Govt. backtracks on fuel price cut
We are taken aback by the government decision not to slash fuel prices after all! This is very awkward, particularly because the finance minister had announced earlier that fuel prices would be reduced phase by phase. The rationale offered by the state minister for power and energy on January 17 was that fuel prices were showing an upward trend in the global market. The argument is a fig leaf. We would like to point out that when the prices of fuel were pegged, it was done when the cost per barrel was above USD 100 and the price was not cut until it had fallen to the USD 40 mark, and that too after a lot of hue-and-cry from all quarters. The price is suspected to rise up to USD 60 very soon, which even then would be well below the mark that was used to determine the fuel price in Bangladesh.
To quote a World Bank forecast of the rise of fuel price for the next one year is very expedient for the government to not slash prices. The fact that the BPC has been making bumper profits selling fuel at inflated prices is not lost upon anyone. The benefits of slashing fuel prices on the economy have been discussed umpteen times and there is no need to repeat that argument. We would, however, like to restate that there is no merit in keeping fuel prices high so that BPC may keep reaping windfall profits while the poor and the middle class are ripped off. We urge the government strongly to reconsider its decision not to slash prices.
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