By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday cut petroleum products prices to pass on a decline in global rates to inflation-hit consumers.
“According to our calculations, petrol prices will be reduced by Rs10 to Rs214.8 after midnight. [The price of] high-speed diesel will be decreased by Rs7.5 to Rs227.80,” Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said in a recorded televised message.
“At this moment, the prime minister wants us to pass maximum relief to the public and we have been implementing that since Oct 30.”
Dar said Kerosene oil will now cost Rs171.38 after an Rs10 decrease and the price of light diesel oil will be reduced by Rs10 to Rs169 per litre.
News prices are effective from midnight December 16. The government about a fortnight ago kept fuel oil prices unchanged.
Petroleum prices are a major driver of inflation in Pakistan, and the masses grunting under the burden of sky-high inflation are hungry for a relief.
The government in recent months removed all fuel subsidies in a bid to trim the fiscal deficit and aimed at securing critical support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The IMF wants the South Asian nation to take strict measures to control its fiscal deficit in the face of a balance of payment crises.
Pakistan’s economy has lurched into trouble following a healthy growth in 2021. Its trade and fiscal deficits are unsustainable, inflation is running at more than 26 percent, currency has plunged and reserves have dropped to dangerous levels, covering under one month of imports.
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