Petroleum Levy: Govt collects Rs35b in six months

ISLAMABAD: The government has collected Rs35.44 billion as petroleum levy in the first six months of the current fiscal year.

According to finance ministry officials, the government had set the petroleum levy collection target at Rs110 billion in the 2010-11 fiscal budget.

Officials were pessimistic about meeting the target, claiming that it would be unlikely in the current state of the economy. Despite the recent oil price hike, as a result of which petrol and diesel prices have risen by up to 10 per cent each, the increment is likely to prove insufficient in helping meet the target, particularly because of the severe losses the government incurred in December and January.

The government will still be taking a hit of up to Rs5 billion in the form of subsidies on petroleum products in March.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2011.