Bangladesh seeks $2b in emergency energy support
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Wednesday appealed to international development partners for urgent financial assistance of $2 billion to address Bangladesh’s immediate energy needs and to help prevent further pressure on the country’s fragile macroeconomic stability.
Speaking at the Asia Zero Emission Community Plus Online Summit, Tarique Rahman underlined the urgency of the situation, warning that the ongoing global energy crisis had exposed deep vulnerabilities in developing economies and required swift and coordinated international action.
“The situation before us demands urgency, solidarity, and decisive action,” Tarique Rahman said, urging the international community to respond “swiftly and positively” to Bangladesh’s appeal.
He stressed that support for the most vulnerable countries should be prioritised within any global response framework.
Framing the crisis as a shared global challenge, the Prime Minister cautioned that no nation—regardless of economic strength — could navigate the current turbulence alone.
He called for a for ward-looking, regionally coordinated Asian strategy to strengthen energy security, reduce supply disruptions, and protect the most exposed economies.
Tarique Rahman noted that Bangladesh had already begun to feel the impact of the crisis, with energy shortages disrupting industrial production and raising concerns over inflationary pressures and economic growth.
In response, the government has introduced a series of short-term measures aimed at containing the situation.
These include rationing operating hours for government offices and markets to reduce demand, securing emergency fuel imports while diversifying supply sources, and introducing consumption controls to discourage hoarding and panic buying.
Among the measures highlighted was the deployment of digital tools, including a “Fuel App”, designed to regulate retail fuel distribution and improve transparency in supply management.
Despite these interventions, Tarique Rahman warned that the scale of the crisis could exceed the impact of the 1970s oil shock, a period that triggered prolonged economic stagnation in many developing countries.
He cautioned that Bangladesh’s decades-long progress in poverty reduction and economic growth since independence in 1971 now faces a “real threat of reversal”.
“Today, these hard-won gains are in danger,” he said, adding that Bangladesh could not overcome the crisis through domestic measures alone.
The Prime Minister called for decisive global action to shield vulnerable economies, particularly Least Developed Countries (LDCs), from what he described as severe economic and social consequences of the energy crunch.
Tarique Rahman also expressed appreciation to Sanae Takaichi for convening the summit, which brought together regional leaders including Anwar Ibrahim, as well as representatives from Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Timor-Leste.
The summit concluded with remarks from Takaichi, who reiterated the need for enhanced regional cooperation to advance energy transition and strengthen resilience.
Tarique Rahman delivered his address from his office at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, in the presence of Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman and Foreign Affairs Adviser M Humayun Kabir, signalling Dhaka’s intent to place energy security at the forefront of its diplomatic and economic agenda.
