ADB presses for energy price hike

Bangladesh, Feb 12 (bdprem.com) - The Asian Development Bank said Tuesday it wanted Bangladesh to increase the prices of oil, gas and electricity to cut subsidies to the energy sector. Your Ad Here ADB's resident mission chief Hua Du said it was up to the government how much and when it would adjust the prices. She made the comment to reporters after a meeting with finance adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam at the Ministry of Finance. The mission chief said the government should increase the prices to ease the pressure on the economy brewing over the huge subsidies currently going to the energy sector. Hua Du stressed that the government should stay cautious in allocating subsidies such that the poor and farmers benefit the most from the financial support. The Manila-based agency has been a long-time partner of Bangladesh in developing the energy sector, and the agency is optimistic about continued efforts to implement a package scheme, she said. Hua Du led a three-member expert committee of the bank to the meeting with the adviser. The committee is in Dhaka to assess the prospect of the package scheme, she said. The finance adviser said the ADB wanted to fund the energy sector under the package scheme. "We have discussed the matter in the meeting," Azizul told reporters. He said the country would need to go for alternative energy sources to prevent depletion of gas reserves. Azizul said coal was the better option, and the ADB in particular wants to inject money to the sector. "We didn't take any decision on coal yet. Once the coal policy is final, we will take a decision," Azizul said. An expert committee had already prepared a draft of the coal policy, which would be finalised after scrutiny, he said. "The policy will be produced before the council of advisers for approval," he said.