Crude oil rolled, but the price of petrol, diesel didn't change, govt also refused to cut
- There has been no change in the prices of petrol and diesel in the country for 31 consecutive days.
- Oil marketing companies have kept oil prices stable even on Tuesday, August 17, 2021. Retail fuel prices are currently running at their record high in the country.
- The oil demand is not improving due to the concern of delta variants of Covid-19, due to which the market is seeing a decline.
- On Monday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the govt would be in a position to reduce the excise duty on fuel (petrol-diesel) if it had to pay for the UPA-era oil bonds.
- Refusing to cut excise duty on petrol and diesel to bring down the high prices, she said that her hands are tied in the past due to payments being made instead of huge subsidies given on fuel.
