KARACHI: Pakistan’s federal government on Monday increased the price of petrol by Rs6.72 per liter under its fortnightly fuel price adjustment mechanism, said a statement by the finance division, though the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party said the decision was opposed by its founder Nawaz Sharif.

Effective from August 16, 2022, the per liter rates of petroleum products will be Rs233.91 for petrol, Rs244.44 for high-speed diesel (HSD), Rs199.40 for kerosene oil (which has decreased by Rs1.67), and Rs191.75 for light diesel oil.

“In the wake of the fluctuations in petroleum prices in the international market and exchange rate variations, the government has decided to revise the existing prices of petroleum products to pass on the impact to the consumers,” the finance division said in its statement issued on Monday night.

The government raised the dealers’ margin on HSD by Rs4.13 per liter while the sales tax on petroleum products was not increased.

Pakistan has raised fuel rates at a time when oil prices in the international market remain depressed. The widely quoted Brent Crude, which was trading at $100 barrel on August 1, declined to $94.11 per barrel on August 15.

Fitch Ratings in its latest Economics Dashboard on Monday also pointed out that global supply chain disruptions were beginning to unwind as shipping rates were gradually decreasing while the time taken to deliver goods was also falling quickly.

The rating agency added the cost of freight shipment had declined by as much as 70 percent on some routes since September 2021 while transporting cargo was now taking about 90 days instead of 122 days in April.

Pakistan’s national currency has also appreciated by over 10 percent since the beginning of August.

The most recent petroleum price hike was criticized by the masses and political leaders, including Maryam Nawaz, the PML-N vice president and the prime minister’s niece, who opposed the decision in her Twitter posts.

“I am standing with the public,” she said. “I cannot endorse this decision.”

She revealed that her father, the country’s former prime minister and founder of the PML-N party, had also distanced himself from the government’s decision.

“Mian [Nawaz Sharif] Sahib strongly opposed the decision and said he would not burden the masses any further,” the PML-N vice president continued.

Former information minister and leader of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, responded to her tweets by calling them a “drama.”

“The whole family is drama,” he said in a social media post.

Hussain added the government’s decision to raise petrol prices was not surprising since the ruling coalition was “not answerable to the people of Pakistan.”