Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said on Sunday that the government will continue its petrol subsidy scheme for up to 10 months if necessary to provide relief to the public.
Talking to the media in Lahore, the minister said that the government was aware of the difficulties being faced by the public and would pass on the benefit of any decline in international oil prices to consumers.
“The petrol subsidy scheme will be continued for the public if it has to run for 10 months,” he said, adding that the government was spending between Rs35 billion and Rs40 billion a month on the scheme.
The scheme, introduced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to provide a relief of up to Rs100 per litre on petrol, has so far attracted more than six million registrations, Malik said.
He said there were more than 25 million motorcycles that were around 20 years old, adding that the government would continue the subsidy until the end of the war if required to protect the public from its impact.
Malik thanked petrol pump owners for extending the benefit of the scheme to consumers without charging additional fees.
He said that the government would not repeat the mistakes of the previous administration, which, he claimed, had announced relief without adequate preparation and brought the country close to default.
Clarifying remarks he made the previous week that petrol prices could hit Rs1,000 per litre, Malik said his statement had been taken out of context.
He said he had meant that controlling prices would become difficult if there was a shortage of petrol.
“Due to the prime minister’s better decisions, there will be no petrol shortage in Pakistan,” he said, adding that the government was monitoring the situation closely.