On September 15, petrol and diesel prices are expected to go up once again as the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has given its approval to increase the profit margin for petroleum dealers and oil marketing companies (OMCs). The caretaker government decided to raise the profit margin for petrol and diesel by Rs3.5 per liter.
The ECC, led by Caretaker Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar, made this decision during its meeting. Specifically, the committee agreed to increase the profit margin for OMCs by Rs1.87 per liter in the first phase, starting on September 15. Additionally, a Rs1.64 margin increase was approved for petrol and diesel dealers, with the first phase implementing a Rs0.41 per liter hike for dealers on the same date.
Furthermore, the ECC also gave the green light to create a restructuring plan for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the national flag carrier. However, they rejected a Rs1.3 billion grant request for the airline. The PIA had requested to delay payments to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and the committee directed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the finance ministry to help PIA in devising its financial restructuring plan.
Additionally, the ECC approved a supplementary grant of Rs40 billion for the defense ministry.
Previously, on August 31, the caretaker government had increased the price of petrol by Rs14.9 per liter, reaching a new price of Rs305.36 per liter. The price of high-speed diesel (HSD) also went up by Rs18.44 per liter, reaching Rs311.84.
Earlier, on August 16, the price of petrol had been raised by Rs17.50 per liter to Rs290.45, while high-speed diesel had increased to Rs293.40. Before these adjustments, the federal government had already increased the price of petrol by Rs19.95 per liter on August 1.
