Gas prices set to rise by 17-20pc
The government is set to increase the gas prices by 17-20 percent at the consumer level, according to Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission sources.
BERC will announce the new rates of natural gas at a virtual press conference at 3:00pm today, said a BERC press release issued yesterday.
A BERC official, preferring not to be named, said the commission was going to increase the prices by 17-20 percent on average. They added the BERC had recently sent a proposal to the prime minister to that end.
Homes with single-burner stoves could be paying Tk 980-1,050 a month and those with double-burner stoves Tk 1,080 to Tk 1,100. They now pay Tk 925 and Tk 975.
In January, state-owned gas distribution companies asked the BERC for an average of 117 percent hike in prices. Apart from this, the state-owned Bangladesh Oil, Gas, and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) also placed a separate proposal asking to increase the bulk price of natural gas.
The BERC held a public hearing on the proposals from March 21 to 24.
Its technical evaluation committee had recommended a 20 percent price hike on average at the hearing. But a consumer rights organisations placed alternate options to hiking the price.
The Consumers Association of Bangladesh and some business organisations, including the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries, urged the government not to hike the prices when people are struggling with inflation.
The price of natural gas was last increased in July 2019.
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