ISLAMABAD: The government earned about Rs214 billion on lower oil import bill and collection of taxes on the sale of petroleum products in the first eight months (July-Feb) of 2009-10, official data showed.
Of the total Rs214 billion, the government saved about Rs55.5 billion on oil imports because of lower international prices despite higher import of refined petroleum products and lower crude imports.
A sum of Rs158 billion was collected in the eight months as different taxes on the sale of petroleum products.
The country’s oil import bill witnessed a decline of $653 million to $6.3 billion during July-Feb period as against $6.953 billion the same period last year, according to data released by Federal Bureau of Statistics.
However, the import of petroleum products slightly increased by 1.2 per cent to $4 billion when compared with $3.96 billion in the same period last fiscal year. On the other hand, the import of crude oil dropped substantially by $700 million to $2.3 billion against $3 billion last year.
The oil import bill could have been much lower had the government opted to import more crude oil instead of refined petroleum products that attract higher prices than crude.
This was mainly because of inter-corporate circular debt that left local refineries with limited cash to import crude and resultantly could not utilise their full capacity.
Separately, the government collected over Rs158 billion through sales tax and petroleum levy on oil products in July-Feb 2009-10.
Besides a 16 per cent variable general sales tax on all petroleum products being charged to consumers, the government also collects a fixed petroleum levy at the rate of Rs10 per litre on petrol, Rs14 on high octane blending component, Rs6 on kerosene, Rs3 on LDO and Rs8 on high speed diesel.
Informed sources told Dawn the government collected Rs78 billion alone on account of petroleum levy during the period under review. The government earns on average Rs10 billion per month as petroleum levy on five petroleum products, namely high speed diesel, light diesel oil, kerosene, HOBC and petrol.
The GST collection on petroleum products was estimated to be more than Rs80 billion, the sources added.
The government has set a budgetary target to collect about Rs122 billion during the current fiscal year on account of petroleum levy that was originally introduced as ‘carbon surcharge’ but later renamed it as petroleum levy when the Supreme Court of Pakistan raised questions about its utilisation.
The government currently collects about Rs20 per litre on petrol, Rs26 on high octane blending component, Rs15 per litre on kerosene and Rs11.50 on light diesel oil from consumers. In addition, about Rs8.46 is paid to the oil companies and dealers on petrol, Rs13 per litre on High Octane, Rs3.10 per litre on kerosene and Rs4 on light diesel oil.
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