Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said there will be no fuel crisis in Bangladesh and the supply of oil will continue.
The prime minister made the remarks in response to a question from Natore-1 constituency MP Md Shahidul Islam in the parliament on Wednesday.
Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury presided over the meeting.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said it would be possible to meet demand for 30-35 days with current fuel oil reserves, adding that restocking fuel reserves was a continuous process.
There is a six-month contract to collect fuel oil from abroad, she added.
The current contract expires in December.
Two ships carrying fuel oil will arrive in the country within 30 to 35 days to continue the supply of fuel oil in the country.
The leader of the house said that, as of August 16, fuel oil reserves in the country included 620,148 tons of refined oil and 81,846 tons of crude oil.
In response to another question from Jatiya Party lawmaker Mashiur Rahman Ranga, the prime minister said the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war together had a negative impact on the country’s balance of payments.
She added that her government had shown remarkable success in keeping both the budget deficit and debt levels at bearable levels for the past 14 years.
“It has been possible to keep the budget deficit within 5% of GDP despite various domestic and international economic problems, including the pandemic,” she said, mentioning that the debt to GDP ratio was also at a comfortable level.
She said Bangladesh’s debt to GDP ratio was at 34% at the end of FY2021-22, which is well below the international debt status threshold for Bangladesh.
She also highlighted the various steps taken by the government to deal with the ongoing economic situation.
In response to a question from Jatiya Party lawmaker from Dhaka Syed Abu Hossain, the prime minister there was no electricity crisis in the country as Bangladesh has the capacity to generate enough to meet demand.
She stressed that the current situation was the result of global fuel shortages due to the crisis in Ukraine.
Sheikh Hasina added that the country would have to continue austerity measures and scheduled load shedding for the time being to conserve fuel.
She also hoped that additional electricity added to the grid with the upcoming launch of new coal-fired power plants would allow the government to withdraw the load shedding measures.
