Govt reduces petrol price by Re0.14 per litre, high-speed diesel rate by Rs1.89

On Wednesday, the government lowered the price of petrol by Re0.14 per litre and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs1.89 per litre. Consequently, petrol will now retail at Rs387.40 per litre, while HSD will cost Rs400.35 per litre. The government maintains a tax of Rs114 per litre on petrol and Rs100 per litre on diesel. According to the Petroleum Division’s announcement, these new prices will be implemented starting October 1 (Thursday).

The HSD price has decreased from its April 3 peak of Rs520.35, which had started climbing from Rs281 per litre after the US-Iran war began on February 28. Petrol's price peaked at Rs458.41 on April 3 following the same conflict escalation. In response to rising fuel costs due to the Middle East turmoil, the government has reintroduced austerity measures.

These include curfew-like market closures by 9pm and a 50% reduction in fuel allocations for official vehicles for three months. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a "relief scheme" for motorcycle, auto, and 800cc vehicle users to mitigate the impact of escalating global oil prices on September 13. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar praised the scheme's success, stating it demonstrated a "whole of government" approach.

At a meeting presided over by the Deputy Premier, officials from the information, IT, petroleum ministries, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) highlighted their "concerted efforts" in implementing the scheme. As of now, approximately 7.60 million registrations have been made, and 7.71 million tokens have been redeemed in the relief program.

Fuel prices are now fixed on a daily basis due to international market price fluctuations following renewed hostilities between Iran and the US, according to Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik. Prior to this, weekly revisions to fuel prices were conducted since early March, alongside fuel conservation measures amid potential oil supply disruptions due to the ongoing Middle East conflict.