Bangladesh hikes fuel prices to highest in history-Xinhua

Bangladesh hikes fuel prices to highest in history

Source: Xinhua| 2022-08-06 14:56:30|Editor: huaxia

DHAKA, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's retail fuel prices have been hiked to levels not seen since the country's independence in 1971.

The Bangladeshi government Friday night hiked the fuel prices by up to 51.7 percent with effect from Saturday.

According to a price notification from the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, a liter of octane now costs 135 taka (1.43 U.S. dollars), which is 51.7 percent higher than the previous rate of 89 taka (0.94 dollars).

The prices of diesel and kerosene have been increased by 42.5 percent to 114 taka (1.20 dollars) per liter.

Also, each liter of petrol now costs 130 taka (1.37 dollars), a rise of 44 taka or 51.1 percent, said the press release.

Officials said the latest price hikes at the retail level were inevitable to reduce the subsidy burden on state-run distribution companies.

Also, fuel prices in the international market are much higher than that in Bangladesh.

Experts said the fuel price hike would worsen inflation, which increased to 7.56 percent in June, the highest rate in about nine years.

EXPLORE XINHUANET