Finance ministry cuts petrol price only of Rs 15 for May

ISLAMABAD: The government has reduced petrol prices for the month of May as crude oil prices have seen a sharp fall in the international market, a notification from the Ministry of Finance said Thursday.

The price of petrol has been brought down to Rs 81.58 after a reduction of Rs 15, meanwhile the rate of high-speed diesel has been slashed by Rs 27.15 and reduced to Rs 80.10.

According to the notification, kerosene oil and light diesel will now be sold at Rs 47.44 and Rs 47.51 after a reduction of Rs 30.01 and Rs 15 in their prices respectively.

The new prices will be effective starting midnight, the notification said.

On Wednesday, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had recommended to the government to reduce petroleum prices by up to Rs 44 per litre for May 2020.

The regulatory body had suggested that the price of diesel may be reduced by Rs 33.94 per litre (or 31.6%), petrol by Rs 20.68/ litre (21.4%), kerosene oil by Rs 44.07/ litre (56.9%) and light diesel oil (LDO) by Rs 24.57/ litre (39.3%).

It is worth mentioning that the government is also charging 17% general sales tax (GST) on all petroleum products. Aside from it, the government is also collecting petroleum levy (PL) on these products, which is directly taken from consumers.

The government, in order to meet the revenue shortfall for March 2020, had increased the petroleum levy (PL) on these products. The PL on diesel was increased by 7.05 to Rs 25.05 per litre.

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