LAHORE - The petrol has become cheaper than CNG after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Saturday announced cut in the petroleum prices. The announced reduction in the price of petrol, diesel and other petroleum products is effective from today.
Talking to the newsmen after passing-out parade of the first batch of Counter Terrorism Force (CTF) here, the prime minister said per litre price of petrol has been slashed by Rs7.99, high octane by Rs11.82 and the kerosene oil by Rs10.48, high speed diesel by Rs5.62 and light speed diesel by Rs9.56.
He told the media that prices of the petro products could have been reduced further, but the government had to retain five percent duty to reduce the impact on the sales tax target, which has been affected by the decline in oil prices.
He said the overall impact of oil price fall has been estimated to be Rs68 billion and the five percent duty would help reduce it by Rs28 billion. Hence, he said the government is retaining Rs2.76 on petrol, Rs3.16 on HOBC, Rs2.42 on kerosene oil, Rs3.18 on HSD and Rs2.28 on LSD.
The new price of petrol is Rs70.29, which is below the price of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) having a price of Rs71.50 per kg in Sindh and Rs76.35 in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The PM said the petrol price has been brought down from Rs110.97 to Rs70.29, HOBC from Rs134.63 to Rs80.31, Kerosene oil from Rs97.05 to Rs61.44, HSD from Rs109.34 to Rs 80.61 and LSD from Rs93.27 to Rs57.94.
Nawaz Sharif said during the last governments, the benefit of cut in oil prices was not transferred to the public. He said prices of eatables had also come down with the cut in the fuel rates, though fares of the transport did not decrease proportionately. He advised the provinces to pass the benefit of low POL prices on to the consumers.
He said decline in petroleum prices would greatly benefit the agriculture community by reducing the inputs cost by thousands of rupees per acre and he advised farmers to increase their yield for benefit of the consumers.
To a question about the recent petrol crisis, the PM said the government would take the issue to its logical conclusion and action would be taken against those responsible. He said other than the issues related to Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and National Savings, some vested interests could also be behind the crisis. The PM also held media responsible for creating panic on petrol shortage which forced the people to throng the filling stations. The situation improved within two to three days, he claimed.
To another question, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said both Pakistan and Afghanistan stick to the commitments made during the visit of Afghan president. If both the countries abide by these commitments, the terrorists would find no safe haven in either country as well as in the region.
He said the government believed in transparency and recruitment in the Counter Terrorism Force had been made purely on merit. He said working of the institutions was undermined by the recruitment on nepotism. About the judicial commission to probe alleged poll rigging, the prime minister said the government left no stone unturned and offered everything in this regard. He said despite reopening of polling bags, the PTI could not prove its rigging claims.