Govt falls short of fuel tax collection target in first half
Business
Petrol price could rise Rs42.47 per liter in coming days
LAHORE (Dunya News Investigation Cell) – According to the report released by the Finance Ministry, the federal government fell short of collecting fuel (petroleum and gas) levy in the first half of the fiscal year 2022-23 (FY 2022-23) which could lead to an increase of Rs42.47 in the price per liter of petrol on Feb15.
Earlier, the petrol price had been increased by Rs35 per liter taking it to Rs249.80.
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Statistics reflect that the government had set an annual target of collecting Rs1079 billion in fuel levy for the ongoing FY 2022-23 with Rs855 billion in petroleum levy.
On the other hand, the target for the collection of petroleum levy for the first half of the FY was Rs427.50 billion. However, the government managed to collect Rs177.80 billion only marking a shortfall of Rs249.70 billion. Moreover, its monthly average stood at Rs29.63 billion, falling Rs41.62 billion short of the target of Rs71.25 billion.
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Specifically talking about the royalty on crude oil and natural gas, the six-month target was Rs58.695 billion but the government succeeded in collecting Rs56.675 billion in the duration, falling Rs2.02 billion low on the target. Moreover, the target for the LPG levy was Rs4 billion but Rs3.232 billion was collected.
It is pertinent to mention here that upon the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) recommendations, the government had revised the target of Rs750 billion for petroleum levy to Rs855 billion. Now, the country’s talks with the IMF to resume the $6.5 billion bailout program have become the talk of the town again and sources said that the international lender might recommend imposing 17pc general sales tax on petroleum products. If that happens, the new petrol price could see a surge of Rs42.47 per liter in the coming days.
