Pakistan hikes fuel prices to unlock IMF funding – The Peninsula

Pakistan hikes fuel prices to unlock IMF funding – The Peninsula

KARACHI, Pakistan - Pakistan on Thursday announced it will hike fuel prices so that it can resume receiving aid from a $6 billion package signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2019, the country's finance minister said.

Prices will rise by 20% starting Friday, causing long lines to form at filling stations as the news spread. The new price of petrol will be 179.86 rupee per litre and diesel will be 174.15 rupee, said the minister, Miftah Ismail, in a tweet.

Reuters reported earlier on Thursday that the IMF and Islamabad had reached a deal to release over $900 million in funds, once Pakistan removed the fuel subsidies and hiked prices.

"When we raise fuel prices, the deal will be done. We have worked out the outlines of a deal," the source said in a text message

The price hike has been the main issue between Pakistan and the IMF as part of an agreement to withdraw subsidies in oil and power sectors to reduce the fiscal deficit before the annual budget is presented next month.

Ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan had given the subsidy in his last days in power to cool down public sentiments in the face of double-digit inflation, a move