Fuel Price Surge Deemed Unfair to Public

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DHAKA – Bangladesh’s recent fuel price hike is an unjust decision that betrays democratic principles and will inflict severe hardship on the nation’s low-income majority, according to Professor M. Shamsul Alam, Energy Advisor to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB). He argued that the government’s move, implemented despite a significant drop in global oil prices, demonstrates a fundamental failure in considering public welfare and analytical judgment.

Professor Alam highlighted the puzzling timing of the decision, noting that global oil prices had steadily declined from $120 to around $90 per barrel following a ceasefire in the Middle East. He questioned the rationale behind increasing domestic fuel costs when international market trends suggested the opposite, describing it as a continuation of how the ruling Awami League government has historically operated the energy sector.

The government’s claim of maintaining fuel reserves offers no tangible benefit to the public, Professor Alam asserted. He pointed to widespread public suffering, with citizens enduring long queues for fuel under extreme heat, and challenged the government to articulate how such a price hike genuinely serves the public’s welfare.

A truly democratic government must prioritize the well-being of its people and act in a pro-people manner, Professor Alam emphasized. He contended that the energy sector has consistently been a source of deprivation, oppression, plundering, and torment for the populace.

With 80% of Bangladesh’s population comprising low-income individuals, Professor Alam argued that most citizens simply cannot afford the luxury of private sector services or an affluent lifestyle. He expressed disappointment that in a time of crisis, the government’s actions had failed to provide solace, hope, or positive examples for the people.

If he were in power, Professor Alam declared, his first act would be to erase the “stigma of profiteering” from the government’s reputation by charging citizens only the cost price for fuel. He lamented the extensive privatization and import dependence of the entire fuel, energy, and electricity sectors.

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He detailed how the nation, once protecting its own oil and gas resources, has now shifted to creating lucrative import businesses for various domestic and international groups. This shift, he claimed, has led to “horrendous profits” for these entities and an unsustainable increase in costs, leaving the country “deprived, hungry, and fasting,” with its economy “almost at the bottom.”

The ripple effect of the fuel price hike would be catastrophic, Professor Alam warned, leading to an increase in the cost of everything, including agricultural and industrial production.

He criticized the government’s lack of market control, citing examples where official LPG prices are not enforced, leaving consumers to pay higher rates. Regulatory bodies such as the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), the Competition Commission, the Directorate of Consumer Rights, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), and Petrobangla are all “inactive and paralyzed,” he stated.

Such paralysis within key regulatory institutions effectively renders the government itself inoperative, Professor Alam concluded. He questioned how an economy operating under these conditions could be deemed functional, sustain a 9 trillion taka budget, or achieve a 3.48% growth rate.

Professor Alam delivered a stark warning: if the country’s economists, the government, and politicians fail to grasp the “terrible consequences” of this situation and do not treat it as a national disaster, Bangladesh is merely steps away from bankruptcy.