Islamabad : The Shahbaz government on Friday said its not going to increase the prices of the petroleum products for the week commencing from March 14, 2026.
Last week the government had hiked the prices of the petroleum products –petrol and diesel — each by Rs 55 a litre . Kerosene prices were raised even more than petrol and diesel by Rs 130 per litre.
This decision had received huge resentment from the masses , which wanted to know from the decision-makers as to what prompted them to raise the prices of petroleum products in a big way just two days after the war of the US and Israel on Iran. The government ‘s own statement wherein it confirmed availability of oil l stocks for 28 days that were imported in the peace time for $ 60 per barrel invited bitter criticism from the masses. The government had failed to defend its decision of hiking the oil prices when it had cheaper stocks in hand.
Many experts believed that the government decision of hiking oil prices in the wake of US-Israel war on Iran was to earn additional revenue to plug -off the gap between the actual tax collection and target set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the current budget.
The public at large is continuing protest against the last week massive increase in the oil prices.
Seeing the public mood the government decided not to increase the prices of oil for next week.
A statement issued by the prime minister office (Media Wing) said the government has decided to cap the oil prices for next week despite spike in their rates in the international market.
The oil price (crude per barrel) is hovering around $ 100 I e even lesser than the price assumed by the Shahbaz government ‘s economic wizards.
Sources said the government economic wizards had calculated the prices of crude at 103 per barrel for the last week oil prices when their actual rates were ranging between $ 94 and $ 98 a barrel.
