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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday decided to extend the fuel subsidy for motorcyclists, and public and goods transport by one month.
According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the premier decided to continue providing relief to the economically vulnerable sections of society during the current situation.
It said that the prime minister “had decided to extend fuel subsidy given last month to motorcyclists, public and goods transporters by one more month”.
He also directed transporters not to increase travel and freight fares. He further issued instructions to maintain “effective monitoring” of relief measures.
According to the statement, PM Shehbaz vowed to continue the government’s relief efforts, stressing that “providing relief to the common man remained the government’s top priority”.
“The people will not be left alone under any circumstances,” the premier asserted, hoping that the “regional situation will improve soon so that fuel prices can stabilise”.
The subsidies were part of the targeted relief measures announced earlier this month for bikers, farmers and transporters to cushion the impact of global oil price shocks amid the US-Israel war on Iran.
The measures included a subsidy of Rs100 per litre for two-wheeler users, capped at 20 litres per month for three months. It was also announced that trucks carrying 80-85pc of food items would receive direct support of Rs70,000 per month, large transport vehicles would be given Rs80,000 per month and inter-city public service vehicles would receive Rs100,000 per month to help keep fares stable.
The provinces have taken the lead in administering subsidised fuel quotas. Altogether, the provinces are pooling around Rs200bn for three months on the pattern of their National Finance Commission (NFC) shares — Rs100bn or so from Punjab, Rs51-Rs52bn from Sindh, Rs15bn from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and about Rs8-Rs9bn from Balochistan.
A day earlier, the premier, while addressing a meeting of the federal cabinet, said consultations were underway with provinces for the extension of fuel subsidies. He also said that the country’s weekly oil bill had reached $800 million amid the oil crisis from around $300m prior to the outbreak of the conflict.
