The government on Thursday increased the petroleum products rates by Rs30 per liter, which is a price hike of up to one-fourth of the existing prices, complying with an agreement with International Monetary Fund.
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail made the decision public in a news conference, with the compliance of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a party meeting. “The federal government has decided to raise the prices of petroleum products by Rs30 per liter, with the hike set to go into effect at midnight tonight,” said Ismail.
Government has decided to increase the prices of Petrol, High Speed Diesel, Kerosene Oil and Light Diesel Oil by Rs 30 per litre from Friday May 27, 2022. New prices will go into effect at midnight. The new price of petrol will be Rs 179.86 & diesel will be Rs 174.15 per litre.
— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) May 26, 2022
With this unprecedented hike, the new price of petrol will be Rs179.88 per liter. This is the highest rate the country has ever experienced, showing an increase of 20% to the existing prices.
Although this has been an unprecedented decision, according to the Finance Minister it will save the country from looming default. “The government cannot take the country towards default and is ready to pay the political cost for the sake of protecting the interest of the state” said Miftah.
A as per sources, the next big action that the government will be required to take will be to increase electricity prices by Rs5 per unit with effect from June 1.
