The federal government on Friday reduced the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs1.97 per litre for the next week, according to a notification issued by the Ministry of Petroleum.

Under the revised rates, the price of petrol has been fixed at Rs297.53 per litre, while HSD will now cost Rs309.50 per litre.

The new prices came into effect at midnight and will remain applicable for the next week, the notification said.

The announcement came a week after the government decided to keep petrol and diesel prices unchanged despite a continued decline in international oil prices.

Following that decision, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik rejected the impression that the government was favouring any particular sector and said the public was likely to receive “good news” in the coming days.

Read: Petroleum price freeze sparks backlash

He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s top priority was protecting consumer rights, adding that a high-level committee had been constituted on the premier’s directives to ensure transparency in petroleum pricing and that positive developments were expected soon.

The minister said the government was closely monitoring trends in the international oil market and urged the public to review international Platts prices for petrol and diesel, maintaining that pricing decisions were being made on a fair and transparent basis.

It later emerged that, to keep petroleum prices unchanged, the federal government had revised the levy structure on petroleum products at the start of the new fiscal year by increasing the Climate Support Levy on petrol and HSD while reducing the Petroleum Levy by an equivalent amount.

According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Energy on July 1, the Climate Support Levy on petrol and HSD was increased by Rs2.50 per litre to Rs5 per litre.

At the same time, the Petroleum Levy on petrol sold through retail outlets was reduced by Rs2.50 per litre to Rs64.14 per litre, while the levy on HSD was reduced by Rs2.50 per litre to Rs77.04 per litre.