Pakistan offers 30 days of free public transport following 40% petrol hike

State-run public transport in Pakistan’s capital and most populous province will be free for the coming month, officials said, after the government drastically raised fuel prices due to the Iran war.The announcement came after street protests and long queues of motorcycles at fuel stations triggered by a late-night decision on Thursday to impose a 42.7 per cent rise in the price of petrol to 485 rupees (US$1.70) per litre.Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif back-pedalled late on Friday, saying he was reducing the levy and setting petrol prices at 378 rupees per litre.“This decrease will be applicable for at least one month,” he said in a televised national address. “I promise I will not rest until your life is back to normal.”Sharif did not reduce the price for diesel, which will remain at 520 rupees per litre following a 54.9 per cent price hike.A metro train glides along an elevated track in Lahore, Punjab, on Friday. Photo: AFP“All public transport in Islamabad will be made free of cost for the general public for the next 30 days, starting tomorrow,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi wrote on social media on Friday.