Fuel Prices Hiked Again: Diesel, Petrol and Octane Prices Rise by Tk 20 a Litre

Staff Correspondent

The government has increased the prices of diesel, kerosene, petrol and octane in the country’s market by 20 taka per liter. At the new prices, diesel will be sold at 135 taka per liter, kerosene at 155 taka, petrol at 160 taka and octane at 165 taka. The new prices will be effective from tomorrow, Monday.

The Department of Energy and Mineral Resources issued a notification in this regard on Sunday. It said that due to the ongoing war in the Middle East, the price of fuel oil and transportation or freight charges have increased significantly in the international market since last March. Although the price of fuel oil has more than doubled in the international market, it has not been fully adjusted in the country considering the public interest.

According to the notification, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has incurred a loss of about Tk 22,875.66 crore from March to August this year due to high prices in the international market.

Earlier, diesel was being sold at Tk 115 per liter, kerosene at Tk 135, petrol at Tk 140, and octane at Tk 145 per liter in the country’s market. In the new decision, the prices of all four types of fuel have been increased by Tk 20 at a time.

Earlier, on April 19, the price of diesel was increased by Tk 15 per liter to Tk 115. At that time, the price of kerosene was increased by Tk 18, petrol by Tk 19 and octane by Tk 20. Later, in June, the prices of kerosene, petrol and octane were increased by another Tk 5 each. After that, the price of fuel oil remained unchanged until July, August and September.

The notification states that considering the current international market price, BPC is losing about 89 taka on every liter of diesel sold in the country. This results in a daily loss of about 109 crore taka on diesel sales. If the losses continue at the same rate, diesel alone could lose about 40 thousand crore taka annually.

The notification states that increasing the price of fuel oil by Tk 20 per liter will reduce BPC’s annual losses by about Tk 10,000 crore.

The government has said that the entire pressure of fuel price hike in the international market has not been adjusted in the domestic market at the same time, which has created a huge financial pressure on BPC. The new price adjustment has been made to reduce that pressure.

However, the impact of increasing fuel prices may affect the country’s transportation sector. The operating costs of diesel-powered buses, trucks, cargo vehicles and agricultural machinery will increase. If the cost of transporting goods increases, it may also affect the prices of daily necessities. As a result, the impact on the transportation and commodity markets after the new prices come into effect will now become important.