Pakistan government on Friday announced a hike of Rs55 per litre in the prices of petrol and diesel in line with rising international oil prices.
The announcement was made at a press conference by Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik alongside Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. With the Rs55 increase, petrol rose to Rs321.17 per litre, effective from midnight. Meanwhile, diesel jumped to Rs335.86 per litre.
Dar said the new prices will come into effect from midnight. He began by discussing the ongoing conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel, saying the war had started to spill over into the wider region. ‘The war between Iran, the US and Israel has now spilled over,’ he said, adding that the situation had significantly affected global petroleum markets.
‘In this scenario, petroleum product prices are rising sharply. Various products have seen an increase of around 50 to 70 percent,’ he noted. He said many countries were witnessing an automatic pass-through of higher global oil prices to domestic fuel prices.
‘In many countries, the trickle-down effect is visible, where petroleum prices increase automatically,’ he added. However, he said Pakistan had taken a cautious approach under the direction of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. ‘In Pakistan, the prime minister has been very careful. Deliberations have been ongoing for the past two to three weeks,’ he said.
He noted that a permanent committee, led by Ali Pervaiz Malik and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, had been reviewing the situation regularly.