Pakistan's annual oil import bill is likely to reach $4.5 billion by the end of the current fiscal year compared to $3 billion last year, a senior official said. Escalating oil prices in the international market would affect Pakistan's GDP growth in the short-term but after absorbing the impact of the additional $1.5 billion, GDP growth would be back on track in the long-term, Prime Minister's Adviser on Finance and Revenue Dr Salman Shah told the reporters. He said the Pakistani nation would have to decide whether development projects should suffer or not. The government would initiate a national conservation campaign to promote conservation and efficient use of energy, Shah said adding: _We have to emphasize the aggressive exploration of oil and gas in Pakistan._ The adviser said the government had not imposed the petroleum development levy (PDL) on the sale of POL products and had instead paid Rs 12 billion to oil marketing companies. It would pay another Rs 4 billion to Rs 5 billion, he said. In the budget for 2004-2005, Shah said, the government had fixed the PDL target at Rs 47 billion to keep oil prices down. He said the Parliament would have to make a tough choice between an additional burden of $1.5 billion, which would stigmatize GDP growth in the short term and increase poverty to some extent, and cutting Public Sector Development Programme allocation which was Rs 202 billion for 2004-2005. If the development budget is cut, Shah said, economic activity would decrease and joblessness would increase.
