Govt jacks up petrol price by Rs5

ISLAMABAD staff report

Federal government late Wednesday night increased the price of petrol by Rs5 per litre to Rs272 per litre for the next fortnight.

“In the last fortnight, Platts Singapore prices registered an increase. This along with a depreciation of Pak Rupee has resulted in an increase of POL (petroleum, oil and lubricant) products in Pakistan,” a press release issued by the Finance Division.

The raise in oil prices come as a huge surprise as oil prices in the international market have plunged 5 percent to their lowest in more than a year as unease over Credit Suisse spooked world markets and offset hopes of a Chinese oil demand recovery. Early signs of a return to calm and stability faded after Credit Suisse’s largest investor said it could not provide the Swiss bank with more financial assistance, sending its shares and other European equities sliding.

The new prices will be effective from today, March 16. The press release added that the price of high-speed diesel was also increased by Rs13 per litre to Rs293 per litre and kerosene by Rs2.56 per litre to Rs190.29 per litre “by reducing government dues on it”.

“Price of light diesel oil has been kept constant (Rs184.68 per litre) by adjusting government dues as well,” the press release added.

On February 28, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had announced a reduction in the price of petrol by Rs5 per litre.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led coalition government ‘succumbed’ to the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) threat to quit federal ministries and allowed the provincial governments, especially the Sindh to access the census monitoring dashboards. The decision has been taken in an attempt to address reservations raised by the top PPP leadership on the digital census. The decision to give access to the provincial governments, especially Sindh, has mainly been taken to persuade the key ally to continue standing by the federal government and shun any second thoughts at a time when the country is going through a political upheaval amid severe financial crises just ahead of the general elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. “It has been decided that the statistics as required by the provincial governments, especially Sindh … may be included in the monitoring dashboard,” Chief Statistician of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) Dr Naeemuz Zafar stated in a letter addressed to the chairman National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). The chief census commissioner added that the dashboard has already been deployed for chief secretaries, saying the role-based access of the same may be provided to all provincial/regional chief secretaries, commissioners, deputy commissioners (DCs) and assistant commissioners (ACs). Keeping in view the sensitivity of the matter, Zafar stated, NADRA teams be directed to assure access to the dashboard by March 15 to all the DCs and ACs “at all census district level for broader involvement, transparency and credibility of this national activity of extreme importance”. PPP Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had recently threatened to quit the ruling coalition over objections to the ongoing digital census as well as if the Centre does not fulfill its promises of giving relief to flood victims of Sindh. Subsequently, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said in a news conference that the provincial government had conveyed its reservations about the ongoing digital census to the federal government, saying “if our reservations are not addressed, we will not accept the census results”. “The data of digital census should also be shared with the Sindh government,” Memon had demanded, saying PPP chairman has already publicly expressed the party’s reservations about the digital census. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had also raised the matter with the federal government and at various other forums, saying “now, we are waiting for the federal government to assuage these concerns”. In an attempt to address the reservations and to keep the PPP part of the ruling coalition, Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives, Ahsan Iqbal, decided to allow access to the dashboards of the 7th Population & Housing Census – The Digital Census – to provincial governments in the 8th meeting of Census Monitoring Committee held on March 11.

PROfIt REPORt islamabad

On a day of significant political setbacks for the incumbent PDM government in the center, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif insisted that the raging political uncertainty in the country was not causing any problems in negotiations between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Responding to a question during a meeting with office bearers of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), the prime minister rejected recent reports in the media claiming the deal with the IMF had been delayed because of continuing political uncertainty. However, the premier went on to say that Pakistan had accepted the ‘harshest’ of demands set by the IMF and that the deal was 2-3 days away.

The mantra of “just around the corner” has been repeated ad nauseam by the federal government over the past two months since a delegation of the IMF left Pakistan without signing a staff level agreement. When asked whether the government could give a solid deadline for when the deal will happen instead of repeating the same promise of 2-3 days repeatedly, the prime minister deflected the question and did not give a substantial answer.

Political uncertainty gives rise to fears of delay

The prime minister met the delegation on the same day that law enforcement agencies failed to arrest former premier Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case. Police and rangers had to turn back from Khan’s Zaman Park residence after supporters of the PTI showed up in droves to protect their leader from arrest.

Meanwhile, as the country’s political situation worsened with elections set to take place in two provinces in the next few months, media reports claimed the IMF was seeking assurances from Pakistan that the future political setup in the country will respect any deal they sign with Islamabad. According to the report, the expected elections in Punjab and KPK have bolstered the doubts of the money lender, as it hints towards an early general election as well. The IMF requires the PTI leader Imran Khan to pledge to keep up with the conditions if he comes to power later this year.

Government stepping on eggshells

On further inquiring on what is causing the delay in reaching the accord, the PM responded by saying that the situation currently is uncertain. The government is being extremely careful as to not offend the IMF. He further added that in a bid to provide some relief and mitigate the effects of inflation on low-income citizens, the government is trying to introduce a scheme whereby motorbikes and rickshaw drivers would receive subsidized petrol.