Miftah Ismail, a former finance minister, called the government’s decision not to raise the petroleum development levy (PDL) this month without the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) consent “reckless” on Sunday.
But he insisted that what the previous PTI administration did to the nation was “unforgivable.”
Shaukat Tarin, the head of the PTI and a former finance minister, had tweeted about the PML-alleged N’s doublespeak, to which Ismail responded.
“We were accused of breaking IMF requirements. Miftah sahib claims that they did not wait to announce the fuel rates till they had received approval from MD IMF. explicit doublespeak “Tweeted him.
Ismail replied that the PTI administration had in fact broken the terms of the IMF deal.
“You consented to a 17 percent increase in sales tax but a 0 percent reduction. You committed to increasing the petrol charge by Rs. 4 to Rs. 30 per month, but you reduced it to zero. In spite of your agreement not to grant amnesty, “He made this statement in reference to the previous administration’s decision to temporarily freeze fuel prices.
Ismail stated that subsidy was “unfounded and unsustainable” and that the PTI nearly put the nation into bankruptcy. He continued by saying that, while serving as finance minister, he had visited the IMF and prevented the nation’s default.
He argued that “it would be foolish not to increase PDL this month without IMF agreement, but what PTI did to our economy was unacceptable.”
Ismail brought up the fact that his administration had not sought IMF approval before freezing the petroleum charge for the second time in two days.
Ismail claimed that when Ahad Cheema, the establishment adviser to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, requested him to contact the IMF managing director if gasoline prices could be held for three months, “I answered that I would die but not ask this.” Ismail was speaking at an event in Karachi on Saturday.
“Anyway… ” I requested a three-month tax (PDL) freeze from the MD. The government acted alone once the response was not received. So, may God be merciful.
Ismail made his remarks a few days after the PML-N administration, for which he served as finance minister till last week, announced a 5% price drop on all petroleum goods for the upcoming two weeks.
On Tuesday, September 27, Ismail resigned from his position as finance minister to make room for Ishaq Dar. Three days later, on Friday, the administration decided to lower petrol costs (Sept 30).
Petrol costs now cost Rs224.80 per litre, down from Rs237.43 previously. This reduction in price amounts to Rs12.63. High speed diesel (HSD) is now available at Rs12.13 less per litre, at Rs235.30 instead of Rs247.43. Kerosene’s cost per litre dropped from Rs202.02 to Rs191.83 by Rs10.19.The rate of light diesel oil (LDO) was cut by Rs10.78 per litre from Rs197.28 to Rs186.50.
By lowering the petroleum development fee on gasoline by Rs5 per litre to Rs32.42, the government lost money. On HSD, the price was raised to Rs12.58 by an additional Rs5 per litre.
The government currently charges Rs12.58 per litre PDL for HSD, Rs15 for kerosene, Rs10 for LDO, and Rs30 for High Octane Blending Component. Additionally, the cost of gasoline and HSD includes a Rs22 per litre customs fee.
