In spite of the recommendation made by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to the petroleum ministry, President Asif Ali Zardari has issued directives to halt an increase in the rates of petroleum products.
According to the summary moved by Ogra on Monday, the regulator recommended Rs3.21 per litre increase in the price of petrol, Rs4.85 per litre in the price of High Octane Blending Component (HOBC), Rs3.52 per litre in the price of kerosene oil, Rs4.40 per litre in the price of High Speed Diesel (HSD) and Rs3.19 per litre in the price of Light Diesel Oil (LDO). The summary also recommended a price hike in jet fuel – JP-1 by Rs3.48 per litre, JP-4 by Rs3.47 per litre and JP-8 by Rs3.58 per litre.
With the proposed increase, the price of petrol will jump from Rs93.57 to Rs96.78 per litre, HOBC from Rs120.16 to Rs125.01 per litre, kerosene oil from Rs92.83 to Rs96.35 per litre, HSD from Rs101.79 to Rs106.19 per litre, LDO from Rs90.11 to Rs93.30 per litre. The new price of JP-1 will go up from Rs82.36 to Rs 85.84 per litre, JP-4 from Rs74.04 to Rs77.51 per litre and JP-8 from Rs82.05 to Rs85.53 per litre.
The new prices will be effective from August 16 after approval of Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.
Earlier, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had proposed that the federal government cut the rate of the petroleum levy to provide relief to consumers from the rising trend in oil prices during Ramazan.
However, a senior official at the petroleum ministry said that the finance ministry shot down the proposal, as petroleum levy was an easy source of collecting tax from the consumers to bridge its budget deficit.
Advisor to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Dr Asim Hussain said that the prices of petroleum products would remain unchanged irrespective of the increase recommended by OGRA.
Talking to Pakistan Television (PTV), he said that President Zardari had advised that the POL prices should be kept stable on the account of Eidul Fitr.
Replying to a question, he said that the changes in POL prices are linked with international markets, and Ogra is responsible for recommending the changes in the prices.
(with additional input from APP)
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Who cares, and why is Google linking this story on the news front page?
Keep voting for PPP, MQM, ANP and maulana diesel.....haha.
@Katz: Indeed! They don't want to have sticks of police on their precious body,lol.
enjoy.
They should increase the price on the 16th. We don't want more mis-directed subsidies. Petrol vehicle owners can afford to pay more for petrol. OTOH subsidies result in a higher fiscal deficit which is financed by printing money. That leads to inflation which affects the poor the most. So stop subsidizing the rich at the expense of the poor.
@Mohammad ali: We say that all the time but we never do it. SAD isn't it.
Each year pakistan importants 15b$ worth oil. This is too much. On the other hand no survey to explore oil within pakistan conducted since many years.
if petrol prices are not going to an end.folks are going to buzz all.