Ministry corrects fuel prices after PM okays ‘old figures’

• Petrol rate set at Rs268.36, high-speed diesel valued at Rs270.22 per litre for next 15 days
• Consumers’ joy over ‘relief’ proves short-lived

ISLAMABAD: After causing massive confusion, the government on Friday ended up reducing the prices of petrol and high speed diesel by Rs4.74 and Rs3.86 per litre, respectively, a far cry from the figures released just hours earlier by the Prime Minister’s Office.

In an earlier statement, the PMO notified a Rs15.39 and Rs7.88 per litre reduction in the prices of petrol and high speed diesel (HSD), respectively.

But this did not sit well with the finance ministry, which had suggested a Rs4.74 and Rs3.86 per litre cut based on discussions with the Ministry of Energy and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) in the formal summary sent to the PM Office.

The PMO statement, it turned out, was actually a repeat of the May 15 decision that cut petrol and HSD prices by Rs15.39 and Rs7.88 per litre. The old file had mistakenly been shown to the PM for approval.

Interestingly, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s decision was projected as a “big relief” in a post made on the Government of Pakistan’s official X account.

This caused a lot of hype and confusion on the media until late on Friday night, while Ogra and the ministries of finance and energy kept privately contradicting the PMO statement.

However, consumers’ joy over the massive respite was short-lived as, in the early hours of Saturday, the Ministry of Finance seemingly prevailed, no doubt in view of the upcoming IMF bailout and support from the ‘right quarters’, despite resistence from the executive.

In a late-night announcement issued around 12:38am, the ministry said the prices of petroleum products had seen a decreasing trend in the international market during the last fortnight. Therefore, it decided to accordingly revise the existing consumer prices of petroleum products.

Cut in LPG, kerosene, LDO prices

Ogra has also cut the price of 11.8kg domestic LPG cylinder by 1.6pc, or Rs45.62 for June.

The rates of kerosene and light diesel oil (LDO) were also slashed by Rs1.87 and Rs3.88 per litre, respectively, but the government did not announce their prices for unknown reasons.

In a notification, Ogra set the producer price of LPG at Rs193.30 per kg, down from Rs197.16 per kg.

After adding GST and distributors’ margin, consumers will have to pay Rs2,768.23 for an 11.8kg cylinder or Rs234.57 per kg.

Earlier, the prices were Rs2,813.85 and Rs238.38.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority attributed the reduction in LPG price to exchange rate gain as well as decline in international price.

“The LPG producer price is linked with Saudi Aramco-CP and US dollar exchange rate,” said the regulator, adding that “as compared to previous month Saudi Aramco-CP has increased by 2pc. The average dollar exchange rate has gone down by 0.04pc, resulting in a decrease in LPG consumer price by Rs45.62/11.8kg cylinder (1.62pc).”

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2024

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