PM defends gas price hike, urges people to accept it

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged people to accept the gas price hike without resorting to protests, for the sake of economic development, report agencies.

Hasina made the remarks at a media briefing on Tuesday explaining the rationale for the escalation of gas prices.

"Energy is linked to economic development. Our economic growth is now 8.1 per cent because we paid attention to energy," Hasina said citing provisional GDP data for fiscal 2018-19.

The Prime Minister faced the question from a reporter after she arrived at the Ganobhaban to brief on her five-day long official visit to China.

"The people of the country have to decide first whether they want gas or not," she said responding to the question.

"Despite our success in energy sector, we have to import gas and it costs more as we take liquefied natural gas (LNG)."

"There are two options before us. If we do not raise the gas price, we have to minimise the import of LNG which will surely affect our development."

"If people really want to see economic development, they have to accept price hike."

The price of per cubic metre imported LNG is Tk 61.12 but the government takes only Tk 9.80 for that amount, she explained.

Defending her government from criticism over the issue, Hasina also compared gas prices between India and Bangladesh based on the statistics.

In Bangladesh, the price of per cubic metre LNG is Tk 12.60, Tk 10.70, Tk 43 and Tk 23 for domestic, industry, fuel, and commercial sectors, respectively, while it costs Tk 30-37, Tk 40-42, Tk 44, Tk 58-65 for each sector in India.

The Prime Minister also pledged to boost provisional GDP rate from 8.2 per cent to 10 per cent by 2024.

The Prime Minister came down heavily on US Congressman and Chairman of the Asia and Pacific Subcommittee Brad Sherman for his proposal to incorporate Rakhine State of Myanmar into Bangladesh, terming it 'fulsome and unjust'.

"Uttering such words is very much fulsome and unjust," she said while responding to a question.

The Prime Minister said Bangladesh is happy with its areas of 54,000 square miles or 147,000 square kilometres.

"We fully reject the proposal to include other country's border in our territory or attach a province of another country. Every country has to remain happy with its own sovereignty and Myanmar will be the same," she said.

Sheikh Hasina questioned about the intention of the US Congressman's proposal. "They might be a very big country and he is the congressman of that country, but do they forget their past history where there were civil wars in their country? They should not forget their past. How do they say that the past will not be repeated in the future?" she said.

The Prime Minister also said many incidents are taking place every day in Rakhine State. "Why should Bangladesh attach that kind of problematic area to it after knowing all these?"

"We'll never do that. Myanmar is our neighbour and we're sheltering Rohingyas on humanitarian grounds. But sheltering them doesn't mean that we'll include one part of their country," she said.

Hasina mentioned that Bangladesh does not have that kind of mentality. "Every country will stay with its own sovereignty... I want that," she said.

She also said the US congressman should propose that Myanmar has to take back their nationals from Bangladesh. "That's the thing the congressman should do. That will be a humanitarian matter. This is not right to create anarchy inside any country," she said.

The Prime Minister also mentioned that wherever the US puts their hands, fire engulfs every place of it. "There's no peace anywhere (where they got involved); rather this gave rise to militancy and anarchy in those areas," she added.

She said countries of the region are trying to stay in a peaceful atmosphere. "Their efforts to ignite fire in this region aren't accepted," she said.

During a budget hearing, US Congressman Brad Sherman on June 13 said if the Myanmar government is reluctant to establish good governance to save its Rohingya community and if they do not want to provide security to the Rohingya people living at the northern parts of Rakhine state or unable to do so, then the Rohingya majority area of the state should be incorporated with Bangladesh.

He also said the US should support the proposal to annex Rakhine to Bangladesh that is also a demand for the people of the area.

Mentioning that the external debt is only around 14 per cent of the country's GDP, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh is alert enough so that it does fall into any debt trap.

"We're careful enough about the debt trap. Our foreign debt burden is not a very heavy one. Our debt is only around 14 per cent of our GDP. We're paying the (foreign loan) installments timely without any default," she said.