No fuel price cut for now

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid yesterday said 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 continued to rise.

Reading out scripted answers following lawmakers' queries in parliament, he said the taka to dollar exchange rate was also increasing regularly.

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Global market prices have been rising for the last one year, he said, adding that the lowest price was seen in January 2016 when the average cost per barrel was US$ 33.85, rising to US$ 66.03 in April 2017.

He said BPC still owed the government Tk 27,419.81 crore 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 supplementary 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 Ltd out of its investment portfolio due to environmental concerns, the Norwegian central bank said on May 5.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd has been targeted because it is building the coal-fired power plant near the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forests.

To another query, he said army personnel have been deployed in 10 important power plants.