Petrol price raised to historic high of Rs272/litre

ISLAMABAD: The federal government Wednesday increased the petrol price to a historic high of Rs272 per litre in a bid to appease the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to unlock the critical loan tranche, hours after unveiling a tax-loaded mini-budget.

The price of petrol has been moved up to Rs272 per litre after an increase of Rs22.20, said a statement released by the Finance Division at night. The price of high-speed diesel has been increased to Rs280 per litre after a hike of Rs17.20. Kerosene will now sell at Rs202.73 per litre following a hike of Rs12.90. Meanwhile, light diesel oil will be available at Rs196.68 per litre after an increase of Rs9.68, reports Geo News.

The new prices came into effect from Wednesday midnight.

The increase in the prices of petroleum products was one of the preconditions of the IMF, which will lead to a hike in the already record-high inflation, coupled with the new fiscal measures undertaken through the mini-budget. Senior economist Katrina Ell, associated with Moody’s Analytics, had predicted that inflation in Pakistan could average 33% in the first half of 2023 before trending lower, and a bailout from the IMF alone was unlikely to put the economy back on track. Through the “mini-budget”, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led federal government aims to reduce the budget deficit and broaden its tax collection net.