Tag: petroleum prices

KATI demands withdrawal of electricity, petrol price hike

KARACHI: Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) on Friday demanded the government of immediate withdrawal the price hike in petroleum products and electricity.

KATI President Salman Aslam in a statement demanded to immediately withdraw the increase in prices of petroleum products by Rs 30 per liter and electricity by Rs 7.90 per unit.

READ MORE: KATI expresses concerns over massive rupee fall

He said that the government dropped petrol bombs on the people for the second time in a week and for the second time increased the price by Rs. 30 per liter which will increase the production cost to a dangerous level.

President KATI said that OGRA had announced on May 31, 2022 that prices would be maintained the next 15 days which was withdrawn on the second day.

READ MORE: KATI demands ban on unnecessary imports

He said that the government did not miss any opportunity to increase inflation on the people, the government on the same day increased the price of petrol by Rs30 while the unit price of electricity was increased by Rs7.90 per unit which is beyond the purchasing power of a common man.

On the other hand, Moody’s also issued a negative rating to Pakistan and sounded the alarm of economic crisis and bankruptcy.

President KATI said that the present government was failing to provide relief to the people in the midst of severe economic crisis and was increasing the problems of the common man instead of reducing them. He said that foreign exchange reserves have also reached a three-year low. In such a scenario, the government is failing to formulate a clear policy.

READ MORE: KATI terms sudden policy rate hike as economic disaster

Salman Aslam said that in view of the current situation, economic policy needs to be formulated so that the poor could not face economic difficulties in this era of inflation.

President KATI said that economic instability has put investment at risk while it has become impossible to run industries with the highest cost of production ever.

President KATI said that it is feared that the unemployment rate in the country will also increase rapidly. The government should immediately take a decision in consultation with the stakeholders to deal with the financial crisis facing the country and announce immediate relief for the low-income group. He said that investment protection and bailout packages for industries should be provided.

READ MORE: PKR becomes worst currency in region: KATI

June 3, 2022
High inflation leads to street crime

It is generally known that affordability issues in buying essential items lead to rise in street crime. Pakistan is witnessing massive surge in prices of essential items over the period of last few months with the rise in prices of commodities in both international and domestic markets.

The new coalition government by PML-N in a span of one week increased the prices of petroleum products twice. The rise in both the announcements was phenomenal. The government increased the price of petrol, which is commonly used for all motor vehicles, especially motorcycles in large number.

READ MORE: Prices of essential items rise by 20% on first POL rate jump

The government firstly increased the prices of petroleum products by Rs30 per liter each on May 26, 2022. The second announcement came on June 02, 2022, which further increased the prices of POL products by Rs30 per liter on each product.

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday June 3, 2022, issued weekly data of Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the week ended June 02, 2022. The SPI calculates difference in prices of essential items. The SPI shows a record increase in inflation by 2 per cent on weekly basis and 20.04 per cent on year on year (YoY) basis.

READ MORE: Pakistan’s inflation sharply up by 13.4% in April 2022

This inflation reflects only the increase in petroleum prices that were effective from May 27, 2022. The remaining impact on inflation after the second announcement of POL price increase will reflect on inflation data of next week ended June 09, 2022.

The previous government maintained the petrol prices at huge subsidized rates to facilitate the citizens. As though the new government still kept the same subsidy on petrol till May 26, 2021.

READ MORE: Pakistan hikes petroleum prices up to 50.71% in a week

However, on account of pressure by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government has to forcibly increase petrol prices to persuade the IMF to release the next tranche of $1 billion.

The current increase of petrol prices in the international market has left no option for the government to minimize the prices. Therefore, the government decided to increase petrol prices and keep the petroleum levy and sales tax at zero percent.

The prices of petroleum products from June 03, 2022 shall be: Petrol at Rs209.86 per; High Speed Diesel at Rs204.15 per liter; kerosene oil at Rs181.94 per liter; and light diesel oil at Rs178.31 per liter.

The people are not mentally prepared for this price hike and are displaying huge disappointment with the new government. The people are also opposing the new government because of making such a harsh decision.

READ MORE: New petroleum prices in Pakistan from June 03, 2022

The increase in the petrol prices simply indicates the increase in prices of all the basic and other commodities. It is because the hike in POL prices reflects the transportation prices. Thus results in price hike in the other commodities too.

The citizens predict that in future there will be street crimes on a huge scale because of this inflation. The local citizens will always be unsafe while outside. The people also blame the new government for the increase in the POL prices as they do not have the potential to control the government.

READ MORE: Petroleum prices in Pakistan from June 01, 2022

(By Syed Faisal Shahnawaz: The writer is a student of Upper Cambridge at St. Patrick’s High School, Karachi. He is regular contributor at PkRevenue.com)

June 3, 2022
Prices of essential items rise by 20% on first POL rate jump

ISLAMABAD: The prices of essential items recorded an increase of 20 per cent owing to first jump in petroleum prices announced a week ago, official documents revealed on Friday.

The inflation based on Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) has increased by 20.04 per cent on year on year basis by week ended June 02, 2022, according to data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

READ MORE: Pakistan’s headline inflation up by 13.8% in May 2022

On week on week (WoW) basis the SPI recorded a two percent for the week ended June 02, 2022 over the previous week ended May 06, 2022.

The SPI determines the price fluctuation in basic kitchen items on weekly basis. The Sensitive Price Indicator comprises 51 essential items collected from 50 markets in 17 cities.

The latest surge in prices of essential items is the result of increase in prices of petroleum products that were announced on May 26, 2022 and effective from May 27, 2022.

READ MORE: Pakistan’s inflation sharply up by 13.4% in April 2022

The federal government on May 26, 2022 announced a sharp increase of Rs30 per cent liter each on all petroleum products.

The price hike in essential items likely to rise alarmingly and may reflect in the SPI of next week ended June 9, 2022 as the government again increased the prices of petroleum products on June 02, 2022.

According to the PBS, the SPI for the current week ended on June 02, 2022 recorded an increase of 2 per cent.

READ MORE: Pakistan’s headline inflation increases by 12.7% in March

Increase observed in the prices of food items Potatoes (9.08 per cent), Eggs (6.38 per cent), Vegetable Ghee 1 kg (4.59 per cent), Bread (2.72 per cent), Mustard Oil (2.65 per cent), Pulse Masoor (2.33 per cent), Cooking Oil 5 litre (2.18 per cent), Pulse Gram (1.99 per cent), Sugar (1.93 per cent), Cooked Beef & Pulse Mash (1.69 per cent) each, Vegetable Ghee 2.5 kg (1.51 per cent) and Bananas (1.35 per cent), non-food items Hi-Speed Diesel (20.69 per cent), Petrol Super(19.91 per cent) and Toilet Soap (1.40 per cent) with joint impact of (2.09 per cent) into the overall SPI for combined group of (2.00 per cent).

On the other hand, decrease observed in the prices of Chicken (4.68 per cent ), Garlic (2.75 per cent), Wheat Flour (1.91 per cent), Tomatoes (1.26 per cent) and LPG (0.74 per cent).

READ MORE: Food inflation rural increases by 14.6% in February 2022

During the week, out of 51 items, prices of 28 (54.90 per cent) items increased, 05 (9.81 per cent) items decreased and 18 (35.29 per cent) items remained stable.

The year on year trend depicts an increase of 20.04 per cent, Onions (177.62 per cent), Tomatoes (152.57 per cent), Mustard Oil (70.50 per cent), Vegetable Ghee 1 Kg (68.02 per cent), Garlic (67.44 per cent), Pulse Masoor (66.92 per cent), Petrol (64.78 per cent), Cooking Oil 5 litre (64.72 per cent), Vegetable Ghee 2.5 Kg (62.43 per cent), LPG (60.14 per cent), Diesel (56.45 per cent) and Washing Soap (42.92 per cent), while major decrease observed in the prices of Chillies Powdered (43.42 per cent), Pulse Moong (21.62 per cent), Electricity charges for Q1 (11.71 per cent), Sugar (11.16 per cent), Bananas (9.95 per cent), Potatoes (6.89 per cent) and Gur (1.46 per cent).

June 3, 2022

Pakistan hikes petroleum prices up to 50.71% in a week

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government led by a coalition government has sharply increased petroleum prices by up to 50.71 per cent in just one week.

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Thursday made second announcement in just span of one week to increase the prices of petroleum products around Rs30 per liter each time.

The new petroleum prices per liter effective from June 03, 2022 are:

Description	Price on May 26, 2022	Price on June 03, 2022	Difference	Percent increase
Petrol	Rs149.86	Rs209.86	Rs60	40%
High Speed Diesel	Rs144.15	Rs204.15	Rs60	41.62%
Kerosene oil	Rs129.56	Rs181.94	Rs52.38	45%
Light Speed Diesel	Rs118.31	Rs178.31	Rs60	50.71%

A statement issued by the finance division on Thursday stated that crude oil and petroleum prices are increasing substantially in the international market.

Maintaining POL prices at the hugely subsidized rates results in increasing both budget deficit and imports.

The subsidized rates of these POL products also poses supply chain risk, the finance division said.

The current fiscal position and market prices leave no option for the government but to increase the prices. Therefore, the government has decided to increase the prices of petroleum products with effect from June 03, 2022 keeping petroleum levy and sales tax at zero per cent.

“We note that the government is still losing money on petrol, high speed diesel and light diesel oil,” the finance division added.

The previous PTI government in February 2022 decided to freeze the prices of petroleum products at the level mentioned above in the table on May 26, 2022 up to June 30, 2022. However, former Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed from the office through a no-confidence motion on April 10, 2022.

Since then, the new coalition government also maintained the prices till May 26, 2022. But under pressure of International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of next tranche of around $1 billion the government had no option but to increase the prices.

Analysts said that the significant hike in prices of petroleum products would bring a storm of inflation as POL prices are directly linked to all the prices of essential and non-essential items.

June 3, 2022

New petroleum prices in Pakistan from June 03, 2022

KARACHI: The government has announced further increase in prices of petroleum products by Rs30 per liter each from 12:00 AM of June 03, 2022.

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail in a press conference on Thursday announced a significant increase in petroleum prices by Rs30 per liter each.

READ MORE: Petroleum prices in Pakistan from June 01, 2022

It is second consecutive increase in a week as the country increased the prices Rs60 per liter on all petroleum products during past seven days.

READ MORE: Pakistan increases petroleum prices by Rs30 per liter

The prices of petroleum products from June 03, 2022 shall be: Petrol at Rs209.86 per; High Speed Diesel at Rs204.15 per liter; kerosene oil at Rs181.94 per liter; and light diesel oil at Rs178.31 per liter.

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail at a press conference announced to increase the prices of petroleum products admitting that there was no way out without removal of subsidy on petroleum products.

READ MORE: Govt. decides to continue subsidy on petroleum prices

However, the finance ministry in a statement issued on May 31, 2022 stated that the government had decided to keep the prices of petroleum products unchanged with an aim to provide relief to the consumers, despite revenue losses due to rising petroleum prices globally.

“With a view to provide maximum relief to the consumers, the Prime Minister of Pakistan has directed that the current prices of petroleum products as notified on 27th May, 2022 shall remain unchanged, despite revenue losses due to rising petroleum prices globally,” Finance ministry said in a statement issued here.

READ MORE: Pakistan cuts petroleum prices amid Russia-Ukraine War

June 2, 2022
Petroleum prices in Pakistan from June 01, 2022

KARACHI: The government of Pakistan on Tuesday decided to keep the petroleum prices unchanged for the next fortnight despite revenue losses due to rising petroleum prices globally.

The prices of petroleum products from June 01, 2022 shall be: Petrol at Rs179.86 per; High Speed Diesel at Rs174.15 per liter; kerosene oil at Rs155.56 per liter; and light diesel oil at Rs148.31 per liter.

READ MORE: Pakistan increases petroleum prices by Rs30 per liter

Earlier, the government on May 26, 2022 announced a massive increase in prices of all petroleum products by Rs30/- per liter in order to satisfy International Monetary Fund (IMF) for release of $1 billion tranche.

READ MORE: Govt. decides to continue subsidy on petroleum prices

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail at a press conference announced to increase the prices of petroleum products admitting that there was no way out without removal of subsidy on petroleum products.

However, the finance ministry in a statement issued on May 31, 2022 stated that the government had decided to keep the prices of petroleum products unchanged with an aim to provide relief to the consumers, despite revenue losses due to rising petroleum prices globally.

READ MORE: Pakistan cuts petroleum prices amid Russia-Ukraine War

“With a view to provide maximum relief to the consumers, the Prime Minister of Pakistan has directed that the current prices of petroleum products as notified on 27th May, 2022 shall remain unchanged, despite revenue losses due to rising petroleum prices globally,” Finance ministry said in a statement issued here.

READ MORE: New government keeps petroleum prices unchanged

May 31, 2022
New petroleum prices in Pakistan from May 27, 2022

ISLAMABAD: The finance division of the ministry of finance on Thursday issued new prices of petroleum products effective from May 27, 2022 after a raise of Rs30 per liter on all petroleum products.

The new prices of petroleum products are as follow:

READ MORE: Pakistan increases petroleum prices by Rs30 per liter

The rate of petrol has been increased to Rs179.86 per liter from Rs149.86.

The price of high speed diesel (HSD) has been jacked up to Rs174.15 per liter from Rs144.15.

The rate of kerosene oil has been increased to Rs155.56 per liter from Rs125.56.

The price of light diesel oil has been increased to Rs148.31 per liter from Rs118.31.

READ MORE: Govt. decides to continue subsidy on petroleum prices

About couple of hours ago, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail announced to raise the prices of all petroleum products in order to comply with the demand of International Monetary Fund (IMF) for continuation of bailout package. Pakistan will get around $1 billion tranche under Extended Fund Facility (EFF) after fulfilling the IMF demand.

The finance division in a press release said that maintaining the existing petroleum products prices at the existing subsidized rates is constantly increasing the twin deficit for the government besides posing huge risk for energy supply chain.

READ MORE: Pakistan cuts petroleum prices amid Russia-Ukraine War

Also Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and refineries are facing difficulties in getting confirmation of international banks for LCs/SBLCs, reluctance of local banks in opening of LCs and hardships of importers in obtaining insurance coverage for very high prices cargos.

In order to rationalize the petroleum products prices, the government has decided to revise the existing petroleum products prices.

“To keep prices of petroleum products affordable, prices are increased partially and new prices effective from May 27, 2022,” the finance division said.

READ MORE: New government keeps petroleum prices unchanged

May 27, 2022
Pakistan increases petroleum prices by Rs30 per liter

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday announced a massive increase in prices of all petroleum products by Rs30/- per liter in order to satisfy International Monetary Fund (IMF) for release of $1 billion tranche.

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail at a press conference announced to increase the prices of petroleum products admitting that there was no way out without removal of subsidy on petroleum products.

READ MORE: Govt. decides to continue subsidy on petroleum prices

Ismail said that the government had decided to increase the prices of petrol, high speed diesel and kerosene oil by Rs30/- liter each effective from midnight 12:00 AM on May 27, 2022.

A day earlier, the IMF refused to continue its talks on bailout package under Extended Fund Facility (EFF) until Pakistan removed the subsidy on fuel and energy.

READ MORE: Pakistan cuts petroleum prices amid Russia-Ukraine War

Former PTI government in February 2022 decided to grant subsidy on petroleum products to ease inflationary pressure on masses.

With the announcement the prices of petroleum products would be: Petrol Rs179.86 per liter; diesel Rs184.15; and kerosene oil Rs156.56.

READ MORE: New government keeps petroleum prices unchanged

On February 28, 2022, former Prime Minister Imran Khan announced reduction in prices of petroleum products and freeze the prices till June 30, 2022. This decision came with announce of multi-billion rupees subsidy to keep the fuel prices lower.

This decision was strongly criticized by the legislators, who are now sitting on the treasury benches. The present government despite strong opposition to the decision to grant of subsidy on the petroleum prices, has no option but to keep the prices unchanged during its tenure of more than a month.

However, after the refusal of the IMF to continue talks without removal of subsidy, the PML-N led government passed on heavy burden to the masses.

READ MORE: Pakistan surrenders to IMF, agrees to remove subsidies

May 26, 2022
ECC approves Rs55.48bn for price differential claims of OMCs

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Monday approved an amount of Rs55.48 billion for payment of price differential claims of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail presided over a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet at Finance Division.

READ MORE: Govt. decides to continue subsidy on petroleum prices

Federal Minister for Industries and Production Makhdoom Syed Murtaza Mehmood, Minister of State for Finance & Revenue Dr. Aisha Ghous Pasha, Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Masood Malik, Federal Secretaries and senior officers attended the meeting.

Petroleum Division submitted a summary for reimbursement of Price Differential Claims (PDCs) of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and Refineries.

READ MORE: Pakistan cuts petroleum prices amid Russia-Ukraine War

The price differential is to be paid to the Oil Marketing Companies/Refineries by the Government as a subsidy in the wake of Government’s decision to keep the petroleum products’ prices fixed at the level notified on March 01, 2022.

The ECC after deliberation approved supplementary grant of Rs. 55.48 billion for disbursement of PDC to OMCs/Refineries for the first fortnight of May, 2022.

READ MORE: New government keeps petroleum prices unchanged

Due to continuously rising trend of oil prices in the international market, the quantum of subsidy has been on higher side.

Ministry of Industries and Production submitted a summary on import of Urea and presented that the government intends to create better stock for Urea fertilizer to ensure continuity of Urea supply during next financial year and requested for allowing import of Urea from international market in order to stabilize the local market.

The ECC after discussion allowed Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to explore the possibility of import of 200,000 MT of Urea on G2G basis and on deferred payment.

READ MORE: Pakistan surrenders to IMF, agrees to remove subsidies

May 16, 2022
Govt. decides to continue subsidy on petroleum prices

ISLAMABAD: The coalition government led by PML-N has decided to continue the subsidy on prices of petroleum products in order to prevent people from high prices.

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Sunday May 15, 2022 announced to maintain the prices of petroleum products at the same level, which were announced by the previous PTI government.

READ MORE: Pakistan cuts petroleum prices amid Russia-Ukraine War

On February 28, 2022, former Prime Minister Imran Khan announced reduction in prices of petroleum products and freeze the prices till June 30, 2022. This decision came with announce of multi-billion rupees subsidy to keep the fuel prices lower.

This decision was strongly criticized by the legislators, who are now sitting on the treasury benches. The present government despite strong opposition to the decision to grant of subsidy on the petroleum prices, has no option but to keep the prices unchanged during its tenure of more than a month.

READ MORE: New government keeps petroleum prices unchanged

According to the statement the new prices of the petroleum products effective from March 01, 2022 are:

The price of petrol slashed by Rs10 to Rs149.86 per liter from Rs159.86.

The rate of high speed diesel has been reduced by Rs10 to Rs144.15 per liter from Rs154.15.

The price of kerosene oil has been brought down by Re1 to Rs125.56 per liter from Rs126.56.

Similarly, the rate of light diesel oil has been slashed by Rs5.66 to Rs118.31 per liter from Rs123.97.

Miftah Ismail on Sunday said despite increasing prices of petroleum products Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had decided not to transfer the burden of price hike on masses.

The decision has been taken at a time when the government is going to discuss loan program under Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Under this program, the government has already agreed to raise the prices of petroleum products by removing subsidies.

READ MORE: Pakistan surrenders to IMF, agrees to remove subsidies

The IMF issued the following statement on April 24, 2022:

“We had very productive meetings with the Finance Minister of Pakistan Miftah Ismail over Pakistan’s economic developments and policies under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program.

“We agreed that prompt action is needed to reverse the unfunded subsidies which have slowed discussions for the 7th review.

“Based on the constructive discussions with the authorities in Washington, the IMF expects to field a mission to Pakistan in May to resume discussions over policies for completing the 7th EFF review.

“The authorities have also requested the IMF to extend the EFF arrangement through June 2023 as a signal of their commitment to address existing challenges and achieve the program objectives.”

READ MORE: Pakistan raises petrol price to record high at Rs160/liter

Miftah Ismail in its latest statement said: “PTI government has destroyed economy of the country.”

The Minister said agriculture sector was badly ignored and resultantly Pakistan imported wheat worth of six hundred million dollars last year. He said this year wheat worth of $1.5 billion will have to be imported.

Miftah Ismail said prices of flour soared up from 35 rupees per kg to 80 rupees per kg in last four years.

Talking about sugar price, Miftah Ismail said that government is providing cheap sugar and it has directed to further decrease the price of commodity. He also said the government will not import sugar this year.

May 16, 2022