Govt makes the move to cut subsidy on petroleum products
The government for the second time in two months increased the fuel prices by Tk 5 a litre to reduce subsidy on imports of petroleum products.
The new price hike came into effect last midnight, the Press Information Depart-ment said in a statement late last night. Now the price of petrol will be Tk 86, octane Tk 89, diesel Tk 56, kerosene Tk 56 and furnace oil Tk 55.
A top Energy Division official has said the latest move will cut subsidy on petroleum products by Tk 4,000 crore.
In the last fiscal year, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation counted a loss of Tk 8,200 core on fuel subsidy.
The government was providing Tk 21.39 subsidy for diesel, Tk 21.31 for kerosene and furnace oil Tk 9.97, according to the PID statement.
It spends Tk 20,000 crore every year on fuel subsidy.
Despite the latest price hike, the government will still have to allocate Tk 16.39 for diesel, Tk 16.31 for kerosene and Tk 4.97 for furnace oil.
The demand of fuel in the last fiscal year was 48 lakh tonnes which rose to 68 lakh tonnes in the current fiscal year, said the Energy Division official.
The official said the price rise will have a bad impact on people’s daily spending, but there was no alternative.
The government last hiked fuel prices on September 18. At the time, furnace oil prices went up by Tk 8 a litre. It was Tk 5 for other kinds of fuel: kerosene, diesel, petrol and octane.
In September, Bangladesh increased CNG prices to Tk 30 from Tk 25 a cubic metre.
-With The Daily Star input
