The government on Friday kept petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) prices unchanged at Rs299.50 per litre and Rs311.47 per litre, respectively, “till further orders”.

The decision was announced in a notification issued by the Petroleum Division.

Last week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a Rs74 reduction in petrol prices and a Rs67 cut in high-speed diesel (HSD) prices as the government passed on the benefit of declining international oil prices.

Petrol is mainly used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers, and changes in its price affect the middle and lower-middle classes.

Similarly, changes in diesel prices also impact the public at large, as it is mainly used in the heavy transport sector, power plants and large generators.

As the energy crunch from the US-Iran war due to the Strait of Hormuz blockade hit the global markets, the government began revising petroleum prices every week on Friday night.

In the first wartime revision on March 6, the government hiked petrol and diesel prices by Rs55 per litre — a move slammed as an “inflation bomb”.

That raised the ex-depot HSD rate to Rs335.86 per litre and the ex-depot petrol price to Rs321.17 per litre.

Fuel prices reached their peak on April 3 when the government hiked the petrol price by Rs137.24 per litre and the HSD price by Rs184.49, taking them to Rs458.4 and Rs520.35 per litre, respectively.

Amid backlash over the unprecedented hikes, PM Shehbaz had brought the petrol price down to Rs378 per litre within 24 hours by slashing the petroleum levy by Rs80 per litre.