Islamabad (TDI): The petroleum products ‘prices are likely to remain unchanged for the next fortnight (till December 15) as international prices mostly remained stable besides some gain in the exchange rate, Dawn.com has reported.
Citing unspecefied official sources, the report added the average prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) had slightly increased in the international market in the last fortnight.
Yet, Import premium on petrol and diesel remained unchanged.
Additionally, rupee is also gaining weight. These factors are likely to have no effect on the petroleum products’ prices.
Read More: Pakistan Increases Petrol, Diesel Prices
Giving the latest calculations as of Nov 28, the report elaborate that around Rs3 per litre increase in the prices of petroleum products was noted.
However, a slight decline seen in international prices for the last two days of the month.
An OGRA official said that the price difference was so close that it could be adjusted within the inland freight equalisation margin (IFEM) — a mechanism actually meant for uniform prices across the country.
“In any case, the increase in prices is expected to be less than Rs3 per litre,” he told the paper.
The ex-depot petrol price currently stands at Rs248.38 per litre while that of HSD at Rs255.14.
For the current fortnight, the government had kept unchanged the prices of all petroleum products on Nov 15, although the prices of petrol and HSD increased by Rs3.85 and Rs1.35 per litre, respectively, on Oct 31.
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As it is mostly clear that petrol is being widely used in small and medium size vehicles, however major part of the countrywide transport is covered by HSD, which price is considered inflationary as it is mostly used in heavy transport vehicles, trains and agricultural engines.
Currently, the government is charging about Rs76 per litre tax on both petrol and HSD.
