ISLAMABAD: Federal government on Sunday announced to increase the prices of petroleum products up to 4,6 percent, partially by adjusting high rate of petroleum levy (PL) and ex-refiner, for first half of February 2021.
In a fortnightly review, the government increased the price of petrol by Rs 2.70 per litre, High Speed Diesel (HSD) by Rs 2.88 per litre, Light Speed Diesel (LDO) by Rs 3 per litre and kerosene oil (SKO) by Rs 3.54 per litre.
The government claimed that Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) recommended an increase in the prices of petroleum products based on standard rate of 17 percent General Sale Tax (GST) and PL at Rs 30 per litre.
The new ex-depot price of petrol has been increase by 2.4 percent from Rs 109.20 per litre to Rs 111.90 per litre. The price of HSD is also increased by 3.1 percent from Rs 113.19 per litre to litre to Rs 116.70 per litre. The price of LDO is also increased by 3.9 percent to Rs 79.23 per litre from Rs 76.23 per litre and SKO price increased by 4.6 percent to Rs 80.19 per litre from Rs 76.65 per litre.
Earlier, OGRA worked out the prices of POL products following the directive of Petroleum Division. The regulator had recommended an increase in the price of petrol by Rs 13.18 per litre to Rs 122.38 per litre from Rs 109.20 per litre. Similarly, the price of HSD had also been recommended to increase by Rs 12.12 per litre to Rs 125.31 per litre from Rs 113.19 per litre. The recommended price increase of SKO was Rs 11.10 per litre and LDO by Rs 6.60 per litre.
An increase in ex-refinery price and PL also help the government to generate additional revenue from petroleum sector. An official of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) said that the increase in price of POL products would help to generate Rs 4 billion. The government has increase the ex-refinery rate to Rs 64.31 per litre from Rs 61.70 per litre. The rate of PL also revised downward from Rs 21.56 per litre to Rs 21.04 per litre. The government will now charge Rs 16.26 per litre GST which was Rs 15.87 per litre in second half of January on petrol. The government fixed Rs 95.98 per litre as prescribed price of HSD. Both products are the major source of revenue collection. Internationally, Brent crude oil prices averaged $50 per barrel in December 2020, up $7 per barrel from November's average.
They're projected to average $53 per barrel in 2021, according to the US Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook released on January 12, 2021.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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