Following drop in prices of electricity and petroleum products earlier in the month, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday announced further reduction in the prices of petroleum products.
Addressing a press conference here, he said petrol prices are being reduced by Rs6.25 per liter, HBOC Rs14.14 per liter, kerosene oil Rs11.26 , light diesel oil Rs10.48 and high diesel oil by Rs7.86 per liter. The new prices will be implemented from midnight. Speaking to journalists, Sharif said reduction in POL prices has led to decrease in prices of other commodities including groceries. He vowed to provide more relief to the masses in coming days. The prime minister said that the recently made reduction in electricity tariff would start reflecting on consumers’ bills from January. He also announced that electricity prices would further drop in coming days due to setting up of new power plants in the country. Prime Minister Sharif urged provincial governments to take steps in order to reduce prices of commodities.
Following the announcement, the petroleum ministry issued a notification for the same. Despite the announcement of reduction in POL prices for January, masses would not receive complete relief of the plunge in global oil market, mainly due to the imposition of GST on petroleum products. According to the notification, the price of High Speed Diesel (HSD), which is widely used in heavy vehicles and the agriculture sector, has been slashed by Rs7.86 per litre. Its price has come down to Rs86.23 per litre from Rs94.09 per litre. Similarly, the price of petrol witnessed a decline of Rs6.25 per litre against its current price of Rs84.53 per litre which is now pegged at Rs78.28. Kerosene oil, which is used as kitchen fuel in remote areas of the country, recorded a significant decrease of Rs11.26 per litre. Its price has fallen from Rs83.18 per litre to Rs71.92 per litre.
The price of High Octane Blending Component (HOBC), which is used in luxury cars, registered a drop of Rs14.14, bringing its price down to Rs 92 from Rs106.14 per litre. The price of light diesel oil was slashed by Rs10.48 per litre dragging its price down to Rs67.5 per litre from Rs Rs77.98 per litre. Owing to expected major dip in the revenue collection of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) due to sharp slash in crude price in global oil market, the government on Tuesday had increased the GST on petroleum products to 22 per cent from 17 per cent. It may be mentioned that crude oil prices have fallen down sharply to more than 48 per cent in the international market since late June, and now it stands at $56 per barrel.
