KARACHI: Pakistan has cut the price of petrol but maintained that of diesel, the finance ministry said in a statement late on Monday, as the South Asian nation’s consumer price index (CPI) for December rose 29.7% from a year before.
Petroleum and electricity prices have been the key drivers of inflation, with the country of 241 million people experiencing its highest ever inflation last year and its currency dipping to historic lows until a $3 billion IMF bailout averted an imminent sovereign default in July. Monthly inflation for December registered a 0.8% rise from the previous month.
But experts have said inflation in Pakistan was showing some signs of slowdown based on month on month inflation data, and expected it would decline year-on-year in January and February as local oil prices were lowered.
“Government of Pakistan has reduced Petrol price by 8 rupees, whereas price of High Speed Diesel has been maintained,” the finance ministry said on X.
The government has already achieved a Rs60 per liter petroleum levy, the maximum permissible limit under the law, on both petrol and diesel. The government had set a budget target of collecting Rs869 billion as petroleum levy during the current fiscal year under commitments made with the IMF but was hoping the collection would go beyond Rs950bn by the end of June.
At present, the government is charging about Rs82 per liter tax on both petrol and diesel. Although the general sales tax on all petroleum products is currently zero, the government is charging Rs60 per liter petroleum development levy on petrol and Rs50 each on diesel, high-octane blending component, and 95 research octane number (RON) petrol
The central bank governor said late last year Pakistan’s inflation rate would ease to around 20%-22% in the 2024 financial year, in a report issued weeks ahead of a national election it is hoped will help restore political and economic stability.
