ABDUL RASHEED AZAD

ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday while revising the prices of petroleum products for the next fortnight has increased the prices of petrol and high speed diesel (HSD) by Rs1 per litre each, effective from February 16.

Addressing a press conference Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Ishaq Dar said the prices of petrol and HSD have been increased by one rupee per litre each. He maintained that the prices of light diesel oil (LDO) and kerosene oil (KO) will remain unchanged.

The finance minister said the government will have to bear a financial burden of Rs3 billion as subsidy for not increasing the prices as proposed by OGRA.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has proposed to hike prices of petrol and high-speed diesel by Rs1.91 per litre and Rs2.03 per litre respectively.

The authority in a summary sent to Ministry of Petroleum and Ministry of Finance has sought a raise in the prices of all the major petroleum products. It has been asked to hike the price of kerosene oil by Rs16.71 per litre and light-speed diesel by Rs12.53/litre.

HSD and petrol are two major products being consumed in the country with a monthly consumption of over 600,000 tons and 450,000 tons respectively. Consumption of every other petroleum product in the country is not more than 10,000 tons a month.