ISLAMABAD: By raising the petroleum charge on gas prices, the Pakistani government has once again denied the people possible relief. For the next two weeks, the Pakistani federal government has chosen to maintain the current pricing for gasoline and diesel. The Petroleum Division has issued an official notification stating that the pricing for gasoline and diesel that were announced fifteen days ago would remain in effect for the next two weeks. The Pakistani government has increased the petroleum tax on gasoline and high-speed diesel, according to official papers. The petroleum duty has increased from Rs79.62 to Rs84.27 per litre due to an increase of Rs4.65 per litre on gasoline.
In a same vein, the high-speed diesel duty has been raised from Rs75.41 to Rs76.21 per liter, an increase of Rs0.80. According to documents, petrol prices could have been lowered by Rs4.65 per litre and diesel prices might have been lowered by Rs0.80 per litre if the petroleum levy had been kept at its prior level. Additionally, the petroleum charge on kerosene oil has been increased from Rs. 18.95 to PKR 20.36 per litre, an increase of Rs. 1.41. Similarly, the light diesel oil levy has been set at Rs. 15.84 per litre. The entire tax burden on petrol has increased to Rs105 per litre after the most recent hike.
In the meantime, taxes on high-speed diesel have surpassed Rs. 100 per litre, which includes the profit margins of dealers and oil marketing firms. On both products, the sales tax is still $0.
