Islamabad (LTN NEWS): The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) resident representative in Islamabad, Esther Perez Ruiz, said on Tuesday that Pakistan has taken the last action needed for the Fund’s combined seventh and eighth review by raising the petroleum development levy (PDL).
In a statement, she said, “The last prior action for the combined seventh and eighth review has been completed with the increase in PDL on July 31.” The [Executive Board] meeting is likely to happen in late August, as soon as there are guarantees of enough money.
Sunday, the government raised the rate of PDL on all goods to meet an IMF condition that had not yet been met.
The Finance Ministry said that the price of petrol went down by Rs3.05 per litre and that the prices of high-speed diesel (HSD) and kerosene went up by Rs8.95 and Rs4.62 per litre, respectively. The PDL for petrol went up by Rs10, and the PDL for HSD, kerosene and light diesel oil went up by Rs5 each (LDO).
On August 1, the PDL for petrol was Rs20 and the PDL for HSD, kerosene, and LDO was Rs10.
The previous PTI government promised the IMF that the price of PDL would go up by Rs4 per litre every first of the month until it reached Rs30 per litre in December 2021. However, on February 28, they went back on that promise.
The government had already agreed with the IMF to raise the PDL by Rs10 per litre for HSD, kerosene oil, and LDO and by Rs5 per litre for petrol at the beginning of August so that all products would have the same rate of Rs15 per litre.
As of July 31, PDL was Rs10 per litre for gasoline and Rs5 per litre for HSD, kerosene, and LDO.
Under the deal with the IMF, the government has to gradually raise the PDL on oil products until it reaches a maximum of Rs50 per litre. This will bring in Rs855bn during the current fiscal year.
