Announcement of new petrol price delayed

ISLAMABAD: The announcement regarding the change in the prices of petroleum products has been delayed due to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s engagement in Uzbekistan where he is attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.

The POL prices are revised fortnightly with the approval of the prime minister but due to his busy schedule the decision has been put on hold, sources told Geo News.

PM Shehbaz is in Samarkand attending the SCO Council of Heads of State (CHS) summit where he also held meetings with Russia's Vladimir Putin, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and others.

"The finance ministry is awaiting the prime minister's directions. Once, the prime minister makes a decision on the summary sent to him, only then will the new prices be issued," the sources said.

According to a  report by The News, the price of petrol was likely to drop from Rs235.98 per litre to Rs226.36 after a cut of Rs9.62 per litre for the next fortnight.

However, a slight increase of Rs3.04 per litre is expected in the price of diesel, taking the rate up from Rs247.26 per litre to Rs250.30 for the said duration.