ISLAMABAD, June 08(ABC): Finance Minister Miftah Ismail Tuesday rebutted reports and clarified that the government has no plans to increase the price 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.