Govt raises petrol price by Rs2.10 per litre, high-speed diesel by Re0.30 per litre

The Pakistani government announced on Friday a price hike for petrol and high-speed diesel, effective from October 3 to 5. The price of petrol has been increased by Rs2.10 per litre, bringing the retail price to Rs392.76 per litre. Meanwhile, the price of high-speed diesel was raised by Re0.30 per litre, resulting in a new retail price of Rs399.64 per litre.

Previously, the government levied Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on diesel. The new price structure comes into effect as the price of high-speed diesel has dropped from the peak of Rs520.35 on April 3. The price of petrol had also risen from Rs266 in the first week of March. In response to the rising fuel prices amid the Middle East conflict, the government introduced austerity measures, including market closures by 9pm and a 50% reduction in fuel allocation for official vehicles for three months.

The Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, introduced a relief scheme for motorcycles, autos, and vehicles up to 800cc to mitigate the impact of rising global oil prices. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar commended the success of the scheme, highlighting a "whole of government" approach. The National Steering Committee on Fuel Subsidy reviewed the scheme's implementation, with various ministries and agencies making concerted efforts.

As of now, around 7.60 million registrations have been made, and 7.71 million tokens have been redeemed. Fuel prices are now expected to be fixed on a daily basis due to fluctuations in international market prices caused by renewed hostilities between Iran and the US. Prior to this, fuel prices were revised weekly since early March in anticipation of potential oil supply disruptions due to the Middle East conflict.