Ex-Finance Minister Reveals Genius Math Behind Govt’s Latest Petrol Bomb

Ex-Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on X explained how the federal government converted expected relief in fuel rates into a sudden petrol bomb that will hurt for another week.

According to his breakdown, the ex-refinery price of imported petrol fell by Rs. 3.14 per litre. However, instead of passing on relief to consumers, the government increased freight charges and raised the tax levy by Rs. 27 per litre.

For diesel, a similar pattern was observed. The ex-refinery price dropped by Rs. 3.44 per litre, but freight charges were increased significantly by Rs. 37 per litre in some calculations, resulting in a net increase of Rs. 27 per litre at the consumer level.

Miftah highlighted that despite falling underlying fuel costs, policy adjustments in taxes and logistics charges completely offset any benefit to consumers. He also pointed out that the current pricing formula remains unchanged despite it no longer being aligned with actual realities.

He said that this structure inflates costs and limits the pass-through of global price relief to domestic consumers.