Business

Sigh of relief: Petrol price in Pakistan likely to slide down by Rs9.62

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Price of diesel may witness slight increase for next fortnight.
Sources say average platts price for motor spirit also plunged to Rs92.28 from Rs101.83
Ex-refinery price of diesel is estimated to increase by Rs3.04 per litre to Rs231.90.

The price of mogas is likely to drop from Rs235.98 per litre to Rs226.36 after a cut of Rs9,62 per litre on September 16 (Friday) 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.

Industrial sources said that the average Platts price for motor spirit also plunged by Rs9.55 to Rs92.28 from Rs101.83 for the duration from September 1-15. However, the exchange rate remained on the higher side if compared with the exchange rate registered during August 16-31. And with unchanged customs duty at Rs15.39 per litre, the cost of one-litre petrol in the refinery slid by Rs7.84 per litre to Rs166.76 from Rs174.61 per litre.

However, the ex-refinery price of one-litre petrol has been estimated to decrease by Rs9.62 per litre to Rs173.43 from Rs183.04 per litre, The News reported.

Regarding diesel, though the average Platts price for diesel tumbled during September 1-15 by Rs6.46 per litre to Rs133.93 from Rs140.38 per litre, the cost and freight in dollars went up. Likewise, the exchange rate also remained on the higher side at Rs225.63 against the Rs217.81 registered during the August 16-31 period, showing an increase of Rs7.87. However, the likely increase in imposition of customs duty on HSD by Rs3.37 to Rs22.11 per litre from Rs18.74 will increase the cost of one-litre diesel in a refinery by Rs1.57 per litre to Rs224.57 from Rs223 per litre.

And after the PSO exchange adjustment, the ex-refinery price of diesel is estimated to increase by Rs3.04 per litre to Rs231.90 from earlier Rs228.87 per litre.

However, for end consumers, the distribution margin for diesel and petrol stands at Rs3.68 per litre and Rs7 per litre. The imposition of petroleum levy on petrol stands at Rs37.50 per litre and on diesel at Rs7.50 per litre.

The Rs4.76 per litre on petrol is being charged in the shape of IFEM (Inland Freight Equalisation Margin) and Re0.21 on diesel. The coalition government under the IMF programme is bound to jack up petroleum levy up to Rs50 on both petrol and diesel to generate Rs855 billion in 2022-23.

Business

Robust activity lets PSX climb above 115,000 level again.

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

On Friday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) resumed its upward trend, crossing 115,000 points once more.

The PSX had strong action in the morning session, as the KSE-100 index increased by 1,000 points to 115,138.

The notoriously volatile PSX closed Thursday at 114,037 points, up 594 points.

DOLLAR DEPRECIES

Meanwhile, in the interbank market this morning, the US dollar fell 7 paisas to Rs278.65 against the Pakistani rupee.

Business

SBP will announce monetary policy on January 27.

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will release its monetary policy on Monday.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the SBP will convene on the first day of the following week to make decisions on monetary policy.

The Monetary Policy decision will be announced by Governor SBP Jameel Ahmad at a news conference on the same day after the MPC meeting, according to an official release.

In December, the central bank reduced policy rates by 200 basis points (bps) to 13 percent.

“In November 2024, headline inflation fell to 4.9 percent year on year, meeting the MPC’s estimates. This decrease was mostly caused by the ongoing decline in food inflation and the phasing out of the impact of the gas tariff increase in November 2023,” SBP stated in an official release.

“However, the Committee noted that core inflation, at 9.7 percent, is proving to be sticky, while consumer and business inflation expectations remain volatile.” To that end, the Committee restated its previous assessment that inflation may remain volatile in the short term before stabilizing within the target range.

“At the same time, growth prospects have slightly improved, as evidenced by a recent increase in high-frequency indicators of economic activity.” Overall, the Committee concluded that its approach of gradual policy rate decreases is keeping inflationary and external account pressures under control while promoting long-term economic growth.

Business

Finance Minister Meets With World Leaders at World Economic Forum in Davos

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

During his attendance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has met with officials of organisations and leaders of many nations.
Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor, Muhammad Younas, met with Mohammad Aurangzeb.
On the fringes of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2025 Opening Banquet, there was an informal meeting.
Additionally, the Finance Minister met with Anwar Ibrahim, the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Both leaders discussed economic cooperation and bilateral ties.
Muhammad Aurangzeb also had a meeting with Dp World’s Rizwan Soomro and Yuvraj Narayan.
They talked about how to strengthen Pakistan’s logistics and infrastructure systems to support trade.
“The Pakistani government is committed to advancing joint projects and values partnerships in both business-to-business and business-to-government cooperation,” the finance minister added.