BANGLADESH

LPG prices raised again

The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission has increased the price of liquefied petroleum gas, widely used in households, by Tk 62 for a 12-kilogram cylinder at the consumer level.

In a virtual program, BERC made the announcement on Thursday noon (February 3).

Experts warned that the price hike of the item, used mainly for cooking, would further push up the already-high inflation.

A cylinder of 12-kg LPG will now cost Tk 1,240 up from Tk 1,178 set on February 2021.

The new price will be effective from 6:00 pm on Thursday (February 3).

The price of cylindered LPG, marketed by the state-owned LP Gas Limited, will, however, remain unchanged, said the BERC while fixing the prices for the month of February.

The average monthly demand for LPG on the local market is around 8.3 lakh tonnes, some 95 per cent of which is met through imports, mainly from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The state –owned company supplies the rest 5 per cent.

There are two dozen private companies that bottle imported LPG, the demand for which is on the rise because of the government policy of discouraging piped gas.

Consumers Association of Bangladesh member Shamsul Alam told new Age on Thursday that the hike in the price of LPG would raise living costs.

The low- and fixed-income groups will be most affected, he said.

He noted that these groups have already been under tremendous pressure to meet their daily needs against the backdrop of the hike in fuel oils prices and the Covid pandemic.

The point-to-point inflation in December 2021 hit the 13-month high at 6.05 per cent following the rises in the prices of diesel and kerosene in November.

In November 2021, the government raised the prices of kerosene and diesel by Tk 15 per litre.

In October 2020, the general inflation was recorded at 6.44 per cent by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Former Bangladesh Bank governor Salehuddin Ahmed has, meanwhile, cautioned that containing inflation at a tolerable level would be difficult for the government in the coming months.

A meeting of the of the Coordination Council on Budget and Resources, headed by finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, on December 22, 2021  decided to increase the inflation rate to  5.5 per cent in the current fiscal year from the projected 5.3 per cent due to the price hike of imported commodities and their impact on the local market.

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