Majhar Mannan :
The price of fuel oil has been increased by taka 15 per liter. Bangladesh’s Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources says the price of diesel and kerosene has been increased from taka 65 per liter to taka 80 per liter at the consumer level. The ministry said the price adjustment was due to rising fuel prices in the world market. The ministry said oil prices had been raised to offset losses and to coordinate with the international market. Along with the increase in fuel oil prices, the price of LP gas has also been increased. Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission has increased the price of liquefied petroleum gas or LPG by taka 54 per cylinder. The commission said prices of all types of gas had been adjusted due to rising prices in the international market, especially in Saudi Arabia. The corona epidemic has put many people under economic pressure and many people have lost their jobs and many have lost business. A joint survey by the BRAC Institute of governance and Development and Power and Participation Research Center found that 3 crore 24 lakh people have become poor due to the corona epidemic.
The corona pandemic has put ordinary people under financial pressure, on the other hand, rising commodity prices have made people more uncomfortable, and the rise of fuel prices has really put a lot of pressure and hardship on people. The rise in fuel prices comes as commodity prices continue to rise, and experts say it will increase spending in the transport and agriculture sectors, and could have an impact on the power sector and overall livelihoods of ordinary people.
Experts say that corona stress and adaptation to rising commodity prices, along with rising fuel prices, will add a new kind of pressure on the lives of ordinary people. We have to control the local market by coordinating with the international market, that is, if the price of oil goes up in the international market, then the price of oil in Bangladesh will go up. But experts say the culture of lowering oil prices in our country is not visible when oil prices fall in the international market.
Many power plants in the country are still diesel-powered and this will increase the cost of electricity and at the same time the widespread use of diesel in irrigation across the country will have an adverse effect on agriculture. Along with the increase in diesel prices, the price of kerosene has also been increased and this will have an impact on the poor people of the country. Costs in the service sector will go up a lot and experts say if the price of a product goes up, the price of other products will also go up automatically and this has an impact on the lives of the common people and all the expenses have to be borne by the people. Experts believe that the rise in fuel prices will increase the cost of production of goods, which could effect export competitiveness of domestic products.
The issue of fuel oil prices is directly related to the public interest and to the economy as a whole, including trade and commerce. Experts believe that in the past years, if the price of fuel oil in the country’s market could be effectively adjusted to the international market, the country’s industrial sector, including the service sector, would benefit. Some experts believe that the trend of rising fuel prices in the international market is temporary as the reduction in the global corona virus infection has led to an increase in human movement, which in turn has increased the demand for fuel oil, but they believe that oil prices will fall if the situation returns to normal. The rise in fuel prices is causing discomfort in the transport sector and the ongoing strike in the transport sector has caused various problems to the general public.
However, after the corona epidemic, the entire people of the country have just started returning to their normal lives and such an unfortunate situation is not desirable at the moment. However, everyone believes that the government will take quick and effective steps to solve the problem and at the same time believes that the government will reconsider the issue so that the people do not feel the pressure of rising oil prices. As the price of oil has gone up, the price of daily commodities may go up further, so the government must keep a close watch so that the prices of daily commodities do not go up.
(Majhar Mannan is Assistant Professor, B A F Shaheen College Kurmitola, Dhaka Cantonment).
