Business

Day after dropping ‘gas bomb’, govt decides not to increase petrol, diesel prices

Published

1 year ago

Farwa

Rates will remain in place till November 15.
HSD will be available at Rs303.18 per litre.
Price of kerosene and light diesel oil slashed.

ISLAMABAD: Providing relief to the inflation-hit people a day after dropping a ‘gas bomb’, the caretaker government Tuesday maintained the price of petrol at Rs283.38 per litre.

According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Finance, the price of petrol is Rs283.38 per litre and Rs303.18 per litre for HSD. The rates will remain in place till November 15.

Products	Existing price	New price	Increase/decrease
Petrol	Rs283.38	Rs283.38	Rs0
High Speed Diesel (HSD)	303.18	303.18	Rs0
Kerosene oil	Rs214.85	Rs211.03	Rs-3.82
Light diesel oil	Rs192.86	Rs189.46	Rs-3.40

The government, however, also cut the prices of light diesel by Rs3.40 per litre and kerosene oil by Rs3.82 per litre for the next fortnight. After the reduction in the prices of petroleum products, the rate of kerosene oil has dropped to Rs211.03 per litre and light diesel oil to Rs189.46 per litre.

The interim government is charging zero general sales tax (GST) on all petroleum products while the rate of petroleum levy (PL) on petrol is Rs60 per litre.

In the last fortnight, the government had dropped the petrol price by Rs40 per litre and HSD by Rs15 per litre.

The federal cabinet had Monday sharply increased the natural gas tariff by up to 172% for domestic consumers, tandoors, and general industries, including export-oriented sectors, captive power plants, CNG and IPPs, and commercial sectors.

The new prices will be effective from November 1. The substantial increase was aimed to comply with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) demand, which asked the government to increase gas tariffs to control the gas sector’s circular debt, which is Rs2.1 trillion.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) also reduced the rates of liquified petroleum gas (LPG) for November.

The rate has been dropped by Rs9.69 per kg to 251.03, a notification from the regulator said.

It added that as a result of the decrease, the rate for domestic cylinders has fallen by Rs117.47. Now, it said, an 11kg cylinder will be available at Rs2962.17.

Business

E&P Companies Will Invest $5 Billion in Pakistan’s Petroleum Industry

Published

3 hours ago

Farwa

Over the next three years, local and foreign companies involved in Pakistan’s oil and gas exploration and production sector have shown a strong desire to invest more than $5 billion in the nation’s energy sector.

Recent changes to the Petroleum Policy and the implementation of an exclusive tight gas policy, which provide better incentives and a more investor-friendly regulatory framework, are credited with the increase in investor confidence.

These strategic changes are expected to boost domestic energy production, open up new avenues for growth, and draw large amounts of both domestic and foreign investment.

Business

With inflation slowing, the SBP is anticipated to lower the policy rate for the eighth time in a row.

Published

3 hours ago

Farwa

Businesspeople anticipate another reduction in the policy rate when the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) releases the updated rate.

The interest rate for the upcoming two months will be announced by the central bank. It is still unclear if the rate will stay the same or be lowered to reflect stakeholder expectations.

According to experts, the policy rate will be lowered in order to further boost the nation’s economic sector.

Interest rates may be lowered for the seventh time in a row if the inflation rate declines significantly more than anticipated.

In its last six sessions, the MPC had cut the policy rate by 10 percent. In January 2025, it decreased the rate by one percent to 12pc.

12PC POLICY RATE

In January, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced cut in key policy rate by 100 basis points (bps) to 12 percent from 13pc in line with expectations of the business community.

The policy rate, which had been at 22 percent since June 2024, was slashed by 1,000 basis points to 12 percent.

The SBP governor said the decision was taken with careful consideration. “Although inflation is expected to decline next month (February), core inflation remains a pressing concern,” he stated.

Ahmed highlighted strong remittance inflows and robust export growth as key factors supporting the current account.