The Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) has expressed deep concern over the latest hike in gas tariffs saying it would directly affect the country’s export-oriented industries.
The trade body, in a statement on Saturday, cautioned that the gas price-hike would increase manufacturing cost of the export-oriented industries and erode their competitiveness in the global market.
“The new gas rate will directly affect the edge of the export-oriented industries like ready-made garments, frozen food and fish and plastics.
Earlier, these industries were progressing despite the burden of additional production cost, increasing wages, utility prices and rising transportation cost. The hike in gas prices afresh would add further woes to the export sector,” said the statement.
The trade body also said that the fresh gas price hike is ‘unjustified’ when the export sector is passing a bad time in the face of economic recession in western markets, falling shipments as a result of Brexit vote and rising cost of doing business at home.
“The country’s export sector has already fallen into the risk of losing export market due to rising cost of production. At this moment, an increase in gas rates will pose further challenge to the sector. Now they have to survive by facing tough competition in the world market,” it added. The trade body also pointed out that energy cost is decreasing everywhere in the world following significant drop in global crude oil prices. India, China, Cambodia, Vietnam and Philippines have already revised fuel oil prices downward to pass on the benefit to their manufacturing sectors and consumers.
“But the situation is different in Bangladesh as the government is yet to readjust the fuel oil prices rationally in line with global oil prices. Even, the government is frequently raising domestic energy and utility prices pushing local export sector into tough competition to its global peers,” it observed.
Terming the gas price hike as “death blow” to the export sector, the EAB urged the government to review the decision considering the interest of the country’s industrial sector, consumers and the economy as a whole.
