bdnews24.com : The government has hiked retail power prices by 2.97 percent and gas prices by 26.29 percent that will be effective from Sep 1. Gas supplied to single-burner stoves in households will cost Tk 600 a month and for double-burners, customers will be charged Tk 650. Metered connections will see a rise to Tk 7 per cubic feet from Tk 5.16. CNG at refuelling stations will also become costlier with a Tk 5 rise to Tk 35 per cubic metre. Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission chief AR Khan announced the hikes on Thursday in a news conference at the commission’s office in Karwan Bazar. Gas prices have been hiked for all purposes except for generating power and manufacturing fertilisers. “We received proposals from companies to hike the prices. We held hearings in February, analysed a lot of factors before making the decisions,” Khan said. He defended the hike in gas prices saying, “Nowhere in the world is gas supplied so cheap.” Gas prices were last adjusted on Aug 1, 2009 when the incumbent Awami League government first took office. All retail prices were increased at the time except those for brick kilns and CNG refuelling stations. After Awami League was re-elected into office last year, the new State Minister for Power, Energy and Mines Nasrul Hamid Bipu declared his position for hiking gas prices. Retail power prices were hiked by an average of 6.96 percent in March last year. The five-year tenure of the Awami League government before that saw 11 hikes. The BERC started public hearings from Jan 20 following price hike proposals from distribution companies. Even though the proposals from Bangladesh Power Development Board, Power Grid Company Bangladesh and West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited were evaluated in the hearings, the commission was not giving any decision. Finance Minister AMA Muhith earlier this week said they would be adjusting domestic oil prices with the international market by the end of September. A Wall Street Journal report on Friday said oil prices dropped to its lowest since March 2009 with crude prices down to below $40 a barrel. Although oil prices have been falling in the international market for over a year, the government did not adjust local prices. The last revision was in 2013 where octane was set at Tk 99 per litre, petrol at Tk 97 and kerosene and diesel at Tk 68.
