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KARACHI, May 15: The Oil Companies Advisory Committee on Wednesday increased the prices of diesel and petrol by 17.02 per cent and 4.63pc, respectively, besides increasing the prices of other products as well.
The new prices will be effective from May 16.
Prices of almost all petroleum products had remained unchanged on March 31, April 15 and April 30, the days when a rate revision was due. Now for the first time after the April 30 referendum, Ocac has decided to increase the prices which is bound to have an all-round inflationary effect on the economy besides hitting hard the common man.
The transport sector will obviously receive the direct hit of the Ocac decision. The price of High Speed Diesel has been enhanced by Rs2.66 per litre. Petrol will now be available at Rs33.68 per litre as against Rs32.19, up by Rs1.49 per litre.
The price of kerosene has been increased by 14.70pc, while that of the Light Speed Diesel has been fixed at Rs15.94 as against the previous Rs14.39 per litre.
The new rate of High Octane Blending Component is Rs37.97 per litre, up by 3.77pc from the previous Rs36.59 per litre. JP-4 and JP-1 will now be available at Rs16.04 per litre and Rs12.83 per litre as against the previous prices of Rs15.94 per litre and Rs12.39 per litre, respectively.
Ocac said that prices had been calculated according to the approved mechanism.
TRANSPORTERS: Karachi Transport Ittehad President Syed Irshad Bukhari criticized the increase in diesel prices, and demanded its withdrawal.
“We will meet the transport secretary shortly to discuss the situation besides seeking an increase in the transport fares,” he said.
“We have already signed an agreement with the Sindh government that whenever a difference in diesel prices (increase or decrease) appears in the price review, the impact will be passed on to the consumers,” he said, adding that unfortunately the difference was now higher, exceeding by over Rs2 per litre.
In case the government does not pay any heed to the KTI’s demand, then transporters will on their own increase the fares for bus and mini-bus by 50 paisa and for coaches by Re1. “We will also demand increase in taxi, yellow cab and rickshaw fares by Re1,” he added.
About 45 days before the referendum, Ocac held three meetings, one after every fortnight and kept the prices unchanged except for minor changes in Jet fuel during the last fortnight review. Prices were not increased when reports suggested that global prices of petroleum products had gone up.
There was also no word on dollar-rupee parity.
Market watchers believe that the government has reverted to the levy of Petroleum Development Surcharge, which had perhaps been avoided during the last 45 days. “The price increase was imminent as the referendum process has concluded,” the head research of Invest Cap and Securities, Mohammad Sohail, said.
