ISLAMABAD: The government has reduced the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel for the next fortnight, leaving the petroleum development levy unchanged at Rs55 per litre.

Announcing new prices on Saturday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the prime minister had issued directives of not increasing the PDL this time “to grant as much relief as we can” to people. Under the IMF conditions, the government is supposed to raise the levy to Rs60.

The price of petrol has been reduced by Rs9 per litre to Rs253 from Rs262 in the previous fortnight.

Similarly, the price of high-speed diesel (HSD) has been decreased by Rs7 to Rs253.50 per litre from Rs260.50.

Mr Dar said that the international oil market had seen fluctuations during the outgoing fortnight between July1-15.

“There was an increase in one product and decline in the other,” Mr Dar said, adding, “But the strengthening of the rupee against the dollar had offset the price increase.”

He said that as per the agreement with the IMF the first phase of PDL was implemented on July 1, however, the second phase scheduled to be added in the fuel price during the second fortnight of the month will not be implemented.

“So now the PDL is not passed on to the consumers,” finance minister said.

The government was charging Rs55 per litre PDL on petrol and was scheduled to increase it to Rs60 for the current fortnight.

However, government stayed away from increasing PDL and slashed price of petrol for the second half of July.

Meanwhile, experts expect that the reduction in the rates of key petroleum fuels will also be beneficial for the local oil industry, as it would slightly reduce smuggling of petrol and diesel from Iran.

Oil smuggling significantly increased during past six months amid high rates as HSD, had reached to Rs293 per litre in mid-April this year, while petrol was Rs282 per litre at that time.

The average petrol and consumption in country during these days was more than 20,000 tonnes per day, as petrol is used in motorbikes and cars and with the absence of CNG in Punjab petrol consumption was high.

While, HSD consumption in the last fortnight was around 18,000 tonnes.

It is estimated that around Rs8,000 to 10,000 tonnes of HSD was being smuggled into Pakistan on daily basis, while the demand for Iranian petrol was less due to slightly lower quality of petrol produced in Iran. The consumption of HSD has increased in transport sector due to holidays in education sector and load shedding as diesel is consumed in heavy generators.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2023