The government on Wednesday dismissed any possibility of price hike of fuel oils while panic buying of the items amid short supply continued causing long queues at filling stations in the capital Dhaka and other cities in the country.
A special meeting held on the day at the secretariat in the capital in the wake of the current war disrupting energy supply from the Gulf region, home to 50 per cent of the global output, made the decision of not hiking the prices of the items.
Chaired by prime minister Tarique Rahman, the meeting considered possible adverse impacts of any price hike of the energy items on essential commodities for making the decision.
Price hike of energy items would push up inflation further while the general inflation has been maintaining upward swing for the fifth consecutive month and reached at 9.13 per cent in February, the highest over the past 10 months.
The meeting also decided to enhance awareness programme to prevent consumers from hoarding fuel oils and panic buying.
Directives have been given to distribute leaflets and campaign through the social and electronic media to highlight the necessity of preventing hoarding and panic buying.
Talking to reporters after the special meeting at the secretariat, information and broadcasting minister Zahir Uddin Swapan blamed misinformation being spread on traditional media and social media for the panic buying, creating pressure on the government.
He urged the media personnel to raise awareness against panic buying.
State minister for information and broadcasting Yeaser Khan Choudhury, adviser to the ministry Zahed Ur Rahman and information and broadcasting secretary Mahbuba Farjana were present.
Zahir Uddin Swapan ruled out any shortage of fuel oils in the country. He also ruled out any possibility of facing a shortage.
The country has stocks of fuel oils for about a month, said cabinet secretary Nasimul Ghani at a briefing at the Press Information Department after a cabinet meeting, also chaired by Tarique Rahman at the secretariat.
Normally the stock is maintained for a fortnight, he said, adding that the government was taking steps to further increase fuel reserves to ensure stability amid the ongoing international energy crisis.
Bangladesh imported about 62 lakh tonnes of fuel oils in 2024–25, about 63 per cent of which was diesel and 12 per cent petrol and octane with 20 per cent of the overall amount coming from the Gulf region directly and the rest 80 per cent from India, China, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
Zahir Uddin Swapan, however, admitted that there had been a disruption in the global energy trade because of closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the joint-attack by the United States and Israel on Iran and retaliation by Tehran over the past 24 days.
The minister and the state minister for power, energy and mineral resources, on the direction of the prime minister, are handling the overall situation, added Zahir Uddin.
A meeting of the cabinet committee on government purchase, chaired by finance and planning minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury approved purchase of two cargoes of liquefied natural gas from spot market to ensure energy supply to power plants ahead of the peak summer.
Total Energies Gas and Power Ltd of the United Kingdom will supply cargoes, the 10th and the 11th one under the current calendar year, in the last week of the next month.
Each MMBtu costs $19.77, almost double than the price for per unit before the war broke out.
On Wednesday, the long queues for fuel oils by consumers at different city pumps persisted as demand for the items was still high because of uncertainty over the ending of war.
Besides, consumers said filling stations were rationing the items although the government lifted it on March 15 after introducing on March 6.
Officials of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, the lone state-owned fuel oils importer and distributor, have dismissed allegations by the filling station owners’ association of short supply.
The BPC supplied the same quantity of fuel oils to a filling station it had received on the same day in the previous calendar year, they said.
For March 23–25, the BPC is supplying 12,777 tonnes of diesel, 1,496 tonnes of petrol and 1,193 tonnes of octane daily.
