Petroleum price hike likely again
The prices of petroleum products may go up again anytime within months as the government is contemplating an upward price adjustment to minimise huge subsidy, about Tk 8,500 crore during the outgoing financial year.
“We've already received Tk 4,000 crore from the finance ministry for the first three quarters (nine months) up to March as cash support. We need another Tk 4,500 crore for the last quarter (April-June),” a senior official at the energy ministry told the news agency.
“To minimise this huge loss, the government needs an upward price adjustment in the petroleum fuel again,” he added.
Last month (May 6) the government raised the prices of all petroleum products by Tk 2 per litre.
The official said the state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has been incurring a loss of Tk 1,500 crore per month during the last three months, which has covered by the government subsidy.
“Only in diesel sale, BPC incurs a loss of Tk 30 per litre while in furnace oil the loss is Tk 8-10 per litre,” said the official requesting anonymity.
He also explained that the amount of subsidy is relatively higher since last three months compared to previous months for two reasons. Firstly, the sudden rise in the petroleum price in the international market in recent days following a volatile Middle-East political situation that pushed up the import cost.
Secondly, the quantity of petroleum import has increased significantly on account of increased demand driven by liquid fuel-based rental power plants.
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