Petrol shortage at pumps expected after delay in price announcement

By
Business Desk
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Petrol station workers wearing facemasks wait for customers next to petrol pumps in Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 22, 2020. — AFP/File
Petrol station workers wearing facemasks wait for customers next to petrol pumps in Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 22, 2020. — AFP/File

  • Sources say due to a delay in petrol price announcement, petrol pumps have stopped buying petroleum products. 
  • As petrol pump owners have stopped buying, this can lead to a shortage of commodity at the petrol pumps.
  • It was learnt petrol prices have not been changed yet as PM Shehbaz is yet to give his directions.


Following the delay in the announcement of petrol prices by the Ministry of Finance, well-placed sources have warned of possible petroleum-product shortage across the country at petrol pumps, Geo News reported Friday.

Sources revealed that due to a delay in the announcement, petrol pumps have stopped buying petroleum products which can lead to a shortage.

Earlier, The News reported that the price of petrol was likely to drop from Rs235.98 per litre to Rs226.36 after a cut of Rs9.62 per litre for the next fortnight.

However, a slight increase of Rs3.04 per litre is expected in the price of diesel, taking the rate up from Rs247.26 per litre to Rs250.30 for the said duration.

Amid these speculations, petrol pump owners have stopped purchasing petroleum products, sources said.

It was learnt petrol prices, which are revised fortnightly in Pakistan, have not been changed yet as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is yet to give his directions.

Sources familiar with the matter said that the prime minister has the authority to approve changes to the price of petroleum products.

But PM Shehbaz was attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) Council of Heads of State (CHS) summit, where he also held meetings with Russia's Vladimir Putin, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and others.

"The finance ministry is awaiting the prime minister's directions. Once, the prime minister makes a decision on the summary sent to him, only then will the new prices be issued," the sources said.