Another Rs30 per litre spike in petrol prices is expected, according to a PPP lawmaker. Earth Situation🌏

 Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar believes that a government with a new mandate should make the decision to go to the IMF.

Another Rs30 per litre spike in petrol prices is expected, according to a PPP lawmaker

Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) anticipated another Rs30 per litre increase in petroleum product pricing on Saturday.

Mustafa, whose party is also a member of the coalition government, slammed the administration's response to the economic crisis. "The premise goes something like this: Let's do what the IMF says, pass a difficult budget, and then offer the public relief next year, and then we'll go to the polls gladly. Sure, but how confident are we that the boys will allow us to cross the finish line? "In a reference to the establishment, the PPP leader wrote.

The announcement came only days after the government raised petroleum product rates by Rs30 per litre, or up to a quarter of their previous levels, opening the way for a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund by June 12.

On the one hand, the unusual action will help detonate landmines set by former Prime Minister Imran Khan's government, and on the other, it will save the country from default.

After Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif gave him the go light in a party meeting, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail announced the decision in an unexpected news conference.

With the new raise, the new price of fuel would be Rs179.88 per litre, the highest rate ever and a 20 percent increase over current pricing. Ismail described the move as a "tough decision that will deplete the government's political capital."

"The government was offering Rs56 per litre subsidy, and all I did was cut the loss by Rs30 per litre," Miftah remarked during a press conference. The new price of high-speed diesel will be Rs174.86 per litre, an increase of 20.8 percent.

According to Miftah, the government provides a subsidy of Rs86 per litre, with just a Rs30 reduction in the first batch.

The News of Pakistan Inflation about Petrol  by Earth Situation News🌏

"The government cannot allow the country to fail, and it is willing to pay the political price to preserve the state's interests," added the finance minister.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a new Rs28 billion monthly relief programme on Friday to "defend the underprivileged from the impact of inflation."

The News of Pakistan Inflation of Petrol  by Earth Situation🌏

The prime minister defended the action as a "necessary measure to keep the country from going bankrupt" and blamed the previous government for "killing the country's economy" in his first address to the nation, delivered a day after his government gave in and satisfied the IMF's requirement.

Shehbaz said the relief package will provide Rs2,000 to needy households across the country, as well as stipends to qualified families under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), and that utility stores would be directed to offer 10kg grain bags for Rs400.

"With a heavy heart, we raised the pricing of petroleum items. To get the economy out of the current crisis, we sacrificed partisan ambitions in favour of the national interest," he stated. "We will make every decision and do everything we can to accelerate the country's development."

According to the reports, the government's next big move will be to raise power tariffs by Rs5 per unit with effect from June 1.

The total price rise will be roughly Rs12 per unit, which includes the removal of the Rs5 per unit electricity subsidy as well as quarterly and annual tariff increases.

The decision, however, will boost inflation, which was already at 13.4% in April, the highest in two years. The government had to choose between taking the impact by raising prices or allowing the rupee to collapse in the absence of an IMF accord, which might have resulted in hyperinflation due to a lack of foreign exchange reserves.

However, the government took action only after the IMF refused to sign a staff level agreement with Pakistan unless the country took corrective actions, such as ending fuel subsidies and reaching an agreement on next year's budget.

The government's choice to raise prices at the expense of political capital shows that it may have received approval from the establishment to continue in power for longer than previously assumed.

The government had avoided to make difficult decisions and then schedule hasty elections in order to ensure the PTI's win.

The path to restoring macroeconomic stability may also aid in stemming rupee losses, which reached a fresh low of Rs203 to the dollar on Thursday. According to the central bank, foreign exchange reserves have also decreased to $10 billion.