Tuesday, a day after the government increased the price of gasoline for the upcoming two weeks, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail went on the defence, claiming that while he was a “easy target,” the adjustment did not contain any additional taxes.
He maintained that the government had not put higher tariffs on petroleum goods in response to a tweet by journalist Hamid Mir.
According to the purchases made by Pakistan State Oil (PSO), he noted, prices may rise or fall.Ismail’s comments also follow Maryam Nawaz, the vice president of the PML-N, who claimed on Twitter that party leader Nawaz Sharif had vehemently opposed the move to hike the price of gasoline.
She said that Nawaz departed the meeting as well. “He even mentioned that he really can not burden the people further and that he was not in favour of the decision,” she claimed.Ismail explained how the price of gasoline and diesel is determined when Mir questioned the minister about why local costs were rising when prices globally had decreased.
According to him, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) takes an average Platt prices, multiplies them by the exchange rate, and then adds freight and the premium that PSO paid on top of those prices.
