Govt spending Tk167cr in fuel oil subsidy every day: State Minister

The government is spending Tk167 crore every day to keep mineral oil prices lower for consumers amid the Middle East supply shock, said State Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit on Friday.

The government is committed to continue the subsidies and has no intention to hike prices, the state minister added while attending as a guest at a social welfare programme.

The Department of Social Services organised a donation cheque distribution session for destitute and poor people at the Jashore district administrator’s office.

Furthermore, the government has secured enough oil reserves to cover the month of April, and is continuing to work towards securing 90 days’ supplies, Aninda Islam said.

However, recently there has been a sudden and unnatural rise in consumer demand. In every March, the daily diesel demand is around 12,000 tonne, but ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, 24,000-25,000 tonne diesel had to be supplied to cater for an abnormal rise in consumer demand, he noted.

Even though the governments in as many as 80 countries around the world have hiked mineral oil prices to cope with the acute shortage spurred by the Iran, the Bangladesh government has refrained from the move, said Aninda Islam while handing out donation cheques.

Increases in mineral oil prices hike costs for electricity, transport and food items, piling pressure on the wallets of people. But the BNP-led government is working to reduce people’s sufferings, and thus has avoided price hikes.