ISLAMABAD, June 16(ABC): Federal Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Wednesday announced that the government was not in a position to bear subsidies on petroleum products anymore, therefore, it has decided to increase the prices of petrol by Rs24.03, taking it to the record high of Rs233.89 per litre.
Starting from June 16, the price of petrol will be Rs233.89 per litre, diesel will be Rs263.31, kerosene oil will be sold for Rs211.43, and the price of light diesel oil will be Rs207.47, the minister announced.
At the beginning of the press briefing, Miftah — who was flanked by State Minister for Petroleum Musaddaq Malik — criticised the previous government’s policies that, according to him, “deteriorated the country’s economy”.
“Imran Khan had deliberately reduced the prices of petrol by giving subsidies,” Miftah said, adding that the incumbent government was bearing the brunt of those decisions.
He said that currently, Pakistan, on every litre, was bearing a loss of Rs24.03 on petrol, Rs59.16 diesel, Rs39.49 kerosene oil, and Rs39.16 on light diesel oil.
He said that in May, this loss had gone past Rs120 billion — three times greater than running the expenses of the civil government, which amounts to Rs40 million.