Petrol price goes up by Rs1.77, diesel by Rs2 per litre

ISLAMABAD: The government on Sunday decided to increase the price of petrol by Rs1.77 per litre and that of Hi-Speed Diesel (HSD) by Rs2.00 per litre with effect from January 16 till January 21, 2017, Minister for Finance Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar said.

Petrol will now be sold Rs68.35 per litre and HSD Rs79.22 per litre.

In a statement here, the finance minister said the price of petrol had been increased in line with the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority’s (Ogra) recommendation while the price of HSD was being increased by cutting almost half of the increase recommended by Ogra.

He said the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources and Ogra had recommended an increase of Rs1.77 per litre in the price of petrol, Rs3.94 per litre in the price of High Speed Diesel (HSD), Rs14.31 per litre in the price of kerosene and Rs10.11 per litre in the price of Light Diesel Oil (LDO) with effect from January 16, 2017. 

The minister stated that in line with the prime minister’s instructions to provide the maximum relief to the common man and keeping in view that kerosene and LDO are used by the low income segments of the country’s population, it had been decided to maintain the prices of kerosene and LDO at the current level till January 31, 2017. 

This decision had been taken also keeping in view the fact that kerosene catered to the energy needs of the poor, especially in the winter season.

The finance minister highlighted that in order to maintain stability, the prices had been maintained since April 2016 despite an increase of around 43 percent in the international oil prices during 2016. He said the government had been absorbing the negative financial impact due to the government’s decisions not to pass on the price increases to end consumers.

He highlighted that prior to today, only partial increase in petrol and HSD was passed on to end consumers for the month of December 2016, compared to Ogra’s recommendations.

The Ministry of Finance will bear revenue loss of approximately Rs2.75 billion as a result of this decision not to pass on the actual increase in petroleum products' prices to the people of Pakistan, he claimed.