Pakistan, Sept. 14 -- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has moved quickly to soften another painful rise in fuel prices, announcing Rs100-per-litre relief for motorcycles, rickshaws and cars of up to 800cc. The concession will apply to a monthly quota of 20 litres for two- and three-wheelers and 30 litres for eligible cars. With petrol at Rs 375.82 a litre and diesel above Rs 403, few households will regard Rs 2,000 or Rs 3,000 in monthly relief as insignificant. The decision is timely, targeted and considerably more defensible than making cheap petrol available indiscriminately to every vehicle on the road.

Pakistan has now lived through enough oil shocks to know the script. Trouble erupts somewhere beyond our borders, international prices ...