Govt slashes diesel price by Rs7

ISLAMABAD:

The government on Thursday slashed the price of high speed diesel (HSD) by Rs7 per litre in line with fluctuation in the global oil prices effective from Dec 1, 2023.

Diesel is widely used in transport and agriculture sectors. Therefore, reduction in its price will have direct inflationary impact for the consumers.

Following the reduction, high speed diesel (HSD) will be sold at Rs289.71 per litre against the earlier price of Rs296.71 per litre, registering a decline of Rs7 per litre.

However, the government decided to maintain the existing prices of petrol for the next fortnight during month of December.

Petrol is used by motorbikes and cars.

It is an alternate to CNG which would not be available for retail outlets.

The country faces gas shortages in the winter season. Therefore, gas may not be available for CNG retail outlets and therefore, the demand of petrol will rise.

Petrol will be sold at its existing price of Rs281.34 per litre.

In a statement, the finance ministry said that the federal government had decided to revise the prices of petroleum products following the recommendations of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra).

The government has decided to reduce the price of kerosene oil by Rs3.82 per litre.

Kerosene oil is used in remote areas like the northern part of the country for cooking purpose where Liqufied Petroleum Gas (LPG) was not available.

Read more: Petrol price reduced by Rs2.04, HSD by Rs6.47 per litre

Following the reduction, kerosene oil will be available at Rs201.16 per litre against its earlier price of Rs204.98 per litre.

The price of light diesel oil (LDO) has also come down by Rs4.52 per litre from Rs180.45 to Rs175.93 per litre.

Meanwhile, Ogra has raised the consumer price of LPG by 1.5 per cent.

Following the federal government's policy guidelines, the regulator has set new prices for LPG effective from Dec 1, 2023.

The LPG price is now available at Rs213,560.49 per ton, which equates to Rs2,520.01 for an 11.8kg cylinder. This is an increase from Nov 2023, when the prices were Rs209,731.22 per ton and Rs2,474.83 per cylinder.

The LPG consumer price has also been adjusted. For Dec 2023, it is set at Rs254,860.49 per ton or Rs3,007.35 for each 11.8kg cylinder.

In Nov 2023, the consumer price was Rs251,031.22 per ton or Rs2,962.17 per cylinder. This marks an increase of Rs3,829.27 per ton and Rs45.18 per cylinder.

Ogra attributed the price changes to the fluctuation in the US dollar exchange rate, which went up by 1.87%.

However, the Saudi Aramco Contract Price (CP), which also influences LPG prices in Pakistan, remained unchanged.

As a result of these factors, the LPG consumer price saw an increase of 1.5%, or Rs45.18 per 11.8 kg cylinder, and the per kilo increase in LPG consumer price is Rs3.82.