The federal government has decided to raise the prices of petroleum products by 30 rupees per litre, with the hike set to go into effect at midnight tonight (Thursday).

This was announced by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail while addressing a news conference in Islamabad on Thursday night.

He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has taken this difficult decision in the larger interest of national economy.  He said that it is a hard decision for the government to impose such kind of burden on general public.

The Minister said that new prices include Petrol 179.86 rupees per liter, High Speed Diesel 174.15, Kerosene 155.56 and Light Diesel 148.31 rupees per liter.

He said the government is providing 56 rupees per liter subsidy on petroleum products as the previous government had fixed these prices which caused to increase inflation in the country.

Miftah Ismail said that IMF Program cannot be approved for Pakistan without increase in petroleum prices.