As many as Rs472.77 billion worth of petroleum development levy was collected by the federal government in the first six months of the fiscal year 2023-24, Business Recorder reported.

The above mentioned amount is 54 per cent of the total budgetary estimates of levy on petroleum products for the current fiscal year.

According to the International Monetary Fund-aligned budget, Pakistanis are paying worth Rs60 PDL per litre. The South Asian nation is being governed by a caretaker government after an IMF loan programme, approved in July 2023.

Under the $3 billion Stand-by Arrangement, Pakistan received $1.2 billion from the IMF as the first tranche in July and $700 million in January 2024.

The current price of petrol in Pakistan stands at Rs272.89/litre after an increase of Rs13.55 in its price.

The PDL collection in the first six months is 166% higher than the collection during the same period of last fiscal year. The levy collection was Rs222 billion in the first three months of the current fiscal year.

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Last year, the government aimed at collecting Rs869 billion worth of PDL in the first financial year 2023-24. But the government revised its targets to Rs918 billion during the stated period on account of PDL revision from Rs50 to Rs60.

The report added that the country saw a decline in sales of petroleum products in the first six months of the current financial year.

Pakistan recorded sales of 7.68 million tons of petroleum products in the first six months of the current financial year (July to December), which is 15 per cent less than the same period of the previous financial year, the Oil Companies Advisory Council said.