After petrol price, Pak govt hikes LPG price

ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Sunday announced a hike in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) prices in Pakistan, ARY News reported.

According to the notification issued by OGRA, the LPG price was increased to Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 10 per kilogram.

The new price of LPG has been fixed at PKR 229, as per the ARY News report.

As per the notification, the price of a domestic cylinder of LPG has been increased by PKR 120.

Furthermore, the price of the commercial cylinder has been increased by PKR 450, as per the ARY News report.

Earlier on Saturday, Pakistan's finance minister Ishaq Dar announced that the federal government has decided to raise the cost of petrol by PKR 10 per litre for the ensuing 15 days, Geo News reported.

High-speed diesel, and light diesel oil rates remained stable, whereas the price of petrol increased to (PKR) 282 per litre. Kerosene oil's price is also increased by (PKR) 5.78 per litre, as per the Geo News report.

Pakistan's Finance Division explained the increase in petroleum product prices in a statement by citing "increased petroleum costs in the international market and currency rate variance."

Meanwhile, the World Bank has estimated a drop in GDP per capita income for Pakistan from USD 1,613.8 in 2021-22 to USD 1,399.1 in 2022-23, Business Recorder reported.

In its report 'Macro Poverty Outlook for Pakistan: April 2023', the bank noted that GDP per capita growth is estimated at -1.5 per cent in 2022-23 in comparison to 4.2 per cent in 2021-22.

World Bank has cut Pakistan's GDP forecast to 0.4 per cent.

The unemployment rate in Pakistan is estimated to rise from 10.2 per cent in 2022-23 to 10.1 per cent in 2021-22.

Poverty will inevitably rise with pressures from weak labour markets and high inflation, as per the Business Recorder report.

In the absence of higher social spending, the lower-middle-income poverty rate is expected to rise to 37.2 per cent in FY23.

Considering poor households' dependency on agriculture and small-scale manufacturing and construction activity, they remain vulnerable to economic and climate shocks.

As per the news report, gross investment is estimated to reduce to 106 per cent in 2022-23 compared to 13.3 per cent in 2021-22. Gross Investment-Public is estimated to reach 2.8 per cent in 2022-23 in comparison to 3.4 per cent in 2021-22.