Govt slashes petrol price by Rs9 per litre

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced on Saturday that the prices of petrol and diesel had been decreased by Rs9 and Rs7 per litre, respectively, in the fortnightly review.

In a televised address on Saturday, the finance minister said one petroleum product had witnessed an increase while the price of another went down in the international market during the last 15 days.

Following the reduction, petrol will be available at Rs253 per litre while the price of HSD will be Rs253.50 per litre.

Dar said no changes had been made to the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL), which was increased to Rs60 per litre on the demand of International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The new prices will be effective from July 16 (Sunday).

The finance minister said the local currency had appreciated against the US dollar in the last 15 days after Pakistan signed a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary (IMF) on $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).

He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had directed the authorities concerned to pass on the maximum relief to masses.