Pakistan’s leadership made a swift policy reversal late Friday evening, backing down from a dramatic gasoline price increase after citizens expressed overwhelming anger and frustration.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif delivered a national address announcing the price reduction, recognizing the serious economic hardships facing the country’s population.
The government cut gasoline prices by 80 Pakistani rupees per liter through a reduced petroleum levy, setting the new cost at PKR 378 per liter (approximately $5.14 per gallon). Diesel prices remained at their current level of PKR 520.35 per liter.
Just one day earlier, Energy Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb had revealed increases of PKR 137.23 per liter for gasoline and PKR 184.49 per liter for diesel. These hikes temporarily pushed gasoline to PKR 458.41 per liter ($6.23 per gallon) before officials reversed course. The petroleum levy had jumped from PKR 105 to PKR 160 per liter but now sits at PKR 80 per liter after the rollback.
Government representatives initially defended the dramatic price jumps by pointing to the ongoing US-Israel-Iran conflict and rising global oil costs. Sharif also announced several relief measures including transportation subsidies, frozen railway ticket prices, and a six-month extension of federal cabinet salary donations.
“War is ongoing in the Gulf, and as a result, oil prices across the region are soaring. The sharp rise in oil prices has also gripped Pakistan,” Sharif said.
This represented the second fuel price jump within a month’s time. On March 4, both gasoline and diesel had increased by PKR 55 per liter. During the past month, gasoline costs climbed 77% while diesel rose 87%, triggering widespread public demonstrations.
Opposition voices have criticized these policies as poorly planned decision-making and questioned the reasoning behind such severe increases while oil continues moving through the Strait of Hormuz.
Political opponents also claim the administration has avoided reducing its own expenditures, instead placing financial strain on citizens already experiencing significant economic hardship.
Wahid, a rickshaw driver, told The Media Line that he barely earns PKR 1,000 ($3.59) a day and now faces an impossible choice: whether to buy fuel or feed his children.
Prior to the government’s midnight policy change, the political party Jamaat-e-Islami had organized nationwide protests against the fuel cost increases, threatening demonstrations and a potential transportation strike.
In their official response, Jamaat-e-Islami declared the price reduction insufficient, demanding the government eliminate or significantly lower petroleum taxes and levies that were already in effect and had been substantially raised in the recent price adjustment.
The party issued a warning that without meeting their demands, they would organize supporters to march to provincial chief ministers’ homes and initiate a nationwide transportation strike designed to shut down road traffic and transport operations.
