After the recent jump in petrol price to Rs331 per litre, Pakistan’s rate rose to $1.1, a cent more than the current rates in the US. However, the country’s petrol price is still lower than regional peers.

The government charges Rs60 per litre petroleum development levy and Rs18-22 per litre customs duty, so about a quarter of the price is made of taxes.

Petrol has become costlier by 20pc since the caretaker government took over because of the rupee’s depreciation, while international oil prices are rising. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries-Plus has tightened supply to push up prices and will probably continue to do so till the end of the year.

US Energy Information Administration estimates that global oil inventories will decline in the coming months and the price may not ease till the second half of 2024. So there is little relief to look forward to.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, September 18th, 2023

Follow Dawn Business on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Editorial

Accruing more debt
Updated 28 Sep, 2023

Accruing more debt

We are in midst of the worst, longest economic crisis because of lavish lifestyles of powerful interests.
Israeli normalisation
28 Sep, 2023

Israeli normalisation

OVER the past few weeks, there have been many reports prophesising the impending normalisation of ties between Saudi...
Kandhkot tragedy
28 Sep, 2023

Kandhkot tragedy

THE tragic incident that unfolded yesterday in Sindh’s Kandhkot tehsil, leading to the deaths of at least nine...
More desecration
Updated 27 Sep, 2023

More desecration

Attacks on the Islamic faith are not motivated by an attachment to free speech but by raw hatred.
Worrying remarks
27 Sep, 2023

Worrying remarks

THESE are ominous words from Gwadar. Maulana Hidayatur Rehman, chairman of the Gwadar Haq Do Tehreek, has warned ...
Justice or vendetta?
Updated 27 Sep, 2023

Justice or vendetta?

ONE wonders whether all pretence of the state as a democracy has been whittled down to a point where it has simply...