Business

Retraction: Petrol price slashed by Rs2.23, CNG by Rs1.95

Petroleum ministry favours daily workout of prices.

Zafar Bhutta April 04, 2012

ISLAMABAD: After succumbing to unprecedented pressure from political parties, traders, transporters and the general public, the government on Tuesday finally announced it would cut oil prices by up to Rs2.23 per litre and CNG by Rs1.95 per kilogramme (kg). The new rates will come into effect today (Wednesday).

In response to the summary moved by the petroleum
ministry, the finance ministry approved a cut of
Rs2.23 per litre in the price of petrol, Rs1.16 per litre reduction in High Speed Diesel and Rs1.74 per litre for kerosene oil.

However, no change in prices of HOBC and LDO has been made yet.

The new price of petrol
is Rs103.36 per litre, High Speed Diesel Rs107 per litre and kerosene oil Rs99.95 per litre.

The government also slashed the price of CNG by Rs1.95 per kg in region-1 and Rs1.78 per kg in region-2.

In region-1, the price of CNG has been reduced from Rs88.70 per kg to Rs86.75 per kg — areas including Khyber-Pakhtunkwa, Baluchistan and the Potohar Region (Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Gujarkhan) and in region-2 from Rs80.98 per kg to Rs79.20 per kg — areas including Sindh and Punjab (excluding the Potohar Region).

A senior official of the ministry of petroleum revealed that a summary had been moved again to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet to determine and
notify oil prices on a quarterly basis instead of the exist-
ing monthly pricing mechanism.

The petroleum ministry wants to introduce a mechanism of determining and notifying oil prices on a weekly basis and later on a daily basis.

This proposal has been backed by the Attock Refinery Limited (ARL).

Last Saturday, the government had made a massive hike in oil prices by up to Rs8.94 per litre and CNG by up to Rs11.58 per kg, effective from April 1 — a move that triggered widespread opposition and protest across the country.

Two major parties in the ruling coalition including the MQM and the ANP had also rejected the increase.

However, the latest cut in oil prices may not be acceptable to all concerned parties since it is a very nominal reduction as compared to the significant increase that was made on April 1.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2012.