POL prices unchanged till Jan 15

ISLAMABAD—Government has decided to maintain the prices of petroleum till January 15 despite downward trend in international market prices.
The decision to maintain the prices of petroleum was taken because government has not been able to overcome the loss caused to national exchequer due to hike in petroleum products, sources of petroleum ministry said on Friday. Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) will submit its recommendations regarding increase and decrease in petroleum prices for month of January to petroleum ministry today (Saturday), sources said. Whereas, sources further said that there is no chance in decrease of petroleum prices therefore Government has decided to maintain the prices of petroleum till January 15. Before this, OGRA had recommended Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to decrease petroleum prices from Rs. 2 to Rs.3 but did not agreed by Prime Minister, sources remarked. Sources went on to say that petroleum prices in international market was dropped in previous 15 days but government of Pakistan has no plan to decrease the petroleum prices.—Online