Petrol prices in Pakistan soared to Pakistani Rupees 100.10 per litre from Rs 74.52 on Saturday, a whopping Rs 26 rise. This has happened after the Pakistani government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan increased the prices of all petroleum and related products by up to Pakistani Rupees 26, and diesel prices by Rs 21.31 per litre.

With the hike, diesel prices have risen to Rs 101.26 per litre in Pakistan. Meanwhile, kerosene oil cost has surged to Rs 59.06 per litre. The price of light diesel oil (LDO) has also been pushed up by Rs 17.84 to Rs 55.98 from the current Rs 38.14.

According to Pakistani leading newspaper Dawn, the decision to revise the prices of petroleum products upwards was taken "in view of the rising oil prices trend in the global market".

The announcement of the fuel prices hike comes unexpectedly as the prices revised last month were to remain in effect until June 30. In Pakistan, new fuel prices are usually announced on the last day of a month and come into effect after 12 am for the upcoming month.

According to the daily, petrol and diesel are two major products that generate most of the revenue for the Pakistani government because of their growing consumption in the country.

Average petrol sales are touching 700,000 tonnes per month against the monthly consumption of around 600,000 tonnes of diesel. However, the sales of both petrol and diesel dropped in recent weeks due to the coronavirus lockdown.