Petrol, diesel prices likely to hike on Sept 15 again!

ISLAMABAD: The petrol and diesel prices are likely to be hiked again on September 15 as the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved increasing the margin of petroleum dealers and oil marketing companies (OMCs), ARY News reported on Wednesday.

The caretaker government approved hiking the sale margin of petrol and diesel by Rs3.5 per litre.

نگراں حکومت نے پیٹرول، ڈیزل پر 3.5 روپے مارجن بڑھا دیا#ARYNews pic.twitter.com/YSQLkERtIp

— ARY NEWS (@ARYNEWSOFFICIAL) September 6, 2023

The decision was taken in the session of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) chaired by Caretaker Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar today, The committee approved hiking the petrol and diesel sale margin for OMCs and dealers.

It has been decided to increase the petrol and diesel margin by Rs1.87 per litre for OMCs. In the first phase, the sale margin will be increased by Rs0.47 per litre for OMCs on September 15.

Moreover, a Rs1.64 margin hike was approved for the petrol and diesel dealers. However, the margin hike will be implemented in phases. In the first phase, Rs0.41 per litre hike will be implemented for dealers on September 15.

Additionally, the ECC approved a summary to devise a restructuring plan for the national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The committee rejected the summary for a Rs1.3 billion grant for the national airline.

It is pertinent to mention here that the PIA requested to defer payments to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

The committee directed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the finance ministry to assist the national airline in devising its financial restructuring plan.

The ECC approved a Rs40 billion supplementary grant for the defence ministry.

On August 31, the caretaker government had increased the price of petrol by Rs14.9 per litre.

The rate of petrol reached Rs305.36 per litre with an increase of Rs 14.9 per litre.

Meanwhile, the price of high-speed diesel (HSD) has been increased by Rs18.44 per litre to Rs311.84.

On August 16, Petrol price were increased by Rs17.50 per litre to Rs290.45, while high-speed diesel was increased to Rs293.40. Prior to this, the then federal government had increased the price of petrol by Rs19.95 per litre on August 1.