In a televised address on Monday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar made an announcement regarding significant price reductions in petrol and diesel. He stated that in line with international market prices, the government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif aimed to provide maximum relief to the public. Effective from midnight tonight for the next 15 days, petrol prices would be decreased by Rs12, resulting in a new price of Rs270 per litre. Additionally, diesel prices would be reduced by Rs30 to Rs258 per litre. Kerosene oil prices would see a decrease of Rs12, reaching Rs164.07 per litre, while the price of light diesel oil would be lowered by Rs12 to Rs152.68 per litre.
Minister Dar urged transporters and other diesel-dependent sectors to pass on the benefits of reduced prices to the public by lowering fares, enabling every segment of the economy to benefit from this development. It is worth noting that on April 30, the government had maintained the price of petrol unchanged, while high-speed diesel experienced a reduction of Rs5 per litre.
During the previous month, Pakistan observed a considerable decline in overall oil sales, with a 47% year-over-year drop to 1.171 million tonnes. In the July-April period of FY23, total sales also contracted by 24% to 13.970 million tonnes. Analysts attributed this decline to significant decreases in furnace oil and diesel sales.