The federal government on Friday revised upward the prices of POL products by increasing Re1 per litre for both motor spirit (MS) and high speed diesel (HSD). With the fresh increase of Re 1 per litre, MS will be sold at Rs 74 per litre and HSD at Rs 84 from April 1, 2017 (today). However, prices of light diesel oil (LDO) and kerosene oil will remain unchanged. During a press conference at Dubai, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced that the government would absorb an additional burden of Rs 3 billion for April by not transferring the full impact of the prices of petrol and diesel to consumers.
On Thursday last, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had sent its summary to the Finance Ministry for approval, seeking an increase of Rs 2 per litre in prices of MS and HSD respectively while Rs 13 per litre hike in prices of kerosene oil and Rs 7.75 increase in LDO price.
When contacted about the recommended increase in the POL prices despite decrease in prices in the international market, an official of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources said that OGRA determines the prices of kerosene and LDO on the basis of previous month's prices internationally. Similarly, the prices of petrol and HSD are being determined on the basis of five days average of import. Since prices of petrol and HSD increased in the international market during the five days under consideration, therefore the OGRA had recommended an increase in prices to the government. During the last three months, the government has increased the prices of MS and HSD multiple times but kept the prices of kerosene oil and LDO unchanged.
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