ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Friday reduced the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs10.2 and Rs2.33, respectively, starting from June 15, 2024.
In a notification, the finance ministry said the prices of petroleum products had seen a mixed trend in the international market in the last fortnight. It stated that Ogra had worked out the consumer prices based on the international market price variations.
It stated that the new petrol price was Rs258.16 per litre, while the price of HSD was Rs267.89. The Prime Minister’s Office described the reduction as a gift from the premier for the upcoming Eid ul Adha holiday.
Earlier, media reports had indicated that the government was expected to pass on the impact of lower international prices to consumers. The prices of petrol and HSD had declined in the international market by about $3.75 and $2.7 per barrel, respectively, in the last two weeks.
This was in addition to about $12 and $8 per barrel drops in the prices of petrol and HSD, respectively, in the previous two fortnights.
The price of petrol had decreased to slightly over $90 per barrel from about $94 per barrel, while the HSD price had been reduced to $95 from $98 per barrel.
The import premium on petrol has slightly decreased in the last fortnight to $9.5 per barrel from $9.7. Meanwhile, the value of the rupee has also remained stable.
Moreover, the final price also includes the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL), for which the government has already achieved the maximum permissible limit of Rs60 per litre under the law on both petrol and HSD.
This has contributed Rs720 billion to the government kitty in the first nine months of the fiscal year ending March 31.
The government had set a budget target to collect Rs869bn in PDL during the current fiscal year under the commitments made with the International Monetary Fund, which has now been revised to Rs960bn.
At present, the government is charging about Rs80 per litre tax on both petrol and HSD, including about Rs19-20 per litre customs duty.
This was despite the fact that the general sales tax is zero on all petroleum products.
Petrol and HSD are the major revenue spinners with their monthly sales of about 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes per month compared to just 10,000 tonnes of monthly demand for kerosene.
