Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the government had approved increase of 2.5 rupees and 1.75 rupees in the prices of petrol and Hi-speed diesel respectively from today (Sunday).
However, the prices of Hi-Octane, kerosene oil and light diesel will remained unchanged in a bid to provide relief to the masses in view of the coming winter season, he added.
“We are not increasing the rates of High Octane Blending Component (HOBC), kerosene oil, and light diesel in order to provide relief to the people,” Dar said. Earlier, speculations were doing rounds in the media that the ‘taxing’ government of Pakistan has made up its mind to burn a hole in the pockets of consumers.
“The Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has proposed a backbreaking increase in the prices of various petroleum and oil products despite the fact the prices of crude oil have fallen worldwide,” sources said.
This hike was due primarily to a hike in the general sales tax (GST), the government sources said, adding that Pakistani rupee’s depreciation against the US dollar may also be one of the reasons for it.
To a question, he said the FBR had witnessed an increase of 20 percent revenue collection in first quarter of the current fiscal year as compared to the last year. Ishaq Dar said it had also been decided to extend time for filing of tax returns for one month and now the new date for this purpose will be 30th of the next month.
