Dhaka: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday asked Bangladesh to raise state-regulated fuel prices to avoid serious macroeconomic consequences arising from continuing upward movement in the international oil prices.
"Higher petroleum prices have contributed to rising fuel subsidies which have further burdened the nationalised commercial banks and crowded out much-needed public investment," the bank said in its Bangladesh Quarterly Economic update, which was released yesterday.
Bangladesh, which last raised retail prices in September last year, has been caught by oil prices scaling record highs above $75 a barrel because it imports all its oil needs.
The government is keen to avoid anything that would inflame opposition protests ahead of a parliamentary election due next January, officials and analysts say.
