Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said his ministry did not receive any proposal for hiking the price of fertilisers.
The minister made the remark while briefing the reporters on Wednesday after virtually attending a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Procurement.
"Who brought up the issue of increasing the price of fertilisers? If there is any indication in this regard, then I am not aware of it. You may speak to the agriculture minister," Kamal said while answering a query regarding a recent statement by Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque regarding subsidy on fertilisers.
Earlier on Monday, the agriculture minister said that the government would need Tk 28,000 crore to subsidise fertilisers this year. He also mentioned that there was also pressure from the finance ministry to reduce the subsidy.
Kamal also told reporters that, "Right now I don't know the total amount we will need as subsidy in this regard. We have not yet received any proposal to increase or decrease the price... We have to wait to get such a proposal before we can determine the amount of subsidy we'll need."
"It's the finance ministry's responsibility to manage the funds... At the end of the day, the ministry has to source the funds in different ways. If there's a deficit, we have to take measures to find a solution to the problem," he added.
On Monday, Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque said the government was in a dilemma over providing subsidies on fertiliser as its price had been rising rapidly in the international market.
"In the current FY2021-2022, the government did not hike the price of fertiliser, nor did it reduce subsidy despite a three-fold rise in its price in the international market," he informed.
The minister also warned that an increase in production cost due to higher fertiliser price will push up the price of food grain as well.
