The government on Friday maintained petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) prices at the levels imposed last week, Rs. 299.50/liter and Rs. 311.47/liter, respectively.
According to a notification issued by the Petroleum Division, the prices will remain unchanged “till further orders.” This raises questions over the government’s previously stated policy, introduced at the onset of the Iran war, to review prices weekly, up from the pre-war policy of fortnightly reviews.
Following the U.S. and Iran’s announcement of an end to the war, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week announced a Rs. 74/liter reduction to petrol prices and a Rs. 67/liter cut to high-speed diesel (HSD) prices. In a statement, the premier said the government was fulfilling its promise to pass on the benefit of declining international oil prices to consumers.
Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik on Saturday sought to defend the unchanged prices, claiming it was not intended to benefit anyone. However, following the government’s announcement of a price decline, oil marketing companies had protested the “unilateral cut” in fuel prices, claiming it had inflicted severe losses on their business.
Speaking with Geo News, Malik claimed the decline in international prices “took some time” to pass down to consumers—though he had no similar compunctions when he announced a Rs. 55/liter increase to petrol and diesel prices mere days after prices started to spike following the start of the war.
Fuel prices during the wartime period, due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, peaked at Rs. 458.4/liter for petrol and Rs. 520.35/liter for diesel, a large part of which was in the form of taxes.