ISLAMABAD: The prime minister on Friday reduced the prices of three major petroleum products as recommended by the oil regulator to pass on the benefit of lower international prices to consumers.

On the recommendations of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), Prime Minister Imran Khan approved changes in the prices of petroleum products, entailing reduction in prices of three products and increase in another.

As such, the ex-depot price of high-speed diesel (HSD) was cut by Rs6.37 per litre to Rs106.57, down by 5.6pc from Rs112.94.

Likewise, the ex-depot price of petrol has been set at Rs92.83 per litre, down by Rs2.41 or 2.5pc. Also, the ex-depot kerosene price was fixed at Rs83.50 instead of Rs83.96, down by 46 paisas or 0.55pc.

On the other hand, the ex-depot price of light diesel oil (LDO) has been increased to Rs75.96 per litre from Rs75.37, up by 59 paisas or 0.78pc.

In doing so, the PTI government did not change the existing tax rates on any of these products. The new prices will remain in place throughout September.

Currently, the government is charging 22pc GST on HSD, 9.5pc on petrol, 6pc on kerosene and 1pc on LDO.

In addition, the government is also charging Rs8 per litre petroleum levy on HSD, Rs10 on petrol and Rs6 and Rs3 on kerosene and light diesel oil (LDO) respectively. The petrol and HSD are two major products that generate most of the revenue for the government because of their massive and yet growing consumption in the country.

The HSD sales across the country are now going beyond 800,000 tonnes per month against monthly consumption of around 700,000 tonnes of petrol. The sales of kerosene and LDO are generally less than 10,000 tonnes per month.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2018