Now jet fuel price hiked
Air travellers will have to pay more as Padma Oil Company, a subsidiary of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, has increased the jet fuel prices for the 11th time in the last 13 months.
Jet fuel now costs Tk 77 per litre, meaning the government agency has hiked the price by 67 percent since October last year, according to airline officials.
The development comes at a time when the aviation industry is bouncing back from the troughs it hit for the global coronavirus pandemic with the relaxation of travel restrictions.
Air travel will inevitably get costlier as a consequence and it is the passengers who will have to shoulder the burden at the end of the day, said Kamrul Islam, general manager of public relations at US-Bangla Airlines.
Different airlines around the world are getting support from their governments to stay afloat during the Covid-19 period.
"When we need support from the government on an emergency basis, the BPC has been increasing the jet fuel price regularly in the last one year," he said, adding that fuel costs account for 40 to 46 percent of an airline's operation outlays.
The jet fuel price is higher in Bangladesh than elsewhere in the region and this hike will make survival even more challenging for the two private airlines, said Kazi Wahidul Alam, an aviation expert and editor of Weekly Monitor, a travel magazine.
"Our government has done nothing so far to ensure the aviation industry survives the pandemic storm. Instead, it has increased jet fuel price without any logical reason," he said.
But Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal disagrees.
"It is completely reasonable," he said at a virtual briefing after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase yesterday.
The government provided as much subsidy as it could on the fuel price, so the rest of the burden has to be borne by the public.
"Judge yourself. Where will the government get money? The government has to spend by collecting revenue – the government does not print money. It is the international market that has caused the fuel price hike -- the government has not done anything."
Fuel accounts for only 40 per cent of the cost of operating a bus, according to a study by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD). But due to the 23 percent hike in diesel price, the bus fare has been increased by 28 percent, which actually should have a 10 percent hike, according to the CPD.
When prodded on the matter, Kamal said: "I will talk to the concerned ministry on how the fare has been calculated. I will come up with a detailed answer in the next meeting."
Asked if there is any scope to reconsider the decision on the hike in fuel price and transport fares, he said: "I don't think the government has abruptly increased the price."
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