Day after dropping ‘gas bomb’, govt decides not to increase petrol, diesel prices

Rates will remain in place till November 15

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Business Desk
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Fuel station worker fills petrol in a motorcycle at a petrol pump in Karachi on September 1, 2023. — PPI
Fuel station worker fills petrol in a motorcycle at a petrol pump in Karachi on September 1, 2023. — PPI

  • Rates will remain in place till November 15.
  • HSD will be available at Rs303.18 per litre.
  • Price of kerosene and light diesel oil slashed.


ISLAMABAD: Providing relief to the inflation-hit people a day after dropping a ‘gas bomb’, the caretaker government Tuesday maintained the price of petrol at Rs283.38 per litre.

According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Finance, the price of petrol is Rs283.38 per litre and Rs303.18 per litre for HSD. The rates will remain in place till November 15.

ProductsExisting price
New price
Increase/decrease
Petrol
Rs283.38
Rs283.38
Rs0
High Speed Diesel (HSD) 
303.18
303.18
Rs0
Kerosene oilRs214.85Rs211.03Rs-3.82
Light diesel oilRs192.86Rs189.46Rs-3.40

The government, however, also cut the prices of light diesel by Rs3.40 per litre and kerosene oil by Rs3.82 per litre for the next fortnight. After the reduction in the prices of petroleum products, the rate of kerosene oil has dropped to Rs211.03 per litre and light diesel oil to Rs189.46 per litre.

The interim government is charging zero general sales tax (GST) on all petroleum products while the rate of petroleum levy (PL) on petrol is Rs60 per litre.

In the last fortnight, the government had dropped the petrol price by Rs40 per litre and HSD by Rs15 per litre.

The federal cabinet had Monday sharply increased the natural gas tariff by up to 172% for domestic consumers, tandoors, and general industries, including export-oriented sectors, captive power plants, CNG and IPPs, and commercial sectors.

The new prices will be effective from November 1. The substantial increase was aimed to comply with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) demand, which asked the government to increase gas tariffs to control the gas sector’s circular debt, which is Rs2.1 trillion.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) also reduced the rates of liquified petroleum gas (LPG) for November.

The rate has been dropped by Rs9.69 per kg to 251.03, a notification from the regulator said.

It added that as a result of the decrease, the rate for domestic cylinders has fallen by Rs117.47. Now, it said, an 11kg cylinder will be available at Rs2962.17.