The federal government on Monday approved an increase of up to Rs3 per litre in the prices of petroleum products for the month of May 2018, DawnNewsTV reported.

The price of petrol has been increased by Rs1.70 per litre, climbing to Rs87.70 from Rs86, and that of kerosene by Rs3.41 per litre, climbing to Rs79.87 from Rs76.56 per litre.

The price of High-Speed Diesel (HSD) has been jacked up by Rs2.31 per litre to reach Rs98.69 from Rs96.38 per litre. The price for Light Diesel Oil has been increased by Rs3.55 per litre to reach Rs68.85 from Rs65.30 per litre.

The revised rates will be implemented with effect from May 1.

Interestingly, the prices for May have been worked out on the basis of higher than notified tax rates for HSD on the orders of the ministry of finance to enable the government to announce a relatively lower rate for political objectives.

The finance ministry has ordered calculation of prices on the basis of 31 per cent GST on HSD and 17pc on all the other products. This is despite the fact that notified GST rate on HSD at present was 27.5pc, 17pc on kerosene, 16.5pc on light diesel oil (LDO) and 21.5pc on petrol.

In addition, the government is also charging Rs8 per litre petroleum levy on HSD, Rs10 on petrol and Rs6 on kerosene and Rs3 on LDO. The federal government has sought parliament’s approval for increasing this levy to Rs30 per litre on all products to generate additional revenue of at least Rs130 billion.