February 15, 2022 (MLN): The government on Tuesday decided to increase the price of petroleum products by up to Rs12.03 per litre owing to the surge in international oil prices, a notice issued by the Finance Division revealed.
The price of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) has jumped by Rs12.03 and Rs9.53 per litre, respectively. While the price of Kerosene Oil and Light Diesel Oil soared by Rs10.08 and Rs9.43 per litre.
The new prices of Petrol, HSD, Kerosine oil, and Light diesel now stand Rs159.86, Rs154.15, Rs126.56, and Rs123.97 per litre respectively.
The prices of petroleum products are showing a drastic increase in the international market and presently are at the highest level since 2014. Despite the unabated increase since the beginning of the year, Prime Minister Imran Khan deferred the last review of Petroleum Products' prices on January 31, 2022, and advised against the summary of OGRA, the notification added.
In order to provide utmost relief to the consumers, the government levied zero percent sales tax and reduced petroleum levy rate against the budgeted targets.
Resultantly, the government is bearing the revenue loss of around Rs35 billion (fortnightly) on account of budgeted to existing PL and ST rates.
In the fortnightly review of Petroleum Products' prices, Prime Minister has considered the recommendation to increase the prices of petroleum products in line with a change in the international oil prices.
It is pertinent to mention that petroleum levy and sales tax have been kept to a minimum despite the continuous increase in petroleum prices, it noted.
The new prices of petroleum products will be effective from February 16, 2022.
