Representational image.
Pakistan increases petrol price: In yet another blow for the common man in Pakistan, petrol prices have been hiked by Rs 30. The rise in petroleum products will be effective from Thursday midnight. Post this hike, one litre of petrol in Pakistan will cost Rs 179.85 (Rs 180 approx) while diesel Rs 174.15 per litre.
Pakistan Finance Minister Miftah Ismail made the announcement at a press conference, a day after the talks between the Pakistan government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Qatar failed to reach an agreement on an economic bailout and the and the IMF staff-level agreement for the revival of the USD 6 billion programme ended.
After the hike, the price of petrol will be at Rs179.86 (almost Rs 180), diesel at Rs174.15, kerosene oil at Rs155.56 and light diesel at Rs148.31.
According to Pakistan’s finance minister, the hike in petrol price has been aimed at ensuring the revial of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
The finance minister also said that the nation could have gone in the wrong direction if prices would have remained stable adding Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had to make a tough decision.
“We cannot let the state sink for the sake of politics,” he said.
Pakistan’s Finance Minister also hit out at the former PM Imran Khan for freezing petrol price as he knew that his days in the power were numbered.
The IMF in a handout on Wednesday emphasised upon “urgency of concrete policy actions, including removing fuel and energy subsidies”.
Miftah said it has become indispensable to shift the fuel price burden on the masses as the IMF had refused to give “any relief” until the fuel subsidy was removed.
The previous Imran Khan government in February had capped the prices of petroleum products until June despite having an agreement with the IMF to increase the prices. When his government was removed in April, the new government needed IMF support but it was in fix over the issue of hiking the prices.
However, after the final refusal by the fund to release any funds until the prices were revised upward, the government took the bitter pill.
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