Reporting snapshot · 20 March 2026. The decision holds pump prices for the current review period. It does not remove the underlying cost, which the government says it is funding from savings and development budgets.
What the prime minister announced
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday, 20 March 2026, that petrol and diesel prices would remain unchanged for the current review period, rejecting a summary that would have raised petrol by Rs76 a litre and high-speed diesel by Rs177 a litre on the eve of Eidul Fitr. In a televised address to the nation, he said the federal government would absorb an additional burden of about Rs45 billion instead of passing the increase on to consumers.
The prime minister extended Eid greetings and framed the decision as a response to what he called an extraordinary global test. “Today, the world is facing an extraordinary test. [Middle East] conflict has shaken the global economy as well as peace and stability,” he said, according to Geo News. He said attacks on energy installations in “brotherly countries” had worsened the crisis and that there was “a fear that this crisis may intensify further.”
He said oil had risen from about $72 a barrel weeks earlier to $158 a barrel. According to the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan, the decision was one of the largest relief packages in recent history. The petroleum division issued a notification keeping the rates in place for the review period.
Why the review mattered
The decision came at the scheduled fuel-price review, with the government under pressure from a war-driven oil spike. Shehbaz recalled that on 13 March, when petrol had been proposed to rise by Rs50 a litre and diesel by Rs74, he had decided the government would “bear the additional burden to protect the public.” A further increase was observed in the week starting 20 March, after which, he said, he was again advised to raise petrol by Rs76 and diesel by Rs177 — and rejected the proposal.
“So the federal government will bear the additional burden of Rs45 billion once again,” he said. Over the two previous weeks, he added, the government had spent Rs69 billion from its savings and development budgets to prevent cumulative increases of Rs127 a litre on petrol and Rs252 on diesel. The 20 March decision extends the freeze already reported on 13 March, when Pakistan also banned petroleum-product exports.
What is still uncertain
The scale of the subsidy is growing as global crude prices rise, and the government has not said how long it can keep absorbing increases or which budget lines will fund them. The prime minister tied the relief to the crisis passing, and did not offer a trigger for when prices might be allowed to rise again. It is also unclear how the additional Rs45 billion burden interacts with the government’s existing austerity measures and its commitments under its International Monetary Fund programme. Fuel supply conditions remain vulnerable to further disruption, and officials have already appealed to the public to conserve petrol and diesel.
Sources & reporting notes
An original synthesis of contemporaneous Pakistani reporting, not eyewitness reconstruction. Sources were reviewed on 20 March 2026.
- Geo News — "PM Shehbaz rejects summary to hike fuel prices amid Eid ul Fitr"Published 20 March 2026 · Primary report for the prime minister's address, the Rs76 petrol and Rs177 diesel proposal, the Rs45 billion absorption, the $72-to-$158 barrel comparison and the Rs69 billion drawn over two weeks.
- Associated Press of Pakistan — "No fuel price hike as PM rejects Rs76 petrol, Rs177 diesel raise; govt to absorb Rs45b burden"Published 20 March 2026 · Official wire account confirming the decision, the petroleum-division notification and the description of the relief as among the largest in recent history.
