Petrol price bumped up to Rs99.50 as caretaker govt approves another hike

ISLAMABAD: The caretaker government approved Saturday night a significant upward revision in the petroleum prices, media reported, citing an official announcement, with the new rates being effective by July 1.

As per the notification, the new per-litre prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene oil, light diesel, and high-speed diesel are Rs99.50, Rs119.31, Rs87.70, Rs80.91, and Rs105.31, respectively.

This effectively implies a respective price hike of Rs7.54, Rs14.00, Rs3.36, Rs.5.92, and Rs6.55 in petrol, diesel, kerosene oil, light diesel, and high-speed diesel.

Earlier, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had recommended an increase in the prices of petrol, diesel, and kerosene oil by Rs5.40, Rs6.20, and Rs12, respectively, for July 2018.

It forwarded a summary proposing the aforementioned revision to the Petroleum Division of the Ministry of Energy, official had said.

Prior to the latest development, the caretaker leadership on June 11 had bumped up the prices by Rs4.26, Rs6.55, and Rs4.46 per litre, respectively, for petrol, diesel, and kerosene oil for the June 12-30 period.

Bilawal’s criticism

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), had criticised the then-proposed move to raise petroleum prices.

In his statement, the PPP chairman had expressed concerns, advising it to focus on ensuring free and fair elections instead of considering another economic burden on the masses.

from The Daily Mail International – Leading English Newspaper from Pakistan https://ift.tt/2tJZOdV