Govt increases prices of petrol, diesel by Rs30 per litre again | The Express Tribune

The prices of petrol and diesel have once again been increased by Rs30 per litre each, with the change set to take effect from 12 midnight.

The increase in the prices of the utility was announced by Federal Finance Minister Miftah Ismail while addressing a presser in Islamabad Thursday evening.

The price of petrol, with the increase, is now set at Rs209.86 while that of diesel at Rs204.15.

The Pakistan Muslim-League (PML-N) senior leader at the same time announced that the government had not decided to increase the price of electricity as yet.

The finance minister observed that the prices of fuel have seen an increase internationally after May 31.

Ismail further stated that the government could understand that the decision will lead to more inflation but added that the hike was mandatory.

The statement comes hours after the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) approved a massive increase of Rs7.91 per unit in the electricity tariffs.

With the new hike, the one-unit price of electrifying went up from Rs16.91 to Rs24.82. Nepra has sent the hike to the federal government for notification. The new tariffs will be applicable after the final notification from the government, according to a statement.

Also read: NEPRA hikes power tariff by Rs7.91 per unit

The depreciation of the rupee and rising oil prices in the international market were cited as reasons for the tariff hike.

According to the statement, Nepra fixed the national average tariff for the financial year 2022-23 at Rs24.82 per unit, which is Rs7.91 per unit higher than the previous average tariff.

A day earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that “Pakistan needs to take wide-ranging steps to repair macroeconomic stability”, indicating that the revival of the programme would not be a cakewalk despite the government’s decision to increase fuel prices by 25%.