Federal Minister for Petroleum Ali Pervaiz Malik has said that petrol prices in Pakistan are lower than those in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Turkiye, while comparable to prices in India.
A meeting of the committee formed by the prime minister to review reforms in the petroleum pricing system was held under the chairmanship of the petroleum minister.
Citing a KPMG study, the minister said petrol prices in Pakistan are lower than those in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Turkiye, while remaining broadly comparable to prices in India.
He said the government had proposed amendments to the Refinery Policy to increase domestic diesel production and reduce dependence on imported diesel as part of efforts to strengthen the country’s energy security.
According to a statement issued after the meeting, the committee reviewed different methods for determining petroleum prices in light of global market conditions.
It recommended that the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) publish daily Platts pricing data on its website so that the public can access the benchmark used for determining fuel prices.
Last week, the government increased the price of petrol by Rs. 13.18 per litre and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs. 13.80 per litre. After the revision, petrol is priced at Rs. 310.71 per litre, while HSD stands at Rs. 323.30 per litre.
Fuel prices had surged sharply earlier in the year following the outbreak of the US-Iran conflict. The price of HSD had started rising from Rs. 281 per litre after the conflict began on February 28 and peaked at Rs. 520.35 per litre on April 3. Petrol, meanwhile, had climbed from Rs. 266 per litre in the first week of March to a peak of Rs. 458.41 per litre on April 3.
Under IMF conditions, the government doubled the climate support levy to Rs. 5 per litre from July 1 while reducing the petroleum levy accordingly. The petroleum levy on diesel currently stands at around Rs. 80 per litre, while petrol carries a petroleum levy of around Rs. 70 per litre, in addition to the Rs. 5 climate support levy.
The government is currently collecting around Rs. 101 per litre on HSD through Rs. 16 per litre customs duty, petroleum levy, climate support levy and the inland freight equalisation margin. The total tax burden on petrol is estimated at around Rs. 95 per litre, including Rs. 20 per litre customs duty, the petroleum levy and the climate levy.
The government is also charging around Rs. 21 per litre as petroleum levy on kerosene and about Rs. 16 per litre on light diesel oil.
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