The caretaker government announced another massive hike in petrol and diesel prices, which took their rates to Rs331.38 and Rs329.18 per litre, respectively. The price of petrol has been increased by Rs26.02 per litre, and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs17.34 per litre.

The new prices take effect from September 16, 2023.

This is the fourth successive increase in prices of petroleum products and cumulatively takes the rate of these products over 30% higher since July 31.

Business Recorder had reported earlier that the government could raise the ex-depot prices of petroleum products by up to Rs10 per litre.

However, this increase is higher than expectations, and substantially raises inflationary outlook that only on Thursday was given a different picture by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) when it kept the key policy rate on hold at 22%.

Earlier hikes

The caretaker government had earlier announced an increase in the price of petrol by Rs14.91 per litre, and HSD by Rs18.44 per litre. That increase took the rates to Rs305.36 and Rs311.84 per litre, respectively, with effect from September 1.

Before that, a day after taking charge, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar had approved a Rs17.50 hike in petrol price and Rs20 in the price of high-speed diesel. This increase came into effect on August 16.

Earlier, the then-coalition government had increased the price of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) by nearly Rs20 per litre. This was with effect from August 1.