The government on Friday presented a gift of eid -ul-Azha by raising the prices of petroleum products by up to Rs6.62 to share the impact of rising international prices with the consumers.
The price of petrol (motor spirit) has been increased by Rs3.86 to Rs103.97 per litre from the existing Rs100.11, according to a Finance Division press release.
The price of high-speed diesel (HSD) has been pushed to Rs106.46 per litre from the current price of Rs101.46, a rise of Rs5.
The new price of kerosene oil (SKO) will be Rs65.29, a jump of Rs5.97 over the existing Rs59.32.
Meanwhile, the price of light diesel oil (LDO) has been hiked by Rs6.62 to Rs62.86, from the current Rs56.24 per litre.
The decision to revise the fuel prices upwards was taken "in view of the rising oil prices trend in the global market", the brief statement issued by the Finance Division said.
The new prices are effective from August 1 (tomorrow), the first day of Eidul Azha.
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had on Wednesday proposed an increase of about Rs7-9 per litre in the price of petrol and HSD for the next month and about Rs6 per litre increase in kerosene and LDO rates.
Informed sources had told Dawn that Ogra, which was bypassed last month in petroleum price adjustments, had this time forwarded a working paper to the government to increase petroleum prices based on existing tax rates and import costs of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO).
Last month, the government had in a sudden move announced an increase of up to nearly Rs26 in the prices of petroleum products. The 27-66 per cent price shock had attracted widespread criticism.
