Petrol prices in Pakistan still cheapest in the region: Shaukat Tarin

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Friday said petrol prices in Pakistan were cheaper than the rest of the region and the world, adding that only 16 countries had lower prices — all of them being oil producers themselves.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad with Minister of State for Information Farrukh Habib, Tarin said: "There are only 16 other countries which have lower petrol prices than ours. They are oil producers and have their own oil."

The finance minister added that Pakistan had cheaper petrol prices than other regional countries as well, such as India and Bangladesh. "We are cheaper than the region and the world as well. Do we want to reduce it (petrol price) further? absolutely," Tarin said.

He said the current issue was if the government reduced prices then it would have to pay out of its pocket to fulfil revenue requirements. Tarin added that the petroleum levy had also been reduced to Rs2 to Rs3 per litre from Rs30/litre in 2018.