ISLAMABAD - The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has increased the prices of petroleum products by a whopping 9.9 percent in a move that will trigger a chain reaction and take the prices of all commodities to new heights. Addressing a news conference, Ogra spokesman Javed Naseem said the petrol price had been increased by Rs 7.23 per liter to Rs 80.19; High Speed Diesel by Rs7.76 to Rs 86.09; Light Speed Diesel by Rs 6.60 to Rs 73.21; HOBC by Rs 8.58 to Rs 95.25; kerosene Rs 7 to Rs 77.95; JP-1 local by Rs 5.89 to Rs 74.37; JP-4 by Rs 3.34 to Rs 68.45 and JP-8 by Rs 5.88 per litre to Rs 74.07. The new prices have been made applicable from Monday midnight (March 1), according to a notification. Ogra has also increased the price of CNG in the Potohar region while it had only marginally decreased the price in other parts of the country. According to the notification, Ogra has increased CNG price form Attock to Jhelum by Rs 1.75 per kg to Rs 58.78, up from Rs 57.33 per kg. Ogra has divided the country into four regions for CNG price, applying four different tariffs. In the remaining parts of Punjab, CNG will be available for Rs 53.43 per kg instead of the previous price of Rs 55.43 per kg. In Sindh and Balochistan, the price of CNG has been decreased to Rs 55.22 per kg, while in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CNG will be available for Rs 57 instead of the old price of Rs 57.3. Ogra said the new tariff of CNG was fixed on the demand and supply formula as it has more demand in Potohar region, so the people living there would have to pay more price than other parts of the country. Ogra had taken up the issue with the Petroleum Ministry and suggested a change in the gas pricing mechanism after APCNGA (All Pakistan CNG Association) took up the issue with the authority, arguing that gas utilities - SNGPL (Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited) and SSGCL (Sui Southern Gas Company Limited) - were charging higher gas rates from all consumers after raise in the GCV (Gross Calorific Values). In the former mechanism, Ogra used to determine the gas prices across the country but now different rates of GCV are being considered to determine the gas prices, sources said. The steep surge in petroleum prices will push inflation to its highest level, but the PPP-led coalition government says it has increased petroleum prices in line with a surge in global oil prices caused by the unrest in the Middle East. The government said it will pay Rs 5 billion in oil and gas subsidy only for the month of March. The government has increased the rate of petroleum levy (PL) to collect revenue so that fiscal deficit could be controlled. The Ogra spokesman said that the government had raised PL on petroleum products as; PL on petrol from Rs 2.20 per litre to Rs 6.25 per litre, HOBC from Rs 4.84 per litre to Rs 9.80 per litre and HSD from Rs 0.55 per litre to Rs 3.75 per litre. Naseem said that the price of petrol had increased from $ 102.62 per barrel to $ 120 per barrel, kero from $ 109.60 per barrel to $ 128.74 per barrel and gas oil from 107.26 per barrel to $ 125.62 per barrel due to the unrest in the Middle East during the month of February. Import credentials have been excluded from the ex-refinery price as per first phase of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) decision on deregulation of petroleum products. Distributor and dealer margin for MS, HOBC, Kero and LSD have been fixed according to the ECC decision. Despite protest by dealers, no change has been made in their margins, Jwad Naseem added. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) team is likely to arrive Pakistan today (Tuesday) to give a short-run target and to assess whether the Pakistani government is ready to take tough decisions. The government could face tough time from the IMF team, as it failed to increase POL prices in the last three months (December-February), which incurred around Rs 12 billion loss on the government. Ogra claimed the government did not pass on the whole increase in POL prices to the consumers that could increase their losses. The IMF team would give one-month target to the government. The government would ask to give relaxation in fiscal deficit, as according to the economic situation of the country it is not possible to maintain it at 4.7 per cent of the GDP. The government would also present the additional revenue generation measures of generating Rs 25 to Rs 30 billion in April-June period of the ongoing fiscal year. According to the plan, the government proposed 15 per cent flood surcharge on withholding and advance taxes, an increase in Special Excise Duty by 1.5 per cent, broadening of the tax base and recovery of arrears. It might be mention here that the $11.3 billion bailout package, agreed in November 2008, stands suspended since June 2010 after the government failed to impose the Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST).