On Wednesday, while increasing the tax rates, the government reduced prices of all petroleum products by up to 2.5 percent for the next 15 days to pass on the partial impact of the decline in the international prices.
According to a notification issued by the finance ministry, the ex-depot price of petrol was reduced by Rs1.55 per litre and that of high speed diesel (HSD) by Rs3 per litre. It also reduced the ex-depot price of kerosene and LDO by Rs1.55 and Rs1.56 per litre, respectively.
As such, the ex-depot rate of high speed diesel (HSD) was fixed at Rs113.08 per litre instead of Rs116.08 per litre at present, showing a reduction of 2.58pc. Likewise, the ex-depot petrol price was set at Rs110.35 per litre against the existing rate of Rs111.90 per litre, down by 1pc.
Similarly, the ex-depot price of light diesel oil (LDO) was fixed at Rs79.86 per liter instead of the existing rate of Rs81.42, showing a reduction of 1.85pc. Also, the ex-depot price of kerosene was set at Rs82.06 per liter, instead of Rs83.61, down by 1.91pc.
A senior finance ministry official said the petroleum levy on all products was increased to improve revenue collection. He said that Ogra had recommended a reduction of Rs5.55 per litre in HSD price to pass on the impact of international prices to consumers, but the federal government decided to increase tax rate by Rs2.55 per litre and reduce its price by Rs3 per litre. Petrol price was reduced as recommended by the regulator.
Prices of petroleum products have been reduced for the first time in four months. The federal government kept the prices unchanged for three fortnights by reducing petroleum levy rates after increasing them for five consecutive fortnights.
