ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday reduced the prices of all petroleum products by 4.6 per cent to 6.4pc (Rs10 to 14 per litre) for the next fortnight ending Dec 31 due to lower international market prices and exchange rate gains.

In a late-night announcement, the ministry of fina­nce said the government had decided to revise the prices of petroleum products for the fortnight starting Dec 16, as recomme­nded by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority.

According to the notification, the ex-depot price of petrol was cut by Rs14 per litre (4.9pc) to Rs267.34 per litre against the present rate of Rs281.34 per litre.

Likewise, the ex-depot price of high-speed diesel (HSD) was reduced by Rs13.50 per litre (4.65pc) to Rs276.21 down from Rs289.71.

Similarly, the ex-depot kerosene price was decrea­sed by Rs10.14 per litre (5pc) to Rs191.02 per litre from the existing rate of Rs201.16. Also, the price of light diesel oil (LDO) was slashed by Rs11.29 per litre (6.4pc) to Rs164.64 per litre against Rs175.93 per litre.

The international prices of both HSD and petrol had declined over the past fortnight by almost 5pc, while rupee had also made minor recovery against the dollar, resulting in reasonable drop in domestic prices to the consumers.

For price calculations, officials stated that HSD had become cheaper by about $4 per barrel on average, dropping from about $99.50 to $95.50 during the week, while the price of petrol had come down by a dollar.

The rupee, on the other hand, gained against the dollar, reaching Rs284 on Dec 13 compared to about Rs285.5 on the first of December. The benchmark Brent oil during the period had dropped from $79 per barrel to $73.

The government has already achieved Rs60 per litre petroleum levy, maximum permissible limit under the law, on both petrol and HSD. The government has set budget target to collect Rs869bn as petroleum levy on petroleum products during the current fiscal year under the commitments made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but is not hoping the collection to beyond Rs950bn by the end of June.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2023