Govt hikes fuel oil prices

The government has increased the prices of fuel oils in the country amid the volatility in their prices on the global market.

The fresh hike of the prices will come into effect after 12:00am on Saturday, the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources said in a press release issued on Friday night.

At the consumers’ level, the retail prices of diesel and kerosene within 40km of fuel depots will be Tk 114 per litre, while octane Tk 135 a litre, and petrol Tk 130 per litre, it said.

ALSO READ - Diesel, kerosene prices increased by Tk 15 per litre

The price hike of the fuel oils comes at a time when people, particularly from the lower and the middle income groups, are struggling due to the rise in commodity prices.

With the fresh adjustment of fuel prices, the lives of people will be tougher as it will cause price hikes of essentials and transport fares in another phase.

In November 2021, the government increased the prices of diesel and kerosene by Tk 15 a litre. The prices of diesel and kerosene were increased to Tk 80 a litre from Tk 65.

The prices of octane and petrol were kept unchanged at Tk 89 and Tk 86 per litre respectively.

Earlier, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid hinted at the price hike of fuel oils, saying the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) was incurring losses of hundreds of crores of taka every day due to the volatility in the petroleum prices on the international market.

In the press release, the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources said the BPC suffered a loss of Tk 8,014.51 crore in the last six months from February to July.