Will reducing fuel oil price benefit people at all?
The government increased the price of fuel oil and diesel by Tk 34 per litre and reduced it by Tk 5 only. The notification issued on 29 August said that diesel and kerosene will be sold at Tk 109 per litre instead of Tk 114. Petrol will be sold at Tk 125 instead of Tk 130 and octane at Tk 130 instead of Tk 135.
Diesel and kerosene prices were increased by Tk 34 per litre and petrol and octane by Tk 46 from 6 August. After that the transport fare increased by a maximum of 22 per cent. Earlier, the price of diesel and kerosene was increased by Tk 15 per litre last November.
At that time also the transport fare was increased by about 27 per cent. In addition to this, the prices of almost all daily necessities including food items have also increased at a significant rate. Farmers are in dire straits due to the increase in the price of diesel used for irrigation.
Due to the increase in diesel prices, the cost of electricity in irrigation has also increased. On the other hand, the price of fertiliser has also been increased by Tk 6 per kg. There have been media reports that some farmers are using ash due to fertiliser crunch.
How can we explain this decision of the government? Have the demands of people been considered through this? Will people benefit from it at all? The National Board of Revenue reduced the import duty on diesel from 10 per cent to 5 per cent and withdrew the 5 per cent advance duty.
If we take that as a standard, the price of fuel oil could have been reduced by at least 10 per cent. According to M Tamim, special assistant on energy to the chief advisor of the former caretaker government, there is no justification for a reduction of Tk 5. It could be at least Tk 10. Transport owners will not reduce fares. The extra money will go into the traders' pockets. There will be no political advantage to the government. The government's decision that has no impact on public life is nothing but a farce.
The government policy makers themselves admit that the people are suffering due to the increase in fuel prices. But the government's latest decision does not prove that the government has the initiative to alleviate the suffering. When the price of fuel oil was increased in the country, the price of fuel oil in the international market was US$ 134. Currently, that oil is selling for US$ 118. The prices in the international market are dropping. It can be assumed that it will decrease further in the coming days.
In this situation, even if the price of fuel oil is reduced by Tk 5 per litre, it will not have any effect in reality. People had to spend Tk 34 per litre more for the last 23 days and now they will have to spend Tk 29 more to buy oil.
Economists were demanding not to increase the price of diesel used in agriculture since the beginning. At that time, the government said that they were forced to increase the price of diesel due to the increase in the price in the international market. If the price falls in the international market, the price will be adjusted in the country as well. But what the government did in the name of price adjustment, there are enough reasons to consider that nothing but a mockery of the people suffering from price hike.