{"id":20973,"date":"2026-04-30T15:53:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T14:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=20973"},"modified":"2026-04-30T15:53:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T14:53:06","slug":"soaring-fuel-prices-in-pakistan-threaten-economic-and-political-crises-us-israel-war-on-iran-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=20973","title":{"rendered":"Soaring fuel prices in Pakistan threaten economic and political crises | US-Israel war on Iran News"},"content":{"rendered":"


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A huge increase in Pakistan\u2019s fuel import bill from $300 to $800 billion is putting more pressure on the economy.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Published On 30 Apr 2026<\/span>30 Apr 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The most serious fuel price shock to hit Pakistan in more than half a century threatens to unleash a flood of cascading crises that could batter all aspects of the economy and undermine the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Sharif said Pakistan\u2019s oil import bill had surged from $300 million before the conflict to $800 million now, which he said erased all the economic progress the country had made over the past two years. Analysts say the knock-on effects will be increasingly severe, impacting everything from agriculture and transport to the price of food and basic goods, worsening the plight of families already facing a cost-of-living crisis.<\/p>\n

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\u201cConventional economics tells us that oil price hikes trigger a chain reaction across the economy,\u201d economist Kamran Butt told<\/a> the Dawn newspaper. \u201cThey increase transportation costs, push up the prices of daily-use commodities and food items, raise the overall cost of living, reduce purchasing power, increase poverty and unemployment, slow economic activity and eventually fuel public discontent as quality of life deteriorates.\u201d<\/p>\n

The State Bank of Pakistan raised its key policy rate by a full percentage point to 11.5 percent.<\/p>\n

The bank said:<\/a> \u201cThe Committee noted that prolonging the Middle East conflict has intensified risks to the macroeconomic outlook. In particular, the global energy prices, freight charges and insurance premiums continue to remain significantly above pre-conflict levels. Furthermore, the supply chain disruptions have contributed to the prevailing uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soaring fuel costs have a global impact, but Pakistan is particularly vulnerable. It is heavily dependent on imported energy, and higher costs worsen its already precarious balance-of-payments position. Fuel prices feed directly into inflation \u2013 diesel powers trucks, buses, tractors, generators and parts of the food supply chain, while petrol affects commuting and consumer transport.<\/p>\n

The country is also highly reliant on remittances from workers overseas, mostly labourers working in Gulf states. The war could devastate this income.<\/p>\n

All this is impacting an already fragile economy weakened by years of inflation, debt stress and sluggish growth.<\/p>\n

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Rickshaw drivers in Lahore protest against rising fuel prices during the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, April 7, 2026 [Murtaza Ali\/ Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

No good options<\/h2>\n

The government is caught between two bad options, say analysts \u2013 pass on global oil prices to consumers and face public anger, or subsidise fuel and blow a hole in the budget. Pakistan is under strict IMF supervision, which limits the government\u2019s ability to spend its way out of the problem. The government has been widely criticised by analysts for botching negotiations in April when it sought IMF approval for higher fuel subsidies and was rebuffed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in a state of absolute dependency, where even a $1bn tranche, which is a microscopic amount in global fiscal terms, can make the difference between survival and collapse,\u201d said economist Kaiser Bengali, former adviser for planning and development to the Sindh chief minister.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current government\u2019s penchant for \u2018austerity theatre\u2019 \u2013 selling off official cars or symbolic goats and horses \u2013 is a joke that has been played out for 40 years,\u201d he said. \u201cIt does nothing to impact the oil market.\u201d<\/p>\n

The escalating economic situation is piling more pressure on Sharif\u2019s government. Pakistanis are angry and opposition parties are taking advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government\u2019s flawed policies have imposed an economic war on the people,\u201d said Aslam Ghauri of the JUI-F party. By focusing on the burden of rising fuel costs on ordinary people, they are hoping to make the economic emergency a political crisis for Sharif.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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A huge increase in Pakistan\u2019s fuel import bill from $300 to $800 billion is putting more pressure on the economy. Published On 30 Apr 202630 Apr 2026 The most serious fuel price shock to hit Pakistan in more than half a century threatens to unleash a flood of cascading crises that could batter all aspects […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}