Govt may reduce petrol prices before midnight: Miftah Ismail

The government will lower petroleum prices before midnight, according to Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, who also announced that Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has received a report from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) recommending the drop.

Speaking to the media, he emphasised that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had no issues with the government’s decision.

The announcement came the same day the IMF announced that it had reached a staff-level agreement with Pakistan for the conclusion of the combined seventh and eighth reviews of the Extended Fund Facility; the agreement is now awaiting the Executive Board’s approval.

Additionally, he declared that the government will lower oil prices now rather than wait until July 15th (14 July). “PM Shehbaz wants to announce immediate relief to the people of Pakistan,” he said. “The public stood with the government during difficult times and bore the burden of inflation and now we want to provide relief.”

In its conclusion, Ogra suggested lowering the cost of gasoline by Rs18 per liter and diesel by more than Rs20 per liter.

The decision to lower petroleum product prices was made in response to recent sharp declines in the price of crude oil on the world market.

The government approved a price increase for petroleum products on June 30. The increase brought the new ex-depot price of gasoline to Rs248.74 per liter (up Rs14.85), and diesel to Rs276.54 (after a hike of Rs13.23).

On July 1, the new rates became effective. In the pricing structure, a petroleum levy of Rs10 had been added to the cost of gasoline, and Rs5 had been added to the cost of kerosene, high-speed diesel, and light diesel oil per liter.