CNG price hike, once again !

To go by the indication given by the finance minister, compressed natural gas (CNG) is likely to have an upward revision of its price within this year. That means its price is all set to go up soon as there remains only one and a half months for the year to draw close. The finance minister argues that price increase of this fuel should stay closer to diesel because the latter acts as a deciding factor for public transport fares. He is right when he contends that buses or trucks mostly use diesel for their fuel. True, the buses on the long routes use diesel but cars and public buses on short routes or in city service have mostly been converted to CNG system of engine. More importantly, the administration has so far failed to implement fare charts on different routes - let alone rationalise the rate of fare. When transport fare is raised on the pretext of upward adjustment of price of any type of fuel -be it diesel or CNG, the whole exercise becomes something free for all and the arbitrary realisation of fare continues. Could the government ensure fixation taxi fare through proper introduction of meters? So the argument that CNG price hike will not have a negative bearing on transport fare is misplaced. In fact, the CNG conversion programme for vehicles, once highly promoted by the government, has run into trouble for the simple reason of non-availability of gas. The programme was undertaken under the false impression that the country's gas reserve was almost limitless. However, with demand for gas rising from power plants, industries and domestic consumers against the backdrop of a dwindling supply of the same, the policymakers soon realized the mistake and took a U-turn as far as promotion of CNG use in motor vehicles was concerned. Since last May, the government has hiked the price of CNG twice from Tk. 16.75 to Tk. 30 a cubic metre. Compared to the general impacts on the economy with special adverse one on the price lines of essential commodities, this is only puny. Cost of transportation of passengers and goods is already high. If it becomes still higher, it will have a negative impact on mobility of people as also on the movement of goods from one place to another. All these, in their turns, affect production and domestic consumption as well as make commodities for import less competitive. Organised sectors like the transport and business circle take full advantage of the situation by unilaterally imposing their terms on the ordinary public who are already reeling under high inflation. Because there is no administrative supervision, the imposition of arbitrary rate of fare and price hike of commodities comes as a further backlash without remedy for the consumers. There is indeed a need for a thorough assessment of the energy sector to know how much gas can be spared for our transport sector and for how long. That should decide the price tag of gas.