Govt increases prices of petrol, diesel

Islamabad: The government has Wednesday increased the prices of petrol by Rs 2 per liter and High-Speed Diesel by Rs 1.44 per liter for the first fortnightly of July.

The government has also increased the prices of Kerosene Oil by Rs 3.86 per liter and Light Diesel Oil by Rs 3.72 per liter, said a statement issued by the Finance Division here.

In order to provide maximum relief to the consumers, the government has maintained the practice of keeping the prices of petroleum products at an affordable level, the statement said.

OGRA has been recommending a substantial increase in the prices of Petroleum products since 1st May 2021, corresponding to the increase in prices of petroleum products in the International markets.

However, keeping in view the welfare of the general public, the government has absorbed the impact of the increase by making adjustments in sales tax and petroleum levy, the Finance Division said. Currently, the petroleum levy rates are at the lowest of the last six years.

During the financial year 2020-21, the government has provided Rs. 252.41 billion subsidies to the consumers by keeping low the petroleum levy rates against the budgeted Rs. 30/liter on all products.

It is also worth mentioning that as compared to our regional neighbors, the Government of Pakistan is providing Petrol and Diesel at the lowest levels rates, the finance division claimed. On 28th June 2021, the price of Petrol in Pakistan was Rs 110.6 per liter, which was Rs 214.10 per liter in India, Rs 165.8 in Bangladesh, Rs 146.1 in Srilanka, Rs 181.6 in China, Rs 169.1 in Nepal, 145.7 in Bhutan,

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Tuesday recommended the government to increase the price of Petrol by Rs 6.05 per liter and High-Speed Diesel by Rs 3.44 per liter for the first fortnightly of July. In its calculation submitted to the Petroleum Division (Ministry of Energy) and finance division, OGRA had proposed an increase in the prices of almost all the petroleum products.

The Ogra’s calculation was based on the existing Petroleum Levy of Rs 3.61 per liter and Rs 2.97 per liter on High-Speed Diesel and Petrol respectively.

After the increase, the new price of petrol will go up from the existing Rs 110.69 per liter to Rs 112.69 and High-Speed Diesel will be going up from the current Rs 112.55 per liter to Rs 113.99 per liter. Similarly, the price of Kerosene will go up to 85.75 per liter from the existing Rs 81.89 per liter and LDO will go up from the existing Rs 79.68 to Rs 83.40 per liter.