Pakistan assures IMF of gradually increasing petroleum levy to Rs50

Federal government will impose a levy of Rs10 on petrol and Rs5 on diesel from September 1.
Pakistan and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached an agreement over Letter of Intent (LOI).
According to media reports, Pakistan has assured the international lender that government will gradually increase levy on petroleum products to Rs50.
Sources further said that the federal government will impose a levy of Rs10 on petrol and Rs5 on diesel from September 1.
They added that the government will gradually increase the petroleum levy and take it up to Rs50 by 2023.
Earlier, the government had raised price of petrol and reduced those of high speed diesel (HSD) and kerosene on Monday for the next fortnight.
According to an annou­ncement by the ministry of finance, the rate of petrol and light diesel oil (LDO) was increased by Rs6.72 and 43 paisa per litre, respectively. On the other hand, the prices of high speed diesel (HSD) and kerosene were cut by 51 paisa and Rs1.67 per litre respectively.
“In the wake of fluctuations in petroleum prices in the international market and exchange rate variation, the government has decided to revise the existing prices of petroleum products to pass on the impact to consumers”, said the ministry of finance.
As such, the ex-depot price of petrol was raised to Rs233.91 from Rs227.19, showing an increase of Rs6.72 per litre, or 3pc.
The price of light diesel oil inched up by an inconsequential 43 paisa per litre to Rs191.75 per litre from Rs191.32 at present.
On the other hand, the ex-depot price of HSD was set at Rs244.44 per litre, down from Rs244.95 per litre at present, with a notional cut of 51 paisa, or 0.2pc. Likewise, the ex-depot rate of kerosene was cut to Rs199.40 per litre from Rs201.07 per litre, down by Rs1.67 per liter, or 0.8pc.