It is unlikely that the federal government will achieve the Petroleum Levy collection target of Rs1281 billion set for the ongoing fiscal year, despite a steep increase of 30 percent in Petroleum Levy on petrol and high speed diesel during the past less than two months.
During the initial nine-month period (from July to March) of the present fiscal year, the federal government amassed a Petroleum Levy totaling Rs833.847 billion, as per official records. Based on this rate of collection, the government is expected to gather around Rs1200 billion towards the fiscal year 2024-25 budget estimate of Rs1281 billion, an official informed The Nation.
The levy on petroleum collected up until March during the July-to-March period of the fiscal year 2024-25 stands at Rs833.847 billion.
On average, around Rs92.66 billion was gathered each month through the Petroleum Levy over the initial nine-month period. If this pattern persists throughout the year, the total could reach roughly Rs1200 billion, as mentioned by the source. Indeed, the administration appears set to gather the most substantial amount ever for the Petroleum Levy within the nation’s fiscal record; nonetheless, they may fall short of their targeted figure of Rs1281 billion, according to the same source. Over the course of July to March in the current fiscal year 2024-25, the levy saw an upsurge of Rs114.41 billion compared with the previous year at the equivalent time frame. It should be noted that between July and March under last year’s financial framework (FY2023-24), the revenue stood at Rs719.592 billion.
In order to achieve the Petroleum Levy collection target of Rs1281 billion for the fiscal year 2024-25, the government decided to increase the maximum petroleum levy from Rs60 per litre to Rs70 per litre as part of the current financial year’s finance bill. As of March 15, 2025, the charge remained at Rs60 per litre for both petrol and high-speed diesel; then this rate jumped by Rs10 per litre starting March 16, reaching Rs70 per litre. Previously, the levy on kerosene oil stood at only Re0.05 per litre but was significantly adjusted upwards to Rs10.91 per litre within the latter half of March.
On April 15 again, the federal government increased the petroleum levy on petrol by Rs8.02 per liter and on high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs7.01 per liter, making them cost Rs 78.02 per liter for petrol and Rs 77.01 per liter for HSD.
Currently, there are two potential methods to achieve the PL target for the current financial year. Either sales of petroleum products must significantly increase in the final quarter of FY 2024-25, or the government needs to raise the petroleum levy on petrol and HSD even more, according to the source.
In the fiscal year 2023-24, the collection of Petroleum Levy amounted to Rs 1019 billion, surpassing the revised target of Rs 960 billion. By contrast, during the previous financial year of 2022-23, this levy collected only Rs 580 billion.
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