The federal government has raised the price of petrol by Rs2.10 per litre and High-Speed Diesel (HSD) by Re0.30 per litre, with the revised rates taking effect from Oct 3 to Oct 5.
Petrol will now be sold at Rs392.76 per litre, while HSD will cost Rs399.64 per litre. The government continues to impose Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on diesel, according to a Petroleum Division notification.
The latest increase comes as the government continues measures to conserve fuel amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. It has required markets to close by 9pm and cut fuel allocations for official vehicles by 50 percent for three months.
The government had also introduced a relief scheme for users of motorcycles, rickshaws, autos and vehicles of up to 800cc. Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif announced the scheme on Sept 13 to reduce the impact of rising global oil prices.
Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Foreign Minister (FM) Ishaq Dar on Sept 29 reviewed the implementation of the fuel subsidy scheme and said its progress reflected a “whole of government” approach. The meeting noted that the information, IT and petroleum ministries, along with the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and all provinces, had worked on the scheme.
Around 7.60 million registrations had been completed, while the token redemption process had entered its second week. A total of 7.71 million tokens had been redeemed.
Fuel prices have also moved sharply this year. HSD had reached Rs520.35 per litre on April 3 after rising from Rs281 per litre following the outbreak of the US-Iran war on Feb 28. Petrol had peaked at Rs458.41 per litre on the same date after starting its rise from Rs266 in the first week of March.
Petrol is mainly used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers, while HSD is largely used in heavy transport, power plants and large generators. Petrol and HSD are also major revenue earners, with monthly sales of around 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes compared with about 10,000 tonnes of monthly kerosene demand.
