Petrol prices likely to register another hike in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The inflation-hit nation likely to face another hike in petrol prices, with proposals suggesting an increase of Rs. 2.58 per liter for petrol and Rs. 5.91 per liter for high-speed diesel, ARY News reported citing sources.

According to sources, if approved, petrol prices will reach Rs. 250.96 per liter, while high-speed diesel will cost Rs. 261.05 per liter.

Sources revealed that the proposed hike is attributed to the high premium on petroleum products in the global market and increased import costs.

The premium on imported petroleum products has risen, prompting the government to consider price adjustments from November 16, sources added.

On October 31, the federal government announced petroleum products prices for the next fortnight, hiking petrol and high-speed diesel’s prices.

According to a notification issued here, the petrol price was hiked by Rs 1.35 to Rs 248.38 per litre. The price of high-speed diesel was fixed at Rs 255.14 per litre after an increase of Rs 3.85.

Also read: Pakistan’s weekly inflation jumps to 15.02pc

Meanwhile, the prices of light diesel and Kerosene oil were decreased. According to the notification, Kerosene oil was available at Rs 148.5 per litre after a drop of Rs 4.92.

The price of light diesel was decreased by Rs 2.61 to Rs. 147.51 per litre.

The rampant hike in the prices came at the time when the weekly inflation, measured by the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), witnessed an increase of 0.28 percent for the combined consumption groups during the week ended on October 17, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

According to the PBS data, the SPI for the week under review in the above-mentioned group was recorded at 319.79 points as compared to 318.91 points during the past week.

As compared to the corresponding week of last year, the SPI for the combined consumption group in the week under review witnessed an increase of 15.02 per cent.

The weekly SPI with the base year 2015-16 =100 covers 17 urban centres and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups.

Likewise, SPI for the lowest consumption group of up to Rs 17,732 witnessed increase of 0.27 percent and went up to 313.74 points from last week’s 312.91 points.