The Bangladesh government has ruled out a cut in oil prices now despite sharp drop in petroleum prices in world market.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said that the government has no plan to reduce oil prices for now as Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) may face a loss in the next fiscal year if international market prices continue to rise.
He said the taka-to-dollar exchange rate is also increasing regularly.
He said BPC still owed the government 274.20bn taka in loans as it incurred losses earlier selling fuel at subsidised rates.
The government slashed prices twice, on April 1 and 25, last year following a slump in the international market, he noted.
Replying to a question, Nasrul said the Norwegian government has no investment in the coal-fired Rampal power plant project.
“The Exim Bank of India is investing in the project which has no relation with the Norwegian government. It is their (Exim Bank) consideration whether they will take assistance from Norway’s sovereign wealth fund in the project,” he added.
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, has taken Indian industrial giant Bharat Heavy Electricals out of its investment portfolio due to environmental concerns, the Norwegian central bank said on May 5.
Bharat Heavy Electricals has been targeted because it is building the coal-fired power plant near the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove
forests.
Nasrul Hamid
