ISLAMABAD: Notwithstanding the summary forwarded by the Oil and Gas Regulator Authority (OGRA), the Finance Ministry increased the prices of petrol only by Rs 1, from Rs 70.29 per liter to Rs 71.29 per liter.
Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, while announcing the new prices of petroleum products here Wednesday said OGRA had recommended fixation of new petrol prices at Rs 72.20 per liter. The prices of petroleum products for the period starting from February 16, till midnight on February 28.
The minister said the prices of High Speed Diesel had also been enhanced from Rs 79.48 per liter to Rs 80.48 per liter, an increase of Rs 1 per liter.
Despite the recommendations of huge increase in kerosene and Light Diesel Oil (LDO) prices, the prices of these products had been kept unchanged.
The prices of Kerosene remained unchanged at Rs 43.25 while that of LDO at Rs 43.34. OGRA had recommended increase of Rs 1.91 per liter on petrol from Rs 70.29 per liter to Rs 72.20 per liter and Rs 2.03 per liter increase in High Speed Diesel from Rs 79.49 per liter to Rs 81.51 per liter. The authority recommended an increase of Rs 16.71 in the prices of kerosene from Rs 43.25 per liter to Rs 59.96 and enhancement of Rs 12.53 per liter in prices of LDO from Rs 43.34 to Rs 55.87.
The minister said in line with the prime minister's instructions to provide maximum relief to the common man, and keeping in view that Kerosene Oil and LDO was used by the low income segments of the country's population, it had been decided to maintain the prices of Kerosene Oil and LDO at the current level till February 28.
This decision had been taken also keeping in view the fact that Kerosene Oil caters to the energy needs of the poor, especially in the winter season.
In order to maintain the prices of both Kerosene Oil and LDO at current levels, the government would not only be foregoing all applicable taxes and duties on these petroleum products, but would also continue to subsidize the prices of these products for the consumers, with a subsidy of Rs 2.00 per litre on Kerosene Oil and Rs 1.41 per liter on LDO.
The finance minister highlighted that, to maintain stability, prices had been maintained since April 2016 despite an increase of around 43% in international oil prices during 2016.
He said the government had been absorbing the negative financial impact due to the government's decisions not to pass on price increases to the end consumers.
He highlighted that previouly only partial increase in the price of MS Petrol and HSD was passed on to the consumers for the month of December 2016 and for the last one month, as compared to OGRA's recommendations.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.