The caretaker government on Thursday retained the existing price of petrol at Rs 281.34 per litre but slashed the price of high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs7 per litre for the next fortnight.

According to a notification by the finance ministry, high-speed diesel will be available at Rs289.71 per litre from December 1. The prices of Kerosene and Light Diesel Oil were also decreased by Rs3.82 and Rs4.52.

After the cut, Kerosene will be available at Rs201.16 per litre while Light Diesel Oil will be sold at Rs175.93.

The development follows an IMF review and a global decline in oil prices.

Global oil prices tumbled midweek when Opec+ —the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and allies including Russia — postponed to Nov 30 a ministerial meeting to iron out differences on production targets. Brent crude futures were down 37 cents, or 0.4pc, at $80.21 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 29 cents, or 0.4pc, to $75.25.

Previously, the interim government had reduced the prices of all petroleum products by Rs2 to 9 per litre owing to lower prices in the international market.

As a consequence, the ex-depot price of high-speed diesel (HSD) fell below Rs300 per litre after more than two months. As such, the ex-depot price of HSD was set at Rs296.71 per litre.

Earlier, the ex-depot price of petrol was fixed at Rs281.34 per litre.

Moreover, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Energy Ministry held talks to review the progress under the Petroleum Development Levy on petroleum products today.

The government already has in place Rs60 per litre petroleum levy — the maximum permissible limit under the law. The government has set a 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).

The total PL collection crossed Rs222bn in the first quarter ending September, even though its per litre rates had increased slowly over the period on petrol and kept almost unchanged.