Rs55 | Pakistan

The government has increased the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs55 per litre, citing a sharp rise in international oil prices and the need to ensure an uninterrupted fuel supply in the country.

The government announced a Rs55 per litre hike in the price of petrol and high-speed diesel each on Friday. Consequently, the ex-depot high-speed diesel rate has been fixed at Rs335.86 per litre for next week while the ex-depot petrol price has been revised to Rs321.17 per litre from Rs266.17 per litre, with an increase of 17pc. The announcement was made by Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik during a press conference alongside Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. Dar said during the press conference that the new prices will come into effect from 12am on Saturday. He began by talking about the ongoing war between Iran and the US and Israel, adding that the conflict had spilt over. In this scenario, he said, the prices of petroleum products were soaring. “There has been an increase of 50 per cent to 70pc in various products’ prices,” he noted, adding that in other countries, the trickle-down effect was visible with an “automatic increase in [petroleum] ...