Petrol, HSD prices increased

The government has increased the prices of petrol and high speed diesel (HSD) by Rs 2.25 and Rs 2.26 per litre respectively. Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced the prices of petroleum products for the period starting from February 01, 2017 till midnight on February 15, 2017 on Tuesday. The minister stated that Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources and OGRA had recommended an increase of Rs 4.16/litre in the price of MS 92 RON petrol, Rs 4.29/litre in the price of High Speed Diesel (HSD), Rs 16.71/litre in the price of kerosene oil and Rs 12.53/litre in the price of light diesel oil (LDO), with effect from 1st February 2017.
The finance minister stated that in line with the Prime Minister's instructions to provide maximum relief to the common man and keeping in view that kerosene oil and LDO are used by the low-income segments of the country's population, it has been decided to maintain the prices of kerosene oil and LDO at the current level till 15th February 2017.
This decision has been taken also keeping in view the fact that kerosene oil caters to the energy needs of the poor, especially in the winter season. In order to maintain the prices of both kerosene oil and LDO at current levels, the government will not only be forgoing all applicable taxes and duties on these petroleum products, but will also subsidise the prices of these products for the consumers.
The minister further announced that it has been decided to increase the price of MS 92 RON petrol by Rs 2.25/litre while the price of HSD is being increased by Rs 2.26/litre. These increases are almost half of the increases recommended by OGRA for both MS 92 RON petrol and HSD, he added.
The finance minister highlighted that in order to maintain stability, prices have been maintained since April 2016 despite an increase of around 43% in international oil prices during 2016. He said that the government has been absorbing the negative financial impact due to the government's decisions of not passing on the increase in prices to the end consumers. He highlighted that, prior to today, only partial increase in MS 92 RON petrol and HSD was passed on to the end consumers for the month of December 2016 and for the last two weeks of January 2017, compared to the OGRA's recommendations.