Govt Raises Petroleum Levy by Rs5 to Rs85: KP Finance Adviser Muzzammil Aslam

Advisor to the KP Chief Minister on Finance Muzzammil Aslam, reacting to the petroleum levy and prices, said that the government has further increased the petroleum levy by Rs5, raising it to Rs80. He stated that the government itself blocks opportunities to provide relief to the public; although a reduction of Rs5 per litre in petroleum product prices was expected, it did not happen. These views were expressed by KP Finance Adviser Muzzammil Aslam in a statement issued from his office yesterday.
Muzzammil Aslam said that the intention to reduce gas circular debt has quietly been fulfilled today. It is worth noting that only 27 percent of the country’s population has access to gas pipelines, while 100 percent of the public will pay off the gas circular debt in the form of higher petrol prices. He added that the gas circular debt is also a result of the PML-N’s 2015 LNG agreements.
He said that the PML-N government is trying to get rid of the LNG agreements, and that the government will suspend 45 LNG cargoes from Qatar and Eni until 2027, for which any loss incurred in the international market will be borne by the government, and this cost will be recovered from the public by imposing a Rs5 tax levy. “In any case, one has to acknowledge the vision of the PML-N,” he remarked.