Tag: petrol prices

  • ‘Shameful’: Yet another old tweet comes back to haunt Imran after fuel prices hike

    ‘Shameful’: Yet another old tweet comes back to haunt Imran after fuel prices hike

    With Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan approving a Rs25 hike in petrol price, yet another tweet from the past has come back to haunt the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

    The premier on Friday approved a summary of recommendations to increase the prices of petroleum products “in view of the rising oil prices trend in the global market”, with a notification issued to announce the new rates.

    The notification stated that the new petrol prices would come into effect immediately.

    Petrol prices, according to the recommendation, were to be bumped up Rs25.58 per litre. Similarly, the per-litre prices of high-speed diesel (HSD), kerosene oil, and light diesel were recommended to be increased Rs21.31, Rs23.50, and Rs17.84, respectively.

    The new per-litre prices of petrol, HSD, kerosene oil, and light diesel, therefore, would respectively be Rs100.10, Rs101.46, Rs59.06, and Rs55.98.

    With the hike drawing a strong reaction from the general public as people expressed frustration over the development that could result in yet another inflation bomb amid the coronavirus outbreak, some took to Twitter to retweet a statement by the premier from back when he sat in the parliament on opposition benches.

    “Absolutely shameful how the govt has dropped a petrol bomb on the poor nation at the start of 2018. Instead of undertaking tax reforms and cracking down on money laundering, the govt continues to burden the masses — this time with a big increase in petroleum products’ prices,” the tweet read.

    “Petrol should be sold at Rs58 per litre, demands @ImranKhanPTI [sic],” another tweet from 2015 by PTI’s official handle read.

    This isn’t the first time an old tweet has come back to bite the PTI government.

    While the same tweets were used to criticise the government after a fuel prices hike in July 2019, a separate tweet from August 2014 read, “All over the world, just on an incident of railway accidents, minister resigns. This is real democracy, says Imran Khan [sic].”

    It had started making rounds last month after the tragic train accident in Sadiqabad, which claimed over 20 lives.

    Prior to this, as PM Imran reached China amid Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s (TLP) nationwide protests last year, a 2012 tweet of his, went viral. In the tweet, he had criticised the then premier for traveling abroad as the country “burned”.

    It was aimed at criticising former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, who had traveled to China for the Boao Forum while violence linked to sectarian, ethnic and political tensions continued in different parts of the country.

  • Amid shortage, govt likely to allow petrol stations to set their own prices

    Amid shortage, govt likely to allow petrol stations to set their own prices

    As consumers across the country face difficulties due to petrol shortage, the government is currently contemplating completely deregulating pricing and marketing of petrol. 

    According to a report published in Dawn,  the government is considering doing away with uniform pricing of petrol and deregulating it in line with other petroleum products like hi-octane blending component (HOBC) which are already deregulated. 

    Recently oil marketing companies (OMCs) have come under severe criticism for their alleged collusive behavior that has seen the price of HOBC, to increase to Rs148-160 per litre. 

    While the government slashed petrol prices to Rs74 per litre in line with the decrease in international oil prices, no such reduction was seen in the price of HOBC. 

    According to the report, the government has also decided to deregulate the Inland Freight Equalisation Margin (IFEM) that currently ensures uniform prices throughout the country. As a result, consumers that are close to ports and refineries will be able to buy petroleum products at a cheaper price that may differ anywhere from Rs1 to Rs5 depending on the transportation cost.

    Earlier, on June 4, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) had taken notice of public concerns and complaints about the shortage of petroleum products in the country and had initiated an inquiry to see whether such a shortage is the result of any anti-competitive activity.

    The CCP’s inquiry will determine the possibility of the existence of any anti-competitive practices causing the shortage of fuel in the country and the undertakings involved in it.

    The inquiry will further examine why the impact of the reduction in the prices of oil have not resulted in the corresponding reduction in the prices of the lubricants and other oil-based products, including the prices of hi-octane, which are primarily deregulated products.

    Similarly, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had also expressed its reservations last week regarding high prices of HOBC and had asked OMC’s to set prices at reasonable levels keeping in view the interests of the consumers. 

  • New fuel taxes burden masses with additional Rs25 billion

    New fuel taxes burden masses with additional Rs25 billion

    The taxes imposed by the Federal government has burdened people with additional Rs25 billion per month who are already burdened with inflation, Pakistan Today reported.

    In comparison with a decline in global oil prices, the government did not provide any relief to the masses. They said the government had reduced per litre prices of petroleum products by Rs 5 instead of Rs15 litre. The government had fixed petroleum levy (PL) — imposed tex — on high-speed diesel at Rs25 per litre, which had failed to provide relief to the masses.

    Tax on petrol has increased by 106pc, if the taxes weren’t increased, petrol prices could have decreased by Rs 9 per litre. Instead of giving any relief, the government has imposed an additional tax of Rs6 per litre on kerosene oil.

    Furthermore, the government was likely to earn Rs60 billion per month from the taxes imposed on different petroleum products.

    According to the report, the government has increased taxes to meet the demand of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

  • OGRA to drastically cut down petrol prices

    OGRA to drastically cut down petrol prices

    The prices of petroleum products are expected to decrease substantially for the month of March, DAWN reported.

    According to reports, the price of Dubai Crude — a medium sour crude oil extracted from Dubai — came down from $62 per barrel to $50 on Friday.

    READ MORE: Pakistan, US trade negotiation failed.

    Similarly, the benchmark International Brent price reduced from $60 a barrel to $51 a barrel. 

    As per existing tax rates, the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) calculated about Rs15 per litre reduction in the prices of high-speed diesel (HSD) and petrol. 

    READ MORE: Coronavirus in Pakistan: Prices of face masks increase by 900%

    The authorities concerned have proposed different rates but Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit (PMDU) had proposed scaling down the price of HSD from Rs127 to Rs100 per litre. 

    The officials reportedly advised PM Imran Khan that reduction in HSD price would go a long way in bringing down the rate of inflation because it was the primary source of transportation and agriculture in the country.

    READ MORE: FBR to regulate real estate, jewellers trade to comply with FATF agenda

    Moreover, the price of diesel is lower than petrol in many countries because of its inflationary impact. A drastic reduction in pricing structures to comply with PM’s directives will be problematic and certainly not an easy task.

  • ‘Petrol price is Rs75 per litre,’ says PTI leader Uzma Kardar

    Pakistan Tehreeke Insaf’s (PTI) MNA Uzma Kardar has said that petrol is being sold at Rs75 per litre in the country, which in reality is being sold at Rs114.24 per litre.

    Uzma Kardar said this while replying to a question of a reporter about petrol prices in Pakistan.

    This is not the first time any PTI leader has made a statement mentioning wrong prices of things in the country. A few days earlier finance advisor Abdul Hafeez and prime miniter’s aide Firdous Ashiq Awan, both in there statements mentioned wrong prices of Tomatoes and Peas (Matar) in Pakistan.

    Abdul Hafeez Sheikh had earlier claimed that tomatoes are being sold at Rs17 per kilogramme (kg). However, the fruit is being sold at as much as Rs320 per kg in the market as reported by citizens who bought groceries from multiple locations.

    Similarly, Firdous Ashiq Awan had earlier claimed that peas are being sold in the market for only Rs5 per kilogram.

  • ‘Petrol should be sold at Rs58 per litre, demands Imran Khan’

    ‘Petrol should be sold at Rs58 per litre, demands Imran Khan’

    With Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan approving the Rs5.15 hike in petrol price, yet another tweet from the past has come back to haunt the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

    On Wednesday night, the premier approved an Oil and Gas Development Authority (OGRA) summary recommending an increase in per litre prices of all petroleum products.

    The prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene oil and light diesel were jacked up by Rs5.15, Rs5.65, Rs5.38 and Rs8.90, respectively.

    With people starting to express their frustration over the development that could result in yet another inflation bomb, some took to Twitter to share a statement by the premier from back when he sat in the parliament on opposition benches.

    “Petrol should be sold at Rs58 per litre, demands @ImranKhanPTI [sic],” the 2015 tweet on PTI’s official handle read.

    This isn’t the first time an old tweet has come back to bite the PTI government.

    “All over the world, just on an incident of railway accidents, minister resigns. This is real democracy, says Imran Khan [sic],” a tweet from August 2014 stated.

    It had started making rounds last month after the tragic train accident in Sadiqabad, which claimed over 20 lives.

    Prior to this, as PM Imran reached China amid Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s (TLP) nationwide protests last year, a 2012 tweet of his, went viral. In the tweet, he had criticised the then premier for traveling abroad as the country “burned”.

    It was aimed at criticising former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, who had traveled to China for the Boao Forum while violence linked to sectarian, ethnic and political tensions continued in different parts of the country.

  • Minister says people will buy fuel ‘even for Rs200 per litre’

    Minister says people will buy fuel ‘even for Rs200 per litre’

    Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda has said that people would buy petrol “even if fuel prices soar to Rs200 per litre”.

    Addressing the ground-breaking ceremony of Mohmand Dam in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Thursday, the minister said the people of Pakistan have voted Imran Khan to power so that the corrupt are held accountable.

    “The public will buy petrol at Rs200 per litre and will cut their expenses, but they won’t compromise on accountability of the corrupt,” he added.

    This, however, wasn’t the first time that Vawda made a rather uncalculated statement as last month he had stirred controversy with the claim of “two billion jobs within a month”.

    He had said the government would announce one billion jobs within the next two weeks and another billion within April.