ISLAMABAD: The caretaker government on Wednesday jacked up the prices of petrol by Rs13.55 per litre and diesel by Rs2.75 a litre for the next fortnight.
The POL price hike comes a week before the general elections scheduled for Feb 8, 2024, in the country.
According to the Finance Division notification, the new price of petrol is now Rs272.89 per litre from the previous price of Rs259.34.
The notification, however, did not mention any increase in the prices of light-diesel oil (LDO) and kerosene oil.
It further said the price of high-speed diesel (HSD) increased by Rs2.75 to Rs278.96 per litre.
Earlier on January 15, the government had slashed the petrol price by Rs8 per litre and retained the diesel price at Rs273.21 per litre for the next fortnight.
According to a notification by the finance ministry, petrol will be available at Rs259.34 per litre from January 16 following a reduction of Rs8.
The government, however, retained the diesel rate at Rs276.21 per litre.
It is to be noted that petrol price increase is higher than estimates made earlier. The prices of petrol and HSD were estimated to go up by Rs5-9 per litre for the next fortnight on account of higher international prices and import premiums.
