ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s finance minister Ishaq Dar said on Saturday the country was going to retain the petroleum prices for the rest of the month after discussing the recommendations presented by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The government progressively increased the prices of petroleum products in recent months while striving for the resumption of a $7 billion loan program offered by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Last month, it reduced the gasoline prices by Rs12.63 per liter, bringing down the petrol price to Rs224.80.
“After a discussion with the prime minister it was decided that we were not going to change the prices of the four [petroleum] products which will remain the same until October 31,” the finance minister, who is currently in Washington, said in a video message.
The IMF has been encouraging Pakistan to carry out strict economic reforms, though the measures taken by the government have led to spiraling inflation which touched 23.2 percent in the month of September.
Experts also warn the high inflationary trend is likely to continue in the country for foreseeable future.
Pakistan is also facing massive economic challenges in the wake of the recent floods that have affected the lives of more than 33 million people and washed away much of the public infrastructure in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan.
The government is expecting financial relaxation from the IMF whose team is scheduled to visit the country in November for the ninth review of the loan program.
Discussing the current economic situation in Pakistan, the IMF director for Middle East and Central Asia, Jihad Azour, said the fund was waiting for damage assessment from the World Bank and various UN agencies
“Based on this assessment, we will need to update our numbers and based on our discussion with the [Pakistani] authorities, we will also listen to them to see what are their priorities, and how the fund can help,” he added.
