COUNTRY’S leading business leaders have urged the government not to increase the electricity and gas tariffs as what they said would further increase the cost of doing business and make it impossible to maintain competitiveness and turn-around from the pandemic related losses. Calling it a “suicidal decision” for business, they said it would further create multidimensional inflation which would have a negative impact on the lives of the people.
Leaders of the apex trade body — Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries — made the reaction in response to the technical evaluation committee of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission’s (BERC) recent recommendation for hiking the price of gas by 20 per cent and the bulk electricity prices by 58 per cent amid opposition from the opposition activists.
Meanwhile, the news about the BERC technical committee recommendation has stirred up grave concern among the consumers who are now amid a hard time, as far as the living cost is concerned. No matter what the official statistics say about the rate of inflation, people are paying through the nose for almost everything. With their back to the wall, they are apprehending yet another round of increases in commodity prices in the event of a hike in both the utility services rates.
Energy experts and representatives of consumer rights platforms urged the government not to increase gas and electricity tariffs as they believe the proposed tariffs are irrational. Instead, they suggested to the authorities concerned that they should enhance their capacity, ensure transparency, halt corruption and reduce system losses, in order to compensate for the additional expenses. They also asked the corporations to stop unnecessary spending and misuses. Highlighting the Russia-Ukraine war and the global context, they said the higher inflation had already made the people’s lives miserable.
Admittedly, the government is caught in a double bind. If it hikes the power tariff, almost all other sectors of the economy, including industry and agriculture, will be hurt. And if it stays away from a raise, the volume of subsidy on power in the next budget will soar further. So-called capacity payments to private power plants have been eating up a sizable chunk of the subsidy money. Public sector power plants, having the capacity to generate power at low cost, are allegedly often taken out of the stream to distribute benefits to their private counterparts. We think the government should opt for drilling more on and offshore gas fields to help generate electricity. If gas becomes pricier, that will push up the power tariff as well.
