ISLAMABAD: Ahead of EidulFitr, the newly elected government hiked the price of petrol by Rs9.66 per litre for the next fortnight.
In an announcement before midnight, the Ministry of Finance said the new price of petrol would go into effect on April 1, as recommended by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra).The new price of petrol is now Rs289.41 per litre from the previous Rs279.75 per litre, while the price of high-speed diesel (HSD) has decreased by Rs3.32 to Rs282.24 per litre.
The ministry said the changes were due to a corresponding rise in petrol prices and a decrease in HSD prices in the international market. It added the change was in line with the government’s policy of passing on price variations in the international market to the domestic market.
In its previous fortnightly review, the government kept the petrol price unchanged at Rs279.75 per litre and reduced HSD’s rate by Rs1.77 per litre to Rs285.56.The petrol price was estimated to go up, owing mainly to higher import premiums and global prices.
On the other hand, the HSD price was down in the international market, and the import premium paid by Pakistan State Oil (PSO) remained unchanged at $6.50 per barrel. Thus, the rate of high-speed diesel was estimated to be down by Rs1.30 to Rs2.50 per litre, subject to the final exchange rate adjustment in pricing.
For price calculations, officials said the price of petrol had gone up by about $4 per barrel to $94.5 over the last two weeks, while HSD’s price inched down by about 60 cents per barrel to $98.4. The exchange rate has also improved, with the rupee gaining by about 1 per dollar to $278.6 over the fortnight.
The government is already charging a petroleum development levy (PDL) of Rs60 per litre — the maximum permissible limit under the law — on both petrol and HSD. Under the commitments made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government set a budget target to collect Rs869 billion in PDL during the current fiscal year.
