ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday announced to keep the prices of petrol and high speed diesel (HSD) unchanged for December 2015 while prices of kerosene and light diesel oil were decreased slightly. “We have decided to keep the prices of diesel and petrol unchanged and stabilised at the existing rate of Rs83.79 per litre and Rs76.26 per litre respectively. It will cause a loss of few hundred millions to the national exchequer which will be absorbed by the government,” Finance Minister Ishaq Dar told journalists during a press briefing after chairing the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) meeting here at the FBR’s headquarters. He said the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) recommended increasing the price of HSD from Rs83.79 per litre to Rs85.21 per litre while they recommended decreasing the prices of petrol from Rs76.26 per litre to Rs75.21 per litre. “Keeping in view the 66 percent consumption of HSD and petrol at 30 percent, the government decided to stabilise the prices of both petrol and HSD at the existing level of Rs76.26 per litre and Rs83.79 per litre, respectively.” The prices of HOBC were increased by 87 paisa, from Rs79.79 to Rs80.86, while prices of kerosene oil decreased by 39 paisa. The prices of light diesel oil were decreased by 36 paisa per litre with effect from December 1, 2015. The government, he said, also decided to extend the deadline for filing income tax returns from November 30 to December 31, 2015. The reduced withholding tax on banking transactions at the rate of 0.3 percent was also extended for one month till December 31. The ECC of the federal cabinet met here under the chairmanship of Ishaq Dar and approved the regulatory duty (RD) on the import of maize on a proposal submitted by the Ministry of National Food Security and Research. The decision was taken in view of the abundant maize stock available in the country and noticeable difference between price in local and international markets. The ECC also approved the proposal of the Ministry of National Food Security for fixation of minimum guaranteed price of Rs1,300 per 40kg for procurement of wheat crop 2015-16. On a proposal from the FBR, the ECC approved an extension in time period for 0.3 percent reduced rate of advance income tax (WHT) on non-filers up to December 31. The ECC also approved the proposal of FBR for grant of exemption in duties and taxes for the equipment to be installed at IC3 facility at Port Qasim. The exemption was granted in pursuance of a bilateral agreement. The installation of the equipment will benefit Pakistani exports as it provided a single step clearance for all US bound export cargo using scanners with sophisticated technology.
