Govt granted three months by IMF to implement automated fuel pricing
Sources said that the government is not willing to increase the prices of fuel oil before the elections, and that is why it appealed for more time from the IMF
The government has been granted three months by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to implement the automatic price formula for fuel oil in a bid to adjust prices in line with the world market.
A delegation of the global lender agreed to the time extension during a meeting with the Finance Secretary Khairuzzaman Mozumder last night, said officials of the Finance Division.
Earlier, the government was supposed to introduce an automatic system of fuel oil pricing in coordination with international rates by the end of next December.
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Sources said that the government is not willing to increase the prices of fuel oil before the elections, and that is why it appealed for more time from the IMF.
Officials at the finance ministry said that the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation has meanwhile prepared a formula and submitted it to the Energy Division, referring to pricing every three months or one month. Once implemented, the price of fuel oil will increase by Tk10-15 per litre.
However, the government will not initiate such a decision that increases the price of fuel ahead of the parliamentary polls.
The new pricing formula is due to be implemented as a condition of the IMF's $4.7 billion loan.
