ISLAMABAD: The government has cut the price of petrol by Rs1.70 per litre and raised high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs1.39 per litre, with the revised rates effective from Wednesday.

Following the revision, petrol retails at Rs325.92 a litre and HSD at Rs382.25 a litre. The government continues to levy Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on HSD — meaning roughly a third of the pump price on petrol is fiscal, not commodity.

The Petroleum Division’s notification confirmed the new prices apply from August 12.

Both fuels remain far below their wartime peaks. HSD has come down from Rs520.35 on April 3, having climbed from Rs281 after the US–Iran war broke out on February 28. Petrol peaked at Rs458.41 on the same day, after starting its climb from Rs266 in the first week of March.

Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik had earlier announced that fuel prices would be fixed daily because of volatility in international markets following renewed hostilities in the Gulf. The government had been announcing weekly revisions since early March, alongside fuel conservation measures, and introduced targeted subsidised-fuel relief in April.

The minister said the cabinet and prime minister had decided to hand the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) responsibility for setting prices daily based on international trends. The All Pakistan Dealers Association rejected the daily pricing decision and said it would consider a protest plan.

Petrol is used mainly in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers, so its price directly hits middle and lower-middle income households. Diesel changes ripple wider, feeding into heavy transport, power plants and large generators. Together the two fuels account for monthly sales of roughly 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes — against just 10,000 tonnes of kerosene.