Petroleum products prices may reduce by Rs 15 in the country

ISLAMABAD, Sep 25 (SABAH): Petrol price in Pakistan is likely to reduce by Rs 5/liter, while the diesel rate is expected to go down by Rs 15/liter. The potential decrease is mainly due to a sharp decline in oil prices in the global market.

The industry experts are quite confident that the benefit of a slash in international rates will be handed over to the masses. As per them, the new prices would be calculated based on the oil rate in the global market till September 29.

The experts believe that if the government decides to keep Petrol Levy (PL) at the same level, the prices should come down for the next fortnight. It is pertinent to mention that under an agreement with International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government has agreed to take PL on petrol to Rs. 50/liter. The current PL is Rs. 37 for petrol and Rs. 7.50 for diesel.

On September 21, the government announced a petrol price increase in Pakistan. As per a notification by the Finance Division, the petrol price was increased by Rs. 1.45, taking the price to Rs. 237.43 from Rs. Rs. 235.98 per liter.

Meanwhile, the diesel price remained the same at Rs. 247.43. Furthermore, the new rate of Kerosene Oil is Rs. 202.02 from Rs. 210.32 as it saw a reduction of Rs. 8.30. And last but not least, light diesel oil (LDO) observed a decrease of Rs. 4.26, taking the price to Rs. 197.28 from Rs. 201.54.

In a notification, the Finance Division stated that in the wake of fluctuation in global oil prices and exchange rate variation, the government has decided to revise the prices of petroleum products.

Days before this reduction in petrol price in Pakistan, there was news that the rate would come down by Rs. 9/liter, but later, former Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said that the price would increase or decrease by only Rs 0.80.