ISLAMABAD: In a surprising move, the government of Pakistan has decided to revise the prices of petroleum products weekly, switching from its fortnightly pricing mechanism, it emerged Saturday.

The government has sought recommendations from the stakeholders and the Petroleum Dealers Association regarding its decision to switch the revising of petroleum products pricing from fortnightly to weekly.

In a letter, the government has asked the stakeholders to submit “meaningful views/comments, including pros and cons, of switching from fortnightly to weekly pricing, if any, within five working days”.

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Meanwhile, the All Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association has rejected the plan and said the prices of petroleum products cannot be determined every week. “We had suggested switching the revising of petrol price from fortnightly to monthly,” said Abdul Sami – the association president, urging the government not to take such decisions “which have major consequences”.

It is pertinent to mention here that the PTI-led government in 2020 established a fortnightly pricing mechanism for petroleum products and shift from the price benchmark based on Pakistan State Oil (PSO) oil imports to Platts indexes.

The switch from monthly to fortnightly review of petroleum product prices came following a demand of the oil industry and in order to shield it from inventory losses.