Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announces a reduction in fuel prices for the next two weeks. Photo courtesy PID
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday night announced a reduction in fuel prices for the next fortnight, with the new price of petrol set at Rs. 224.8/liter and high-speed diesel oil at Rs. 235.3/liter.
Addressing a brief press conference, Dar said the decision to reduce prices of petroleum products had been taken after consultation with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The new prices, he said, would come into effect from midnight, adding that they would remain in place for the next two weeks.
According to Dar, the price of petrol has been cut by Rs. 12.63/liter from Rs. 237.42/liter to Rs. 224.8/liter; the price of high-speed diesel has been reduced by Rs. 12.13/liter from Rs. 247.43/liter to Rs. 235.3/liter; the tariff for kerosene oil has been curtailed by Rs. 10.19/liter from Rs. 202.02/liter to Rs. 191.83/liter; and the rates for light-diesel oil have been reduced by Rs. 10.78/liter from Rs. 197.28/liter to Rs. 186.5/liter.
A notification issued by the Finance Division states the government has retained zero percent general sales tax on all petroleum products, while also shifting the petroleum development levy (PDL) to provide relief to a maximum number of consumers. It said that, currently, the government was charging Rs. 32.42/liter PDL on petrol; Rs. 12.58/liter on diesel; Rs. 15/liter on kerosene; and Rs. 10/liter on light-diesel oil. An accompanying statement said the prices of petroleum products had been reduced in line with a decline in global oil prices, as well as with an intent to providing relief to consumers.
Also on Friday, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority notified a 4.9 percent reduction in LPG price for the next two weeks.
Tax returns
In his press conference, the finance minister also announced a 31-day extension, till Oct. 31, to the deadline for filing tax returns. He said the Federal Bureau of Revenue had collected Rs. 685 billion in tax returns during September, with the total for the ongoing fiscal year’s first quarter—July through September—coming in at Rs. 1,635 billion, Rs. 26 billion over the target.