ISLAMABAD, January 15 (DNA): Federal Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar Sunday announced the prices of petroleum products for the period starting from 16th January 2017 till 31st January 2017.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he said that Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) have recommended an increase of Rs. 1.77/Litre in the price of MS 92 RON Petrol, Rs. 3.94/Litre in the price of High Speed Diesel (HSD), Rs. 14.31/Litre in the price of Kerosene Oil and Rs. 10.11/Litre in the price of Light Diesel Oil (LDO), with effect from 16th January 2017.

The Minister stated that, in line with the Prime Minister’s instructions to provide maximum relief to the common man, and keeping in view that Kerosene Oil and LDO is used by the low income segments of the country’s population, it has been decided to maintain the prices of Kerosene Oil and LDO at the current level till January 31, 2017.

This decision has been taken also keeping in view the fact that Kerosene Oil caters to the energy needs of the poor, especially in the winter season.

The Minister further announced that it has been decided to increase the price of MS 92 RON Petrol by Rs. 1.77/Litre, in line with OGRA’s recommendation, while the price of HSD is being increased by Rs. 2.00/Litre only, which is almost half of the increase recommended by OGRA.

The Finance Minister highlighted that, in order to maintain stability, prices have been maintained since April 2016 despite an increase of around43% in international oil prices during 2016.

He said that the government has been absorbing the negative financial impact due to the government’s decisions to not pass on price increases to the end consumers.

He highlighted that, prior to today, only partial increase in MS Petrol and HSD was passed on to the end consumers for the month of December 2016 only, compared to OGRA’s recommendations.

The Ministry of Finance will bear a revenue loss of approximately Rs. 2.75 billion as a result of this decision to not pass on the actual increase in petroleum products’ prices to the people of Pakistan