The federal Minister for Power, Khurram Dastgir, has claimed that the government will increase the prices of petroleum products again before June 30, 2022.
Last week, the federal Minister for Finance, Miftah Ismail, had announced a Rs. 30 per liter increase in the prices of all petroleum goods. He mentioned in a press conference that the decision had been made to reach an understanding on a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) while hoping that it is ready to discuss the revival of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of the program.
The incumbent government is focused on reviving the $6 billion EFF of the program to contain the depleting foreign exchange reserves with debt and import payments continuing to rise.
Minister Dastgir had opined that the decision to increase the prices of petroleum goods was necessary to curb the growing current account deficit (CAD).
He claimed that the government has been incurring losses of Rs. 102 billion per month due to the subsidy on petroleum goods. He added that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had consulted with the allied partners and had decided to remove the subsidy and increase the funding for the direct relief measures for the public.
After the previous increase in the prices, the new prices of the petroleum goods are: petrol — Rs. 179.86 per liter; diesel — Rs. 174.15 per liter; kerosene oil — Rs. 155.56 per liter; and light diesel — Rs. 148.31 per liter.
