Govt yet to decide on raising energy prices

The interim government is yet to decide whether energy prices will be increased, said Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, adviser to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources. 

Khan said he was not the authority to raise gas price and proposals have been sent to Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) for further consultation, while views must also be availed from industry people.

This is a conflicting issue because the industries need gas, but at the same time the government also needs to reduce the subsidy burden, he said.

The adviser was responding to a query of a journalist at a roundtable on "FDI Ecosystem to Boost Sustainable Economic Growth" organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) at The Westin Dhaka on Monday.

Businesspeople from both America and Bangladesh, government high ups, diplomats, leaders of different business chambers and trade bodies and experts attended the roundtable.

The adviser said he was not the authority to raise gas price and proposals have been sent to the BERC for further consultation

The industry people, especially spinning mills, have been complaining over the last few years about inadequate gas supply severely affecting production, causing most to run at just 50 percent capacity.

Bangladesh has been having to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) as local supplies of natural gas can hardly meet the demand of industrial units.

There is no easy solution when it comes to gas prices and supplies may not improve in the short- term, but there are plans to import more LNG to meet industrial demand, said Khan.

Many suggest increasing supplies to industrial units by limiting that to refuelling stations and homes, but that will put transportation and cooking in difficulties, he said.

The LNG is imported at Tk 70 per unit and sold at Tk 30 to industries, for which Tk 30,000 crore has to be paid a year in power sector subsidies while Tk 20,000 crore in gas supply, he said.

Some bottlenecks within the government must be removed to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI), said Lutfey Siddiqi, the chief adviser's special envoy on international affairs.

He said they were working with various ministries and regulatory bodies to develop a culture that supports foreign investment, not as regulators, but as facilitators, according to a statement from AmCham.

The statement quoted both Khan and Siddiqi as saying that the business community would soon be able to avail a better One Stop Service (OSS) portal of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority, which would help resolve current grievances.

The duo encouraged business to continue to share their challenges and suggestions to foster a more conducive environment for FDI.

Eric Walker, vice-president of AmCham and president of Chevron, Peter D Haas, strategic adviser at Excelerate Energy and former US ambassador to Bangladesh, and Md Habibur Rahman Bhuiyan, country manager of Excelerate Bangladesh, also spoke.