Petroleum prices to remain unchanged till Jan 15

ISLAMABAD: The government on Saturday announced to maintain existing petroleum prices for the next fortnight, and the prices of light diesel and kerosene oil will remain unchanged for the entire month of January.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, while talking to media, said that the decision was made on the directives of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to provide relief to the common man as gift for the new year.

He said that the revision of petroleum prices will be made fortnightly now. “The government wants to maintain a policy of stability since April except for a partial increase in December.”

As a result, the federal government will absorb the financial burden of around four billion rupees by not increasing petroleum prices despite the increase in the international market.

Dar said that Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) had recommended an increase in prices from 1st January 2017 by 0.5% in MS92 RON Petrol, 5.2% in High Speed Diesel (HSD), 16% in Kerosene Oil, and 8% in Light diesel oil (LDO).

The proposal if accepted,  would have increased prices by Rs. 0.31/Litre in MS92 RON Petrol, Rs. 3.94/litre in HSD, Rs. 3.48/litre in LDO and Rs.6.93/litre in kerosene oil from January 1, 2017.

The proposed increase in prices of Kerosene, LDO and Petrol were based on the reduced sales tax rates on these three petroleum products.

In case the full sales tax at 17% was levied, the increase in these products worked out to be Rs. 14.31 per Litre in Kerosene Oil, Rs. 10.11 per Litre in LDO, and Rs. 1.77 in petrol.