![Sujet : Chemins de fer Tourisme Transports ferroviaires Affiche Langue : sans contenu linguistique Éditeur : [s.n.] Imp. Chaix (Suc[ursa]le Chéret 18 rue Brunel (Paris)](/media/articles/commons-ac0e1240ee8b.avif)
# Pakistan makes public transport free in Islamabad as fuel shock ripples through the economy
Pakistan is trying to cushion the political and economic blow from a sharp fuel-price increase by making state-run public transport free in Islamabad for 30 days and offering subsidies in Punjab and Sindh.
The packet’s AFP report says the move follows a late-night decision to raise petrol prices by 42.7 percent and diesel by 54.9 percent, a jump that triggered protests and long queues at fuel stations. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said all public transport in the capital would be free for the general public for the next 30 days, starting the following day, and said the government would absorb a burden of 350 million rupees.
Punjab has taken a similar route, lifting the cost of travel for state-run public transport and announcing targeted subsidies for trucks and buses. Sindh, Pakistan’s largest province by population concentration around Karachi, also introduced subsidies for motorcyclists and small farmers. Taken together, the measures are meant to stop the fuel shock from immediately translating into even larger transport and food-price pain.
The evidence shows how quickly the impact of the Iran war is spreading beyond the battlefield. The report says shipping in the Strait of Hormuz has been virtually frozen and that the route normally carries about a fifth of the world’s energy supplies. For a lower-middle-income country with a large share of the population already in poverty, Pakistan has little room to absorb a sustained increase in imported fuel costs without passing them on to consumers.
That pressure is already visible. Demonstrations were reported in Lahore, where protesters described the sudden rise as a petrol bomb on the public. The government has also been taking other austerity steps, including a four-day work week for some offices, longer school holidays and online classes for some students. Those moves suggest the fuel problem is not being treated as a temporary pricing issue but as a broader crisis of public management.
The story also shows the tension between fiscal stability and social relief. Pakistan had resisted further fuel increases for weeks after a smaller hike earlier in March, but the scale of the latest jump appears to have forced a change in approach. Rather than letting fares rise everywhere at once, provincial and federal authorities are trying to limit the immediate damage to commuters, truckers and farmers.
The packet does not show that the measures will be enough to prevent more inflation or political backlash. But it does make clear that the government is now using transport subsidies and temporary fare relief as emergency tools while the regional energy shock continues to spread.
