Inviting more trouble? Cash-strapped Pak govt ditches citizens, raises fuel prices by 20% to get aid from IMF

To continue receiving aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Pakistan government has raised the fuel prices by 20% on Thursday, media reports said.The hike, which will be effective from Friday, has been made to resume the aid Pakistan was getting from a $6 billion package, the finance minister said.In 2019, Pakistani government had signed the deal for this package with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Although the move will help the cash-strapped government, it will put a heavy burden on the citizens of the country as the new price of petrol will become 179.86 Pakistani rupees per litre and diesel will now be sold for 174.15 Pakistani rupees per litre.

Watch:IMF presses Pakistan of removing fuel, energy subsidies for programme revival

The minister, Miftah Ismail, shared the new prices on Twitter. The news of the rise in prices spread like wildfire in the nation as long lines could be seen at the filling stations.

The IMF and Pakistan government seems to have reached a deal earlier on Thursday. In it, IMF would release over $900 million funds if Islamabad removed the subsidies on fuel and hiked the prices, as per a Reuters report, which cited sources.

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(With inputs from agencies)