ISLAMABAD: A few hours before the approval of mini-budget from the National Assembly, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) today announced over Rs4 per unit increase in cost of electricity which will be recovered from the consumers with Jan-2022 bills (to be paid in Feb).
This increase in the cost of electricity is the part of government’s unending lust to extort maximum revenue from the consumers in the form of fuel price adjustment and fuel cost rationalization, etc.
In addition to this, the federal government is also expected to explode petrol bomb on the midnight of Jan-2022 amid rising international prices of fuel. Also, the government has an arrangement with the IMF to increase petrol levy every month by Rs4 a liter till the time it increases to Rs 30/liter. Thus, from Feb 1, 2022, the consumers will have to experience further hike in petroleum prices.
If the government increased domestic retail prices of petroleum products from mid-February, the price of petrol is expected to reach an all-time high of Rs150 per lite.
The government is expected to move up the price of petroleum products by Rs6 per litre while the price of petrol would rise by Rs5 per litre and diesel by Rs6 per litre.
The Ministry of Finance will make a final decision in this regard after consultations with Prime Minister Imran Khan and the new prices will be effective from January 16.
Previous increase
The federal government, on the eve of the New Year, had announced yet another hike in the prices of petroleum products.
The price of petrol and high-speed diesel(HSD) had been increased by Rs4 per litre for the first 15 days of January 2022. The price of kerosene had been increased by Rs3.95, and light diesel oil (LDO) by Rs4.15 per litre.
| Price of petroleum products | |||
| Product | Existing prices (per litre) | New prices w.e.f 01.01.2022 (per litre) | Increase/Decrease |
| MS (Petrol) | Rs140.82 | Rs144.82 | +4.00 |
| High-Speed Diesel (HSD) | Rs137.62 | Rs141.62 | +4.00 |
| Kerosene (SKO) | Rs109.53 | Rs113.53 | +3.95 |
| Light diesel oil (LDO) | Rs107.06 | Rs111.06 | +4.15 |
After the increase, the price of petrol went up from the previous Rs140.82 per litre to Rs144.82 per litre, while the price of high speed diesel jumped to Rs141.62 per litre from the previous Rs137.62 per litre.
The rate of light diesel oil went up to Rs111.06 per litre from Rs107.06 per litre. Similarly, the price of kerosene went up from Rs109.53 to Rs113.53 per litre.
