Overview
- Provinces moved to curb consumption, with Punjab halting in-person classes and closing schools, colleges and universities from March 10–31, cutting fuel for ministers, restricting protocol convoys and shifting government work to online and work‑from‑home, while Balochistan ordered school closures through March 23.
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa approved a two‑month package that makes departmental meetings fully virtual, introduces a 50% work‑from‑home policy, reduces official vehicle fuel allowances to a 50% total cut and exempts police and rescue services, alongside daily pump checks and anti‑hoarding enforcement.
- The Finance Ministry said petroleum inventories are at satisfactory levels, multiple cargoes are en route and a real‑time monitoring dashboard and stricter petrol station inspections are being put in place under daily review.
- The Senate’s economic affairs committee voiced concern that prices rose despite available stocks and directed the Petroleum Division to submit full oil marketing company data and a detailed rate analysis to determine who benefited.
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif cautioned that fuel prices may climb further in the coming days and said savings from austerity will be used to provide public relief, as PTI leaders pressed for neutrality in the regional war and reversal of the latest increase, and Punjab deployed 30,000+ police for Yom‑e‑Shahadat Hazrat Ali security.