Miftah Ismail hints at raising fuel prices

ISLAMABAD: Federal Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Tuesday said that government may increase the prices of petroleum products in coming days, ARY News reported.

While addressing the pre-budget seminar on Tuesday, the finance minister said, “petroleum prices will further go up in coming days”.

“As per the commitment given by former finance minister Shaukat Tarin to the IMF, per litre price of diesel should be Rs300 and that of petrol Rs270,” Ismail said.

The finance minister claimed that PTI government took loans worth Rs20,000 billion in 3.8 years, the highest loan amount took by any government in the history of Pakistan.

“PM Shehbaz-led coalition government took tough decisions to save country from financial crisis,” Ismail said, adding that PML-N will provide relief to people before leaving government or completion of tenure.

“The government will provide targeted subsidy to 80million Pakistanis earning less than Rs40,000 for the next one year,” he added.

He once again reiterated that government has no plan to declare financial emergency. “After two increases in petrol prices, we are out of the financial crisis,” said Miftah Ismail.

It is pertinent to mention here that the federal government increased the prices of petroleum products by Rs60 per litre within a span of a week after the IMF refused to release a US$1 billion tranche, demanding reversal of subsidies on fuel and electricity.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had asserted that the federal government has increased the prices of petroleum products with a heavy heart.

Shehbaz Sharif said his predecessor Imran Khan had set a trap for his government by decreasing the prices of petroleum products after assessing that the no-confidence vote against him was going to succeed.