Daily Times

Federal Board of Revenue (FBR),on Sunday, announced an increase in prices of petroleum products.

In a notification, the recent hike, which was taken into effect from May 5, was made public. This followed an increase in Goods and Services Tax (GST) from two per cent to 12 per cent on petrol, leading the new rate to Rs 108 per litre.

New rates of diesel stood at Rs 122.32 per litre after GST was hiked from 13 per cent to 17 per cent

Light diesel’s rate was fixed at Rs 86.94 per litre as GST increased to 17 per cent from 9 per cent.

The new price of kerosene oil stood at Rs 96.77 per litre with 17 per cent GST, which was raised from the previous eight per cent.

On May 3, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved an increase in the prices of petroleum products by as much as Rs 9 per litre for the month of May.

This skyrocketed the price of petrol to Rs 108 per litre. The meeting also approved the proposed increase in diesel price by Rs 4.89 per litre, light diesel by Rs 6.40 and kerosene by Rs 7.46.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had referred the matter to the ECC in the wake of a recommendation by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) to increase petrol prices by over Rs 14 per litre. The decision was taken in the wake of an increase in the prices of crude oil in the international market as well as the devaluation of Pakistani currency.

On April 30, PM’s Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan had said PM Khan had summoned another meeting to review OGRA recommendations in this regard.

She had relayed this at a press conference along with Federal Minister for Water Resources, Faisal Vawa at the Press Information Department (PID), once the federal cabinet had concluded its meeting.