Islamabad: The Pakistan government was on the back foot after coming under fire from one of its own top leaders following the latest hike in the petrol price. The coalition government led by PML-N increased the price of petrol and reduced those of high-speed diesel and kerosene for the next fortnight. PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz took to twitter and said former premier and party chief Nawaz Sharif had strongly opposed the decision to raise the price of petrol. She said Sharif, who is living in London, “left a meeting” held to discuss the issue of price hike. Finance minister Miftah Ismail in response was on the defensive, saying that the revision does not include any new taxes. “The increase or decrease in prices is according to the purchasing by Pakistan State Oil (PSO),” he tweeted.
Ismail explained that the country’s Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) takes the average Platt prices, adds freight and the premium paid by the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) company on top of these prices, and multiplies that by the exchange rate. “We have not added any new tax or levy to the price. The price of petrol has gone up (and diesel has gone down) because the cost paid by PSO in the previous fortnight was more than the cost estimated by Ogra and also because the premium paid by PSO on petrol increased and that of diesel remained unchanged,” Ismail said. Later, Ismail addressed a press meet where he confirmed being part of the meeting that discussed fuel prices, but refused to give details.
