Addressing a press conference, Federal Minister for Finance Miftah Ismail announced another hike in the prices of all petroleum products – bringing the price of petrol up by Rs14.85 per litre.
Following the announcement, Miftah Ismail appeared in an interview where he jokingly said, “People say when Miftah Ismail appears on TV, one should understand that petrol prices have risen.” The Finance Minister also shared that he was ‘not supposed’ to be appearing on TV to make the announcement, as another colleague was supposed to do it. However, he ended up doing so as per the directives of PM Shehbaz Sharif.
I was not supposed to go on tv last evening to announce this. Another colleague was supposed to do this. But PM sahib decided that Musadik Malik and I should do that. https://t.co/M8xv3GWtXL
— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) July 1, 2022
Miftah’s lack of enthusiasm with regard to announcing the price hike on TV, didn’t seem to go unnoticed by the public either as they remarked at his unmotivated demeanor during the public address.
Is Miftah Ismail even alive in this clip? pic.twitter.com/U2RUR0kJQP
— Svengali (@Ronin212) June 30, 2022
Justifying the price hike, Finance Minister said that the increase was made to meet the conditions set forth by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “Imran Khan [government] had violated the agreement with the IMF to increase the petroleum levy every month”, he said. Adding that, had the previous government continued the agreement, there would have been a gradual increase in the levy and sales tax, and that the increase was made keeping in mind the rising petroleum prices in the international market.
