Will govt increase petrol price further?

ISLAMABAD:  Rebutting reports of hiking petrol prices, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail Tuesday clarified that the government has no plans to increase the rates of petroleum products.

"There will be no increase in prices today, and there is no summary or plan to raise prices," the finance minister said in a tweet after media reports quoted him as saying that petrol prices will move up further.

"In the pre-budget seminar I never even spoke about petroleum prices. Channels running these tickers are doing a disservice to their viewers," the finance minister said.

Earlier, in his address to the one-day long pre-budget business conference, Ismail said that had the government taken decisions in line with ex-prime minister Imran Khan and former finance minister Shaukat Tarin's deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the price of petrol would have stood at Rs300 per litre.

"The previous government had agreed with the IMF that they would not give subsidies," the finance minister said, lashing out at the Khan-led government for messing up the economic policies of the country.

A day earlier, the finance minister had ruled out the possibility of a financial emergency in the country after the government took steps to rectify the ongoing economic turmoil.

In a tweet, Ismail said the country was not facing a financial emergency as the price of petrol had been increased twice — and hiked up to Rs209.86, while there has also been a massive increase in other petroleum products.