The Pakistan government on Wednesday announced to increase the General Sales Tax (GST) to 18 percent from 17 percent along with federal excise duty, the Pakistan based Dawn newspaper reported.
Despite a recovery in the value of the Pakistani rupee, the country’s manufacturers have yet to provide any price relief to consumers. Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association General Secretary Umer Islam Khan estimated a jump of PKR 3–5 per kg/litre in ghee and cooking prices after the GST hike.
He said commercial banks are still showing unwillingness to open letters of credit (LCs) for importing edible oils. Usually, shipments take around 45–60 days to arrive at Karachi ports after the opening of LCs, the Dawn newspaper reported.
“If this situation persists, the industry would be unable to meet the demand for ghee/cooking oil in the upcoming holy month of Ramazan,” he said. Pakistan raised petrol and gas prices to a historic high on Wednesday night, hours after releasing a tax-laden mini-budget, in a bid to appease the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for unlocking the critical loan tranche, according to Geo News.
The petrol price has been increased to PKR 272 per litre after an increase of PKR 22.20, according to a press release from the Finance Division, which noted that the surge has taken place due to the rupee’s devaluation against the dollar.
The price of high-speed diesel has been increased to Rs 280 per litre after a hike of PKR 17.20. Kerosene oil will now be available at PKR 202.73 per litre following a PKR 12.90 hike. Meanwhile, light diesel oil will be available at PKR 196.68 per litre after an increase of PKR 9.68.
