The government slashed the prices of petrol and high speed diesel by Rs5 per litre on Wednesday in an effort to provide relief to the people.

Shortly before the announcement was made, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill had taken to Twitter to say that the public would soon receive "good news" about petrol prices.

According to a handout issued by the Finance Division, the government decided to revise existing prices "in view of the declining price trend of petroleum products in global market[s] and [to] transform the impact to the masses".

The new prices will be effective from Dec 16 (Thursday).

According to the notification, the new price of petrol is Rs140.82 per litre while high speed diesel will sell for Rs137.62 down from Rs145.82 and Rs142.62, respectively.

Meanwhile, the prices of kerosene and light diesel oil (LDO) were decreased by Rs7 and Rs7.01 per litre, respectively. The new price of kerosene is Rs109.53 per litre and that of LDO is Rs107.06 per litre.

Earlier, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had recommended reducing the prices of petroleum products by up to Rs10. The regulator had calculated Rs10.30 and Rs8.65 per litre reduction in the ex-depot prices of petrol and high-speed diesel, respectively.

The government has been facing severe criticism from the opposition, particularly after the premier approved a Rs10 increase in the price of petrol during the month of October. Major opposition parties, including the PML-N and the PPP, have held country-wide rallies and protests over what they term "unprecedented inflation in the country".

Inflation during the month of November soared to 11.5 per cent from 9.2pc, the highest increase noted in the past 20 months after a record hike in fuel prices.

On November 5, the government had increased the price of petrol and high speed diesel by Rs8.03 and Rs8.14 per litre, respectively. This was the first time in the country’s history that the prices of all petroleum products were above Rs110 per litre.