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Download PDF The advisory committee on economic affairs yesterday held back a proposal for price hike of urea fertiliser and asked the ministries concerned to prepare a comprehensive proposal for possible price increases of gas, petroleum products and electricity.
“The ministries will work together to prepare a proposal for price hike of power, energy and fertiliser, and the council of advisers will decide on it,” Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam told reporters after a meeting of the committee he heads.
“It is an important matter as different sectors like agriculture are related with the price increase. So, we will have to examine the matter holistically,” he said.
The committee also held back a shipping ministry proposal for building the country’s first deep-sea port at Sonadia Island.
Meeting sources said the government is taking time before raising fertiliser price as it may adversely affect agriculture sector. “Government will review all possible impacts of increased prices. So, the matter has been referred to the advisory committee, the highest decision making body,” one source pointed out.
The industries ministry yesterday placed a fresh proposal for urea price hike while a similar proposal by the ministry on June 26 was sent back by the committee.
The June 26 proposal sought to raise urea price to Tk 7,000 per tonne at factory gate, an increase by 51 percent. The ministry yesterday proposed three alternative prices of urea with one being Tk 7,500 for per tonne. “The new proposal has increased the price more as the government is going to hike natural gas prices,” said one source.
On deep-sea port, Mirza Aziz said, “It’s a long term project and if work for deep-sea port starts now it will end in 2055…Besides, if we accept Sonadia island as site, we need another Tk 6-7 crore for study on the site.”
The committee held back the proposal considering all aspects, he added.
Yesterday’s meeting approved a proposal by the civil aviation ministry for leasing an airbus with an option to purchase it after a certain period.
The ministry proposed three options for airbus leasing — the other two only for taking lease.
The finance adviser said it would need $23 million for lease with purchase option and $ 17.5 million for only lease.
“We have approved the option to buy airbus after a period of lease,” he said. Though this will involve an additional expenditure of about $5 million, the committee approved it as the government will own the airbus after 2010.
The advisory body yesterday waived Tk 1.18 crore interest on loans of Modern Karilyn Silk Mills Ltd, a privatised silk factory managed by its employees, on condition that the factory owners will pay Tk 2.37crore outstanding loans in the next three months.
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