Govt raises petrol price by Rs2.10 per litre, high-speed diesel by Re0.30 per litre

Dawn reported that on Friday the government lifted petrol by Rs2.10 a litre, while high-speed diesel (HSD) went up Re0.30 per litre. Revised rates now place petrol at Rs392.76 and HSD at Rs399.64 per litre, valid from October 3 (Saturday) through October 5 (Monday) under a Petroleum Division notification.

The state continues to collect Rs114 in duties and taxes on each litre of petrol and Rs100 on each litre of diesel. Prices have swung widely since the Iran-US conflict erupted on February 28, with HSD climbing from Rs281 to a Rs520.35 peak on April 3 and petrol rising from Rs266 to Rs458.41 on the same day. HSD has since eased from that high.

Authorities have also brought back austerity steps, requiring markets to shut by 9pm and trimming fuel allocations for official vehicles by 50 per cent for three months. Separately, a relief scheme for motorcycles, autos and vehicles up to 800cc drew around 7.60 million registrations, and 7.71m tokens were redeemed, according to Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar's review.