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The prices were adjusted according to the automatic adjustment system instituted in March
Published : 31 Mar 2024, 04:26 PM
The prices of diesel and kerosene have dropped by Tk 2.25 per litre while the prices of octane and petrol have remained unchanged in the second month of automatic price adjustments.
The prices of diesel and kerosene fell from Tk 108.25 to Tk 106 per litre.
The price of petrol remains at Tk 122 per litre and octane at Tk 126 per litre.
The adjustment was announced in a notice from the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources on Sunday. The prices will take effect at pumps from midnight.
The new prices will cut costs for buses and trucks, which run on diesel but will not have much effect on motorcycles and cars, which primarily run on octane and petrol.
Fuel prices were raised an average of 42 percent in August 2022 in the face of mounting pressure from subsidies. In the face of widespread criticism, the price was eased by Tk 5 per litre 23 days later.
Accordingly, diesel and kerosene were sold at Tk 109 per litre, petrol at Tk 125 per litre and octane at Tk 130 a litre.
The sales price of fuel oil will be adjusted at the consumer level every month in light of the import price according to the new formula, the ministry said.
Though the price of oil fluctuates regularly in the world market, prices in Bangladesh would be slow to react as it would have to wait for a government decision. This would sometimes lead to losses for consumers and, at other times, for the state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation.
A change in the price of fuel oil has a widespread impact on people’s lives by affecting the price of transport and goods. Usually, when there were price hikes in the international market, there would be efforts to raise it locally too. However, when the price decreased in the international market, the benefits were slow to trickle down to consumers.
For a long time, the government had spoken of setting local fuel oil prices in coordination with prices on the international market. Accordingly, on Mar 1, the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources published guidelines for month-to-month price adjustments.
From March, the price of fuel would be determined in coordination with the international market, the guidelines said.
On Mar 7, the Ministry of Energy announced the new price of diesel and kerosene as Tk 108.25 per litre, the price of petrol at Tk 122 per litre, and the price of octane as Tk 126 per litre. The prices took effect the following day.
