GOvt sLashes PetrOL PrICe by rs5 Per LItre

g HIGH-SPEED DIESEL PRICE TO REMAIN UNCHANGED DESPITE DROP IN INTERNATIONAL MARKET

FINANCEMinister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday announced a cut in the price of petrol by Rs5 per litre. In a video message, the finance minister said the new price of petrol will be now Rs267 per litre from previous cost of Rs272 per litre.

He added that the price of highspeed diesel would remain unchanged at Rs280 per litre.

“Kerosene oil’s current price of Rs202.73 is being reduced to Rs187.73 –a decline of 15 rupees. Light-diesel, which is at Rs196.68, is being brought down to Rs184.68 after a reduction of 12 rupees,” the finance minister said.

He said the prices would apply from Tuesday midnight.

The drop in petrol price comes as a relief to consumers, but the government’s decision to keep diesel prices unchanged is likely to disappoint the country’s oil industry, which was expecting a reduction of over Rs20 per litre as the price of diesel has gone down in the in- ternational market.

Responding to the news, PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz said: “Thank you Dar Sahib! Good news for people.”

The government is in a race against time to implement tax measures and reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the country’s reserves have depleted to around $3 billion, which experts believe is enough for only 16 or 17 days of imports.

Govt plans Imran’s arrest ahead of polls to ‘overturn’ Nawaz’s conviction: Fawad Ch

ISLAMABAD

Staff RepoRt

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday asserted that the PDM-led government was planning arrest of Imran Khan before holding general elections to “fulfill the desire for overturning conviction of Nawaz Sharif.”

“The government thinks that Nawaz Sharif’s convictions should be overturned, but the question remains as to how can there be a consensus on such demand of the government,” declared Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry while talking to journalists outside the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan following the proceedings of suo motu noice regarding delay in announcement of date for holding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

“The election will be held as per the constitution and not by consensus”, he added.

The former information minister lauded the apex court for taking suo motu notice of delay in the announcement of elections date, saying judiciary’s intervention was the way to resolve the matter following the refusal of the governors to announce date for elections of both the provincial assemblies.

Terming the Supreme Court the ‘saviour of the Constitution’, the PTI leader said that their primary job was to protect the Constitution and asked the ruling PDM’s leaders’ not to make the apex court part of public debate.

Fawad Ch further said during the hearing of the suo motu case, the PML-N also employed its “old tactics to divide the Supreme Court”. “If elections are delayed beyond 90 days it will shake the foundations of the Constitution,” he said, hoping that the court’s verdict will be based on Constitution. Speaking of the proceedings, Fawad noted that the bench considered who has the constitutional responsibility for appointing the date for the holding of a general election to a provincial assembly, upon its dissolution. “All the lawyers have maintained that the elections should be held within 90 days”, he added.

“The judge suggested that the matter should be resolved by consensus”, he said, adding that the PTI also wanted the same. However, he said, the government was planning to arrest Imran Khan before holding elections.

OGRA notifies Rs12/Kg hike in LPG price

The agreement with the IMF on the completion of the ninth review of a $7bn loan programme would not only lead to a disbursement of $1.2bn but also unlock inflows from friendly countries. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week had also announced a slew of austerity measures, which he claimed would save the country Rs200bn annually. Pakistan is in dire need of funds as it battles a worsening economic crisis.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has raised the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by Rs 12 per kg for the month of March 2023, and issued a notification in this regard. The OGRA notification also includes the hike in domestic cylinder which has been increased by Rs 136 and commercial cylinder which has been jacked up by Rs 525 for the coming month.

Following the issuance of this notification, effective from March 1, LPG will be available at Rs 278/KG, domestic cylinder will be available at Rs 3,278 and commercial cylinder at Rs 12,611, in the open mar-