Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday announced that the federal government has decided to raise the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs35 per litre, which will be applicable from 11am today, ARY News reported.

In a televised address, Ishaq Dar said that 11 per cent increase was witnessed in the prices of petrol products in the international market.

After the latest round of hikes, petrol will be priced at Rs249.80, diesel at Rs262.80, kerosene oil at Rs189.83 and light diesel at Rs187.

The minister was of the view that prices of petroleum products were not increased in the past 4 months, adding that prices of diesel and kerosene oil also decreased during the period.

The minister went on to say that the speculations had also led to an artificial shortage of petroleum products in the market.

Long queues at filling stations

Following the rumours of increase in the prices of petroleum products, several petrol pumps have been closed in many cities of Punjab on Saturday.

After the rumours of increase in the PoL prices, several cities of Punjab including Faisalabad, Sialkot, Sheikhupura, Okara, Sahiwal, Daska, Jaranwala, Jhelum and others faced scarcity of petrol and the majority of fuel stations had been closed.

Extended queues of two-wheelers and cars were spotted at petrol pumps in several Pakistani cities.