However, the price of light diesel is expected to increase by Rs 10 per litre and kerosene oil by Rs 15 per litre. The OGRA will send its summary to the Ministry of Petroleum on today and the new prices will be implemented with effect from May 1, 2017. For the last three months the government has been rejecting the Ogra's recommendations regarding hike in kerosene oil and LDO prices.
According to the summary, a decrease of Rs 1 per litre has been recommended in the price of petrol and if the government approves the same, the price of petrol will come down from the current Rs 74 to Rs 73 per litre. Similarly, after a decrease of Rs 1 per litre in HSD, its price will come down to Rs 82 from the current price of Rs 83 per litre. The prices of kerosene oil after an increase of Rs 15 will go up to Rs 59 per litre from the existing Rs 44 per litre and the price of LDO will go up with an increase of Rs 10 per litre from the current Rs 44 per litre to Rs 54 per litre.
When contacted about the recommended increase in the POL prices despite decrease in the international market, an Ogra official on condition of anonymity said that actually the kerosene and LDO prices are being determined on the average of previous month's import price. The official added that for the month of May, the Ogra will make determination for kerosene and LDO on the basis of the import prices of March. Similarly, the official said that the prices of petrol and HSD are being determined on the basis of five days average of import. Since the prices of petrol and HSD decreased in the international market during the five days under consideration, therefore, the Ogra has recommended a decrease in prices, the official added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017