Bangladesh’s retail fuel prices have been hiked to levels not seen since the country’s independence in 1971.
The government Friday night hiked the fuel prices by up to 51.7 per cent with effect from Saturday, reports Xinhua news agency.
According to a notification from the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, a liter of octane now costs 135 taka ($1.43), which is 51.7 percent higher than the previous rate of 89 taka ($0.94).
The prices of diesel and kerosene have been increased by 42.5 per cent to 114 taka ($1.20) per liter.
Also, each liter of petrol now costs 130 taka ($1.37), a rise of 44 taka or 51.1 percent, said the press release.
Officials said the latest 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, they said.
Experts warned the move would worsen inflation, which increased to 7.56 per cent in June, the highest in about nine years.
