“The government is able to decrease the price of petrol by Rs3.05 per litre. The price of diesel has however gone up by Rs 8.95.”
By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The government on Sunday night announced a decrease in petrol (motor gas) price to pass on a decline in global prices to inflation-hit consumers.
It, however, increased diesel price on currency depreciation.
“The government is able to decrease the price of petrol by Rs3.05 per litre. The price of diesel has however gone up by Rs 8.95,” Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said in a Tweet.
News prices are effective from midnight August 1.
The price of Kerosene is increased by Rs4.62 per litre while that of light diesel oil (LDO) is reduced by Rs0.12 per litre.
The government about a fortnight ago also cut fuel oil prices.
A statement said the government had decided to revise the existing prices of petroleum products to pass on the impact of fluctuations in petroleum prices in the international market and exchange rate variation.
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 23 percent, currency has plunged and reserves have dropped to dangerous levels, covering under two months of imports.
Islamabad and the IMF reached a staff-level agreement earlier this month to pave the way for the release of a tranche of $1.17 billion – but the lender is awaiting approval from its board, which is not scheduled to meet until late August.
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