Miftah Ismail defends petrol price hike

Islamabad: Finance Minister Miftah Ismail defended on Tuesday the federal government's decision to hike the price of petrol after backlash from his party's supremo Nawaz Sharif and a strong coalition partner. The government increased the price of petrol by Rs6.72 per litre for the next fortnight, taking it to 233.91 per litre, while the rate of diesel was also moved up to 244.44 per litre. "I had never said that I will not increase the price of petrol, I had stated that I will not be imposing taxes further," Ismail said.