PM Shehbaz recalled that his teams held separate meetings with the chief ministers soon after the conflict sparked, after which it was decided to “pass on” hikes of Rs55 in petroleum prices.

The PM also highlighted the various austerity measures undertaken by the government, especially thanking PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for “showing great interest” and calling upon him, as well as President Asif Ali Zardari for holding meetings.

“We gave a blanket cover in these three weeks, and regarding this, the Centre contributed Rs129bn. We made a Rs100bn cut in PSDP and we added the savings into the account, from which the Centre bore the expenses.”