ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): Despite the fluctuations in petroleum products, inflation has caused continuing upward pressure on the price of petroleum products and thus resulted in a significant increase in the wholesale price of ghee and cooking oil.
The All Pakistan General Store Association and other grocery stores indicate that the price for premium ghee and cooking oil has increased by Rs30/kg from Rs560/kg to Rs590/kg.
Second-rate cooking oil has also increased by Rs35/litre from Rs510/litre to Rs545/litre. Second-rate ghee has increased by Rs25/kg from Rs510/kg to Rs535/kg.
Retailers have noted that the continuing increase in the price of commodities is putting additional pressure on consumers financially and that most households will be negatively affected by the ongoing inflationary pressure.
Diesel Prices Reduced
Earlier, the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved the reduction in diesel price by Rs. 32.12 per liter, aimed at providing relief to the citizens.
After the approval, the price of diesel has decreased from Rs. 385.54 to Rs. 353.43 per liter, according to the statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
“The effects of the reduction in oil prices will be conveyed to the public as soon as possible,” Prime Minister Sharif said.
The statement did not make any mention of the price of petrol, which was set at Rs 366.58 per litre last week.
However, the Petroleum Division sources said that the government has decided to keep the price of petrol unchanged for the next seven days, starting from April 18.
In the previous weekly review, the prime minister had announced a cut of Rs12 in petrol price and Rs135 in diesel rate, citing a reduction in global oil prices.
On April 2, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb had announced an unprecedented increase of 43 per cent and 55 per cent in the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel, respectively. The ministers had also announced a targeted fuel subsidy programme.
However, just a day later, PM Shehbaz had slashed the petroleum levy by Rs80 per litre and brought the price of petrol down to Rs378 per litre.
Last week, PM Shehbaz had further decreased diesel prices and petrol prices by Rs135 and Rs12 per litre, respectively.
