Finance Minister Miftah Ismail
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Thursday announced that the federal government has decided to raise the prices of petroleum products by Rs24 per litre.

The new prices will come into effect from midnight tonight, the minister said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.

After the hike, petrol will be priced at Rs233.89 after a Rs24.03 hike, diesel at Rs263.31 after a Rs16.31 increase, kerosene oil at Rs211.47 after a Rs29.49 surge and light diesel at Rs 207.47 after an increase of Rs29.16.

Ismail said the government had no choice but to "pass on" the impact of international prices to consumers in Pakistan.

The government has raised the petrol price by more than Rs84 per litre in the last 20 days.

Explaining the reasons behind another hike in prices of petroleum products, the minister said that the international price of petrol was $120 per litre.

"Our country is still facing a loss of Rs24.03 in petrol, Rs59.16 in diesel, Rs29.49 in kerosene oil and Rs29.16 in light diesel oil," he told the presser.

He said the government was spending Rs120 billion on petrol subsidies. "I have been seeing the country's situation for 30 years, but I've never seen such a situation in terms of inflation."

He also blamed former prime minister Imran Khan for deteriorating the national economy.

Ismail said the government was tied by agreements made by the PTI government with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He acknowledged that the middle-class will also suffer from the petrol price hike, adding the government

"We have taken difficult decisions before and we will take in the future as well to protect the country from financial difficulties," the minister said.



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