Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik to travel to Karachi and hold talks with oil refineries in a bid to reduce fuel prices amidst growing public discontent over the daily price fixation mechanism introduced last month.
In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office said Sharif had directed Malik to immediately reach Karachi and ensure measures aimed at reducing the prices of locally produced diesel. He said the major quantity of diesel utilized in the country is produced in local refineries and the minister should personally lead negotiations aimed at reducing the fuel’s prices.
“Public relief should be provided to the people as much as possible at the earliest,” he directed the minister during a meeting at Prime Minister’s House.
The decision comes as fuel prices continue to mount, with the latest revision—as notified by the government—bringing the consumer price of petrol to Rs. 334.54/liter and that of diesel to Rs. 395.69/liter. The diesel price is, in particular, considered inflationary due to its use in the heavy transport and power generation sector.
Last week, the government averted a threatened strike by the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers’ Association by approving a 15.5% increase in their margins on both petrol and high-speed diesel, with effect from Sept. 1. This decision stands to raise consumer prices even further, with the margin on both fuels increasing from Rs. 8.64/liter to Rs. 9.98/liter.
Dealers and transporters, who have suspended a similar strike, have both opposed the shift to daily petroleum price revisions, noting it imposes additional costs on them.