KARACHI: Pakistanis are doubtful to admit any relief in the form of a reduction in the prices of petroleum products in the coming fortnightly review, The News report Monday.
According to people in the oil painting assiduity and government sector, it was doubtful that the coming review of petroleum prices would give any relief to the consumers, as transnational prices of crude and petroleum products didn’t leave room for the government to reduce prices.
The people said ex-refinery prices of diesel and petrol were showing a nominal reduction for the coming fortnight; still, it couldn’t be acclimated to lower the prices of petroleum products as the government has yet to acclimate the exchange losses, which have been moping on for quite some time.
In the last fortnightly review, the government kept the prices of petroleum products unchanged by not conforming to the exchange loss, which was likely to be acclimated in the coming review, they believed.
With the need to acclimate the exchange loss along with the International Monetary Fund(IMF) demand to induce fresh profit by raising the petroleum tax on diesel, the government wasn’t in a position to reduce the prices of petroleum products for end consumers.
Presently, the government is charging an Rs50 petroleum tax on petrol and Rs12 on diesel, whereas under the accord with the IMF, it has to jack up the tax on diesel to collect fresh profit.
The people refocused that if the government acclimated the exchange loss and raised the petroleum tax on diesel to Rs50 as per IMF conditions, the price of diesel might go up manifold.
still, they added, it was likely that the rate of petroleum tax might see some jump along with an adaptation in exchange losses, which might raise the price of diesel as well as the retail price of petrol in the coming fortnightly review of energy prices.
They said that the government has been withholding the duty of general deals duty(GST) to avoid a massive increase in the prices of petroleum products; still, the IMF was pressing the country to go for its duty.
The people said that GST could be assessed on petrol as petroleum tax on it has formerly touched the loftiest position.
Current prices
