Petroleum Price in Pakistan Increase from August 1, 2022
Following rates were announced by
the ministry of finance and will take effect on August 1st, 2022:
1. Petrol has been reduced in price by Rs. 3.05 per
litre, from Rs. 230.24 to Rs. 227.19.
2.
High speed diesel is now priced at Rs. 244.95 a
litre as opposed to Rs. 236 before.
3. Kerosene oil now costs Rs. 4.62 more per litre
than it did previously, at Rs. 201.07.
4. Similar to that, the price of light speed diesel
has dropped from Rs. 191.44 per litre to Rs. 191.32 by 12 paisas.
The government cut the price of
petroleum products starting on July 15, 2022, taking into account the drop in
the price of crude oil on the world market. However, since the government had
to raise the petroleum charge and implement sales tax, experts concluded it was
a political decision.
In addition, the Pakistani Rupee
(PKR) has declined significantly against the dollar, leaving the government no
choice but to raise the price of petroleum products.
For the sake of the populace, the
previous PTI administration kept the sales tax and gasoline charge at zero. To
reduce costs and bring assistance to the people, the PTI government also
offered a sizable discount on petroleum product prices.
On April 10, 2022, a motion to
oust former Prime Minister Imran Khan was approved by a vote of no confidence. Three
times since then, the current coalition government led by the PML-N has
dramatically hiked the price of petroleum products.
On May 26, 2022, June 02, and
June 15, 2022, the new government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif raised the
cost of petroleum goods. In total, these price hikes by the government raised
the cost of gasoline by 84 rupees per litre.
In its budget, the current
administration predicted that for the fiscal year 2022–2023, the petroleum levy
will bring in 750 billion rupees. Given that current fiscal year begins on July
1, 2022, it is most likely that the government will decide to begin enforcing
the levy on this day.
