ISLAMABAD: The government has kept the prices of petrol and high speed diesel (HSD) unchanged for the month of December.

Addressing a news conference here on Monday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had recommended a reduction of Rs1.05 per litre in the price of petroland an increase of Rs1.42 per litre in that of HSD. But, the government had decided not to change the prices of both the products and absorb a net revenue loss of `few hundred million rupees`.

HSD is a major product and its price affects almost everything because of its use in freight transportation and other important sectors.

HSD has about 66 per cent share in the consumption of petroleum products -around 600,000 tons per month. Theconsumption of petrol is around 400,000 tons per month.

The minister said the government had accepted Ogra`s recommendation in the case of high octane blending component (HOBC) and increased its price by 87 paisa from Rs79.79 to Rs80.66 per litre.

But the price of kerosene oil has been reduced by 79 paisa (from Rs57.11 to Rs56.32 per litre) and that of light diesel oil (LDO) by 36 paisa (from Rs53.59 to Rs53.23 per litre).