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ISLAMABAD: No respite for inflation-hit masses as federal government on Wednesday decided to increase the petroleum levy on petrol and diesel from September on the International Monetary Fund demand.
It is worth mentioning that increasing levy on petroleum products to Rs50 is one of IMF’s condition for resumption of loan program.
Currently the petrol levy is Rs20 and that of kerosene is Rs10, while government has set a target of collecting Rs855 billion in levy on petroleum products this fiscal year.
In the Letter of Intent sent to the IMF — after the prime minister and finance minister signed it — Pakistan has assured the global lender that it will phase-wise increase the petroleum levy to Rs50 per liter.
According to reports, the levy on petrol will be increased by Rs10 from September 1. This will take the total levy on per liter of petrol to Rs30.
Similarly, the petroleum levy on diesel will be increased by Rs5 to Rs15/liter.
In the coming months, it will be increased by Rs5 each month to take the levy on petroleum products to Rs50 by January 2023.
Earlier, after fulfilling the pre-requisites, the government of Pakistan sent the letter of intent (LoI) back to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), paving the way for the executive board’s meeting in connection with the revival of the stalled program under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said.
Talking to journalists, Ismail said that the document — received on August 12 — was sent to the IMF after his and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Acting Governor Murtaza Syed’s signatures.
The development has paved the way for the IMF’s August 29 executive board meeting, where Pakistan’s request to approve seventh and eighth reviews and release a tranche of $1.17 billion under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) will be taken up.