Petrol and diesel prices likely to be increased by Rs9 per litre: Sources

Petrol and speed diesel (HSD) prices are likely to be increased by Rs9 per litre from Feb 1, sources claim on Saturday.

On Jan 15, the caretaker government announced a petrol price reduction for the next fortnight from Rs8 per litre to 259.34 per litre.

The Finance Division notified the new prices of the petroleum products for the fortnight starting from January 16, as per the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority’s (OGRA) recommendations.

According to the source prevy to the matter, the petroleum products prices in the country will be effected as the prices of both major petroleum products – petrol and HSD – had increased in the international market over the past fortnight and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) also had to pay higher import premiums even though the rupee had gained against the US dollar.

The above mentions factors may result in the increase of the price of HSD up by Rs4-6 per litre and that of petrol in between Rs6.5 to 9 per litre, depending on the final exchange rate calculation.

Meanwhile, the prices of Kerosene and light diesel oil are also expected to remain unchanged.

On the other hand, the local currency gained by about Rs1.5 against the dollar to about Rs280 from Rs281 in the first half of January.

The government has already achieved a Rs60 per litre petroleum levyon both petrol and HSD, which is the maximum permissible limit under the law.

The government had set a budget target to collect Rs869bn as petroleum levy on petroleum products during the current fiscal year under the commitments made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but is hoping the collection to go beyond Rs920bn by the end of June.

As reported, the petroleum products and electricity prices have been the key drivers of the high rate of CPI-based inflation recorded at 29.7pc in December 2023.