What was decided at the PM House
Islamabad has, in broad terms, backed a larger petrol price subsidy Pakistan can run on a means-tested basis, aiming to enrol as many as five million extra households and to fold diesel into the same design. The outline grew from a meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence between Shehbaz Sharif and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman. Officials say that if the two sides’ specialists turn the outline into workable rules, people who qualify could see fuels priced about Rs30 to Rs40 below the open market rate per litre.
Who should receive help—and through which channel—remains the core dispute. The cabinet side argues that selective support is required while Pakistan stays under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrangement, the global lender’s support package for the budget and reserves. A universal cut, ministers warn, could unsettle that arrangement and would also hand savings to better-off motorists. The counter-offer on the table is to grow the current petrol-only list by up to five million names and to study bringing additional older motorbikes and cars into eligibility.
Why diesel entered the talks
JI pressed hard for diesel to sit inside the same relief design. Party leaders say farms, freight, and related trades lean on diesel, and leaving it out squeezes growers while lifting costs elsewhere. The government signalled that diesel can enter the means-tested package, though only to a scale that budget and IMF constraints allow.
Separately, contacts familiar with the talks note that the state has already lowered the pump rate for diesel refined inside Pakistan by Rs32 a litre after cutting that grade free from international benchmarks—a step linked to earlier JI lobbying.
The joint panel and what it must finish
Shehbaz and the JI chief agreed to seat a six-person working group—three nominees from each camp—to flesh out two strands: how far the running petrol concession can stretch so that as many eligible households as possible get in, and how the treasury might stage a gradual reduction of the petroleum levy (the federal tax stacked on fuel). The PM House named Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, and the premier’s political adviser Rana Sanaullah as the government trio.
Specialists on both sides will keep refining the framework. How wide the net becomes, who can enrol, and the exact per-litre discount will only firm up once those discussions close. Until then, the petrol price subsidy Pakistan runs today remains the live scheme, with the wider diesel-inclusive model still a political and technical draft.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Hakumat aur Jamaat-e-Islami ne mil kar yeh socha hai ke petrol ki madad mazeed logon tak pahunchay, shayad paanch million naye mustahiqeen. Diesel bhi is scheme mein shamil ho sakta hai, lekin had ke mutabiq. Agar yeh plan final ho gaya to mustahiq logon ko litre pe lagbhag 30 se 40 rupay sasta mil sakta hai. Ab committees faisla karen gi ke kaun apply kar sakta hai aur kitni raqam milegi.
