Pakistan among countries with lowest fuel prices in region: Report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan ranks 32 out of 170 countries, (being the lowest in terms of gasoline prices) which has made it among the countries with the lowest fuel prices in region.

Crude oil prices have fallen over last few years which in turn had helped countries like Pakistan that rely on fuel imports for most of their energy needs.

According to State Bank of Pakistan's report on `State of Economy,' from February 2016 to March 2017, the international price of crude oil has increased by 64 per cent while prices in Pakistan increased marginally around 2.3 per cent.

The report said that in India the prices increased by 22.7 per cent during same time period (February 2016 to March 2017).

Countries which import crude oil increased their prices in range of 9.4 per cent to 40.1 per cent.

Pakistan's dependence on imported fuel has increased recently following introduction of higher quality RON 92 petroleum which replaced RON 87 in November 2016.

Low sulphur Diesel oil was also introduced in January 2016 with 500 ppm sulphur content compared to 5000 ppm used earlier.

Local refineries lacked equipment to produce the higher quality fuel locally.

Experts said lower fuel prices had helped keep inflation rate at 4.18 per cent during first 11 months of 2016-17.