in reducing the country’s expanding current account deficit. “It is with a very heavy heart that the decision was taken by the government, as we need to reduce our deficit”
“On a daily basis, millions of litres of petroleum are consumed, the government was incurring losses to the tune of Rs102 billion per month due to petroleum product subsidy. Therefore, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after consulting his allied partners decided to reduce the subsidy and increase funding for the direct relief measures for the public,” said the minister.
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