Pakistan cuts petrol to Rs332 a litre in eighth straight daily reduction

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Pakistan cut petrol and diesel prices again on Thursday, the eighth consecutive reduction under the daily pricing system, taking petrol to Rs332 a litre and high-speed diesel to Rs360.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority issued the notification on Thursday evening, cutting petrol by Rs3 a litre from Rs335 and diesel by Rs4 from Rs364, with the new rates in force from Friday. The cut follows Wednesday's revision, which had taken petrol to Rs335 and diesel to Rs364 — the seventh in the current sequence of reductions, which began on 3 November. Taxes and duties of Rs114 a litre on petrol and Rs100 on diesel remain in place.

The regulator has also begun publishing daily petroleum prices on its website, so that changes in international oil prices reach consumers more quickly. The daily revision system replaced the previous fortnightly cycle, and the eight cuts have now brought petrol down by more than Rs40 a litre from where it stood at the start of the month.

The new prices and the count of eight consecutive cuts are confirmed by the regulator's notification as reported by The News and the Islamabad Post, which agree on the figures. The total saving since the start of the month is stated differently by different outlets — one puts it at Rs42.51 since 2 November, another at about Rs46 over two weeks — so this story does not give a cumulative figure. The reason for the cut was not stated in the notification as reported.

For households and transporters, the relief is real but modest: Rs3 a litre at the pump, with more than a third of the price still made up of taxes and duties. The daily system means the relief can reverse just as quickly if international prices turn, and the next revision — due tomorrow — will show whether the sequence has further to run.