After taking over the responsibilities as interim setup, the caretaker government made the second consecutive major hike in the prices of petroleum products on September 1, 2023. With this increase, for the first time in the history of Pakistan, the price of petrol and diesel per litre went over Rs 300.
According to the notification issued by the Ministry of Finance, the price of petrol has been increased by Rs14.91 and the price of diesel has been increased by Rs18.44 per litre. After the hike, the new price of petrol is Rs305.36, and the new rate of diesel is Rs311.84 per litre.
In the previous increase, the price of petrol touched Rs290.45 & diesel exceeded to Rs293.40.
The caretaker government’s decision to increase petrol prices was actually made to fulfil another condition of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). As a result, the development levy on petrol was increased by Rs 10 to Rs 60 per litre & high-speed diesel was maintained at Rs 50 per litre.
The Ministry of Finance claimed that the prices of petroleum products at the local level had to be increased due to the increase in global prices.
Inflation Infected Pakistan in 2023
From June 2023, people protested against excessive electricity bills in Pakistan. Citizens carried protests in small and big cities of the country, including Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta, to express their anger. The situation came to such an extent that the protesters started burning electricity bills.
If Imran Khan’s government is reviewed, initially the rate of petrol was Rs 100 per litre and then it increased gradually. At one point, Imran rejected to increase the rate of petrol – at that time the rate was Rs142 per litre. But then the price started increasing under the agreement with the IMF. Now the situation is that the sharp increase in the prices of petroleum products has opened the way for another tsunami of inflation in the country.