The Finance Division on Wednesday announced a reduction in the prices of all fuel products but kerosene oil for the next two weeks, with the new tariffs going into effect from midnight.
Announcing the decision in a late-night press statement, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the price of petrol had been reduced by Rs. 8/liter to Rs. 262/liter; high-speed diesel by Rs. 5/liter to Rs. 253/liter; and light-diesel oil by Rs. 5/liter to Rs. 147.68/liter. The price of kerosene oil, however, was kept unchanged at Rs. 164.07/liter.
This is the second consecutive decrease in fuel prices over the past month. Two weeks ago, on May 15, the finance minister had announced a reduction in prices of petrol by Rs. 12/liter and diesel by Rs. 30/liter. At the time, he had said this reflected a decline in prices of petroleum products in the international market.
On Wednesday night, Dar said that following the current round of cuts, the cumulative reduction in prices of petrol and diesel had climbed to Rs. 20/liter and Rs. 35/liter, respectively, in May.
Earlier this year, the prices of petrol had hit a record-high of Rs. 282/liter, partly due to massive currency devaluation and partly high prices of fuel products in the global market. This had triggered rampant inflation, especially in the transport sector, with citizens demanding the government provide “some relief” to help them meet their daily expenses.