It looks like this government has no other source of income, no foreign investments, no big exports, no industrial revolution to bring in revenues, just two things are left to the government for earning money, taxes and more taxes on electricity, gas and petroleum.
There is a possibility of a significant increase in the prices of petroleum products from July 16.
The prices of petrol is expected to increase by Rs7.67 per liter, high-speed diesel by Rs3.72 per liter, and kerosene oil by R 2.73 per liter.
The current prices of petrol and diesel are Rs265.61 per liter and Rs277.45 per liter respectively. On June 30, the government increased the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs7.45 per liter and Rs9.56 per liter respectively.
Also, the government has increased the maximum limit of the Petroleum Development Levy to Rs70 per liter, to collect Rs1,280 billion in the current fiscal year, compared to Rs960 billion collected last year, which was around Rs91 billion more than the target of Rs869 billion.
The import premium on petrol and diesel has remained at $9.60 per barrel and $6.50 per barrel respectively over the last 15 days. Between May 1 and June 15, the prices of petrol and diesel were reduced by approximately Rs35 per liter and Rs22 per liter respectively.
The government is currently collecting around Rs77 per liter in taxes on both petrol and diesel, even though the General Sales Tax (GST) on all petroleum products is zero. The government is charging a Petroleum Levy of Rs60 per liter on both products and is also collecting around Rs17 per liter in customs duty, whether the products are locally produced or imported.
