The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government on Saturday decided to keep the prices of petroleum products at their existing rates for the month of October, Radio Pakistan reported.

The decision was reportedly taken by Prime Minister Imran Khan so as not to burden the consumers with the sudden hike in prices.

Earlier, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority had recommended increasing the prices in view of rising oil prices at the global level.

The international oil prices had increased during September while currency exchange rate has generally remained stable, based on which the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) submitted a summary before the Ministry of Finance calling for an increase in oil prices for October.

Ogra’s working paper for the price increase was based on existing tax rates and average import costs paid by Pakistan State Oil (PSO) during September.

Based on existing rate of general sales tax and petroleum levy, Ogra had worked out the new ex-depot price of high-speed diesel (HSD) at about Rs110, up Rs4 per litre.

Likewise, the ex-depot price of petrol had been proposed at about Rs97 also up by Rs4 per litre.

However, the prime minister approved a ‘no change’ in oil prices and decided that the impact of an increase in international oil prices should not be passed on to the general public.