Pakistan's government wants to watch its fuel supply chain far more closely. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to introduce a modern digital monitoring system for the oil and gas sector. The aim is to improve transparency and stamp out the hoarding of petroleum products and unjustified price manipulation, problems that directly affect consumers' pockets.

The instruction came during a meeting with a World Bank delegation headed by its country director. The visitors presented a set of policy recommendations covering Pakistan's oil and gas industry, which prompted the prime minister's call for tighter, technology-based oversight. Mr Sharif argued that a digital monitoring mechanism would make the sector more transparent. Better visibility over the movement and stocking of fuel, in his view, would make it harder for market players to withhold supplies or push up prices without justification.

The prime minister did not adopt the World Bank's proposals wholesale. Instead, he told officials to set up a committee to study the recommendations in the lender's report and to submit its findings after a detailed review.

That approach leaves the substance of any wider reform still to be decided. The digital monitoring order, by contrast, is a specific task assigned to Ogra, though no timetable or technical details for the system were announced.

The directive signals official concern about practices that distort the domestic fuel market. How effective it proves will depend on the design of the system, Ogra's capacity to enforce it and the conclusions of the committee now examining the World Bank's advice.