Govt to decide whether oil prices to be cut or not: BPC chairman

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) Chairman ABM Azad (NDC) said that the government will decide whether the price of fuel oil in the country's market will be reduced or not.

He said this while talking to reporters at the BPC office on Monday.

He said that the reduction of VAT-tax on the price of oil is being studied to what extent the cost will be reduced. However, the government will decide whether the price will be reduced in the retail market.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Sunday waived off all types of advance tax on diesel. Besides, the import duty has been reduced to 5 percent from 10 percent.

When asked whether the price of diesel will decrease in this situation, the BPC chairman said, “The price of diesel is still 132 dollars per barrel, which is Tk9:50 to Tk10 per liter more than our selling price.”

He said, “It will take two to three days to analyze how much the cost will be reduced due to the reduction of advance tax and import duty. The Energy Division will decide whether this facility will reach the consumer level.”

In response to a question regarding fuel oil samples brought from Russia, the BPC chairman said that only a very small amount of oil was brought from Russia for lab testing. It has nothing to do with import.

Meanwhile, he said that the strike of petrol pump owners on August 31 has been postponed.