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ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail Tuesday clarified that the government has no plans to increase the price of petroleum products.
The minister earlier in the day had said that the government might further increase the prices of petroleum products in the coming days. This statement spread worries to the public who are already facing high inflation.
“There will be no increase in prices today, and there is no summary or plan to raise prices,” the finance minister said in a tweet after media reports quoted him as saying that petrol prices will move up further.
“In the pre-budget seminar I never even spoke about petroleum prices. Channels running these tickers are doing a disservice to their viewers,” the finance minister said.
Earlier, in his address to the one-day long pre-budget business conference, Ismail said that had the government taken decisions in line with ex-prime minister Imran Khan and former finance minister Shaukat Tarin’s deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the price of petrol would have stood at Rs300 per litre.
“The previous government had agreed with the IMF that they would not give subsidies,” the finance minister said, lashing out at the Khan-led government for messing up the economic policies of the country.
It is pertinent to mention here that the IMF has asked for a 100% withdrawal of subsidy on POL products. Once the subsidy is over, then the government will have to impose taxes and petroleum levy. There is still a subsidy of Rs9.32 per litre on petrol and Rs23.05 per litre on diesel.
