December 31, 2022
The federal government Saturday announced retaining the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel for the next fortnight as it seeks "to provide relief to the masses" despite the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority's (OGRA) summary to increase the rates.
In a video statement, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced that as a result of the decision, the price of petrol has been fixed at Rs214.80 per litre and diesel at Rs227.80 per litre.
In light of winters, the government, according to the finance minister, has also decided to retain prices of kerosene oil and light diesel oil at Rs171.83 and Rs169, respectively.
The minister added that the government has ended the levy on kerosene oil and light diesel oil. He also claimed that the decision to retain was taken despite there being an "increase" in the prices of petroleum products in the global market.
Commodity | Existing prices w.e.f 16.12.2022 | New prices w.e.f 1.1.2023 | Increase/Decrease (in rupees) |
Petrol | Rs214.80 | Rs214.80 | 0 |
Diesel | Rs227.80 | Rs227.80 | 0 |
Kerosene oil | Rs171.83 | Rs171.83 | 0 |
Light diesel oil | Rs169 | Rs169 | 0 |
"All these decisions have been taken in line with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's directions and the prices will remain intact till January 15, 2023," the finance minister explained.
In a tweet later, the FinMin said the prices were retained "to provide relief to the common man despite an increase in the prices of these products in the international markets!"
It should be noted that since the start of the outgoing quarter (October- December) of the fiscal year 2022-23, the prices have cumulatively declined by:
The government last slashed prices of petroleum products by up to Rs10 per litre on December 15.