The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has again hiked the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), widely used in households for cooking as well as in cars.
The price of a 12kg cylinder sold by private operators has been increased by Tk1,240 from Tk1,178, BERC announced on Thursday before adding that the new retail price will be effective from 6pm.
Prices for other capacities of LPG cylinders will also go up in line with the new price at the same ratio, UNB quoted it as saying.
The price of autogas for cars has also gone up to Tk57.51 from Tk54.95 per litre.
BERC Chairman Abdul Jalil said the price of retail LPG has witnessed the rise as the Saudi contract price (CP) has increased globally due to Covid-19 and also due to the brewing tensions between Ukraine and Russia.
"Saudi CP will go up to $775 from the previous price of $420 per metric ton. Bangladesh's private LPG operators buy the bulk LPG on the basis of the Saudi CP," he told reporters at a virtual briefing.
The BERC chairman said the price of the state-owned LP Gas Company's LPG will remain unchanged as it has no relations with the global market price.
According to industry insiders, the Saudi CP is normally announced at the end of every month to make it effective for the next month, and it takes 7-10 days for a shipment of the fuel to arrive in the country.
Most Bangladeshi private companies import their bulk LPG from the Middle East on the basis of Saudi CP and sell it locally.
The BERC, for the first time, fixed the retail-level LPG price on April 12 after holding a public hearing to comply with a High Court order.
Imran Hassan, general secretary of the Bangladesh Restaurant Owners Association (BROA), said that the rising price of LPG will have a devastating effect on the country's restaurant business.
"We are in the middle of an attempt to recover from the losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but now the whole process could be thwarted," he added.
Hassan also said that about 70% of the restaurants of the country depend on LPG, 20% on fuel wood, and 10% on natural gas supplied by Titas Gas.
"Titas Gas has not installed new supplies to restaurants for many years. Now LPG traders exclusively sell the product, and as the price of LPG has gone up, another catastrophe awaits the country's restaurant sector," he further said.
Zahid Hussain, former lead economist of the World Bank's Bangladesh office, said that at the moment, the rise of the LPG prices will have a negative impact on public life.
In the meantime, the price of many necessary products has been increasing for the last few months.
Now people will face another round of inflation due to the increasing price of LPG, he added.
Hussain also said that the authorities should not have increased the price right now.
"There are many apartments in the capital, who have not received gas connection yet. They are usually dependent on LPG. Moreover, a large population of the small towns and villages are dependent on LPG," he added.