Pakistanis have felt the first direct economic tremor of the escalating confrontation between the US-Israel combine and Iran, where it hurts the most: at the petrol pump.

The government’s decision to increase petrol and diesel prices by Rs55 per litre reflects the immediate spill-over of high global oil prices triggered by the conflict. It is the single sharpest petroleum price adjustment in recent memory — alongside even steeper increases in kerosene and light diesel oil.

The increase is extraordinary by any standard. Yet it also reflects how vulnerable Pakistan’s economy remains to geopolitical shocks.

With the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s attacks on US military installations across the Gulf, global oil markets have been thrown into turmoil.

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