Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday announced a massive hike of Rs19 in petrol and diesel prices, taking them to Rs272.95 and 273.40 per litre, respectively.<\/p>\n
In televised remarks, the finance minister said that the price of high speed diesel (HSD) and petrol in the international market had increased over the last 15 days.<\/p>\n
He said that the government had checked the \u201cworking\u201d of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) until the late hours of the night.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe delay in the announcement, the basic reason was that we were looking at if there were ways to reduce it, if there was some leeway,\u201d Dar said.<\/p>\n
The minister said that the matter was then discussed with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif earlier today.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know that the international commitments we have with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regarding the petroleum levy, if they weren\u2019t there [\u2026] then we would\u2019ve announced a smaller increase but everyone knows we have a standby agreement,\u201d he said as he highlighted how the previous PTI government had reneged on its promises with the money lender.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo in the country\u2019s interest, it is necessary that the minimum increase calculated be passed and HSD is being increased by Rs19.90 and the new price will be Rs273.40. And petrol price is being increased by Rs19.95 to Rs272.95,\u201d the minister said.<\/p>\n
Dar added that the new prices would be effective immediately. He went on to say that the government was determined to provide relief to the people as he pointed out how diesel prices were slashes by Rs30.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut international prices are not in the government\u2019s control. And as I said, we did the working down to the last penny,\u201d he said. Dar said that the prices were increased based on the final recommendation given by Ogra and with the premier\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n
The government could not announce the fortnightly adjustment in the prices of petroleum products on Monday, with consultations continuing into the early hours of Tuesday.<\/p>\n
However, a 17.5pc increase was announced in the producer price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), as well as a 13.5pc raise in the LPG consumer sale price for August.<\/p>\n
According to an Ogra notification, the LPG price was increased by Rs281.5 per domestic cylinder of 11.8kg. The new producer price is Rs1,886.30 per 11.8kg cylinder, while the consu\u00admer price is Rs2,\u00ad373.64 per cylinder.<\/p>\n
A top official said the government was finding it difficult to announce a major price increase just before it leaves office. Dar remained engaged for hours with the Ogra chairman, his team, and petroleum division officials, to find ways to avoid jacking up prices, or at least a way to minimise the increase.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday announced a massive hike of Rs19 in petrol and diesel prices, taking them to Rs272.95 and 273.40 per litre, respectively. In televised remarks, the finance minister said that the price of high speed diesel (HSD) and petrol in the international market had increased over the last 15 days. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-346632","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n