ISLAMABAD: After causing a great deal of confusion, the government on Friday managed to lower the costs of gasoline and high-speed diesel by Rs4.74 and Rs3.86 per litre, respectively. These amounts are significantly lower than those that the Prime Minister’s Office had issued a few hours earlier.
The PMO had already announced a drop in fuel and high speed diesel (HSD) prices of Rs15.39 and Rs7.88 per litre, respectively.
However, this did not sit well with the finance ministry, which in the formal report given to the PM Office had advised a drop of Rs4.74 and Rs3.86 per liter based on negotiations with the Ministry of Energy and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra).
In reality, the PMO statement was a reiteration of the May 15 decision that slashed the price of gasoline and HSD by Rs. 15.39 and Rs. 7.88 per litre, respectively. Erroneously, the PM had been shown the old file for approval.
Interestingly, in a post on the Government of Pakistan’s official X account, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described his decision as a “big relief.”
Up until late Friday night, Ogra and the ministries of finance and energy continued to privately contradict the PMO statement, which created a lot of buzz and uncertainty in the media.
The enormous reprieve that consumers had been hoping for, however, was short-lived as the Ministry of Finance appeared to have the upper hand early on Saturday morning. This was probably due to the impending IMF bailout and backing from the “right quarters,” even though the executive was resisting.
The ministry added that over the past two weeks, there has been a downward trend in the price of petroleum products on the global market in a late-night statement that was released at 12:38 a.m. It therefore made the decision to appropriately adjust the current petroleum product consumer prices.
Price cuts for LDO, kerosene, and LPG
Additionally, Ogra has reduced the cost of a household 11.8 kilogram LPG cylinder for June by 1.6 percent, or Rs45.62.
Kerosene and light diesel oil (LDO) were also reduced in price by Rs1.87 and Rs3.88 per litre, respectively, but for unclear reasons, the government chose not to disclose these figures.
Ogra reduced the producer price of LPG from Rs197.16 per kg to Rs193.30 per kg in a notification.
For an 11.8kg cylinder, consumers will pay Rs2,768.23, or Rs234.57 per kg, after deducting GST and distributors’ margin.
The rates were Rs. 238.38 and Rs. 2,813.85 earlier.
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority linked the drop in international prices and exchange rate gain to the decrease in LPG prices.
The regulator stated, “Saudi Aramco-CP has increased by 2 percent from the previous month. The LPG producer price is linked with these factors and the US dollar exchange rate.” The average rate of exchange for dollars has decreasing the cost of LPG for consumers by Rs45.62/11.8 kg cylinder (1.62 percent) by 0.04 percent.
