PTI govt raised petrol price by 68pc, diesel by 52.1pc in its tenure

ISLAMABAD: The PTI government in its tenure of three years and eight months increased the price of petrol by 68 percent to Rs159.86 per litre till Feb 28, 2022. The same government also increased the diesel price by 52.1 percent to Rs154.15 a litre.

However, the voted-out premier Imran Khan, when felt that the opposition had got serious to oust him through a no-trust move, laid 'mines' for the next government by announcing the move to scale down the price of petrol and diesel by Rs10 each from March 1, 2022, up to June 30, 2022, knowing the fact that OGRA had recommended an increase in price of petrol and diesel by Rs10 per liter from March 1, 2022.

This is how the-then premier had inflicted a loss of Rs20 each on one liter of petrol and diesel on the national kitty. The PTI government, instead of increasing the price of petrol and diesel by Rs10 each from March 1, had reduced the price of two POL products by Rs10 per liter to Rs149.86 per liter and Rs144.15 per liter, respectively.

Imran Khan took oath as Prime Minister of Pakistan on Aug 22, 2018, and the price of petrol Sept 1, 2018, was at Rs95.24 per liter and diesel at Rs112.94 per liter. Since then, the PTI government had increased the price of petrol by Rs64.62 per liter to Rs159.86 per liter till February 28, 2022 and price of diesel by Rs58.79 per liter to Rs154.15 per liter.

When the Imran Khan government came into power, the dollar was at Rs122.42 which had increased by 52.16 percent to Rs186.28 till April 10, 2022. This 52.16 percent increase in the dollar value had played a pivotal role in increasing the POL prices. However, the inflation was at 3.39 percent when Imran Khan had taken oath.

When the ex-premier had announced reducing the price of petrol and diesel by Rs10 and electricity tariff by Rs5 per unit, the IMF had agitated and expressed its resentment at the PTI government for flouting the agreement for a $6 billion package.

However, when the coalition government headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took power, uncertainty remained for 45 days and economy continued to bleed. However, ultimately the government on Thursday night took the hard decision to increase from May 27, 2022, the price of petrol by 20.02 percent (Rs30 per liter) to Rs179.86 per liter and diesel by 20.81 percent (Rs30 per liter) to Rs174.15 per liter. This government swallowed the bitter pill of increasing the POL products to pave way for restoration of the IMF programme to ensure that the fund would release a tranche of $900 million. If the IMF gives a nod, Saudi Arabia would roll over its loans of $3 billion. China will also provide financial solace to Pakistan and likewise the UAE would also do the same.

The increase is not enough to do away with the subsidy the government is extending on petrol and diesel and from next fortnight, the government will also have to increase the prices of POL products by the same volume. If the government does not revoke the subsidy, it would have to bear the loss of Rs120 billion per month, which is more than the monthly expenditure of the federal government that stands at Rs85 billion.

On April 10, 2022, the crude oil price was $102.40 per barrel, which had increased till May 26, 2022, to $114.22 per barrel, showing an increase of 11.54 percent and value of US dollar on April 10 was Rs186.28, which had swelled by 8.75 percent to Rs202.59. The increase in the dollar value and crude oil price has left the government with no option but to increase the price of petrol and diesel by Rs30 per liter each to plug the bleeding economy.