ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has raised the prices of petrol and diesel by up to Rs6 per liter for the next 24 hours, the energy ministry announced late Monday.
Pakistan began revising petrol prices on a daily basis on July 21, amid renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran, which have driven volatility in global oil markets.
Islamabad traditionally revised petroleum prices every fortnight but switched to weekly adjustments after the fighting first erupted between the US and Iran in late February.
The latest revision has pushed up the price of petrol to Rs331.20 ($1.19) and diesel to Rs390.42 (1.41) per liter, according to a notification issued by the Pakistani energy ministry.
“Based on revised petroleum pricing mechanism, issued by federal government, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has revised the ex-depot prices of the petroleum products for 18th August,” the notification read.
The government says the shift to setting fuel prices on a daily basis allows domestic fuel prices to reflect international market movements more quickly and improve transparency.
However, the new mechanism faced resistance from petroleum dealers. Last week, the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers’ Association (PPDA) called off its plans to begin a strike on Aug. 15 after the government approved a proposed revision in the dealers’ profit margins.
“The ECC (Economic Coordination Committee) considered a summary submitted by the Petroleum Division and deliberated on the matter regarding revision of dealers’ margins on Motor Spirit (MS) and High-Speed Diesel (HSD),” the Finance Division said, adding that the ECC approved a “revision in dealers’ margin.”
It did not say how much increase was approved in margins, but local media reported that the government had approved a Rs1.34 increase.
