The government can cut subsidies without raising energy prices, as prescribed by the International Monetary Fund, the Consumers Association of Bangladesh has said.
To back its claim, the association has proposed 13 recommendations, including focus on transparency, frugality and effective management.
CAB‘s Energy Adviser M Shamsul Alam said at a press conference on Thursday that an IMF team visiting Bangladesh under its loan programme recommended adjusting supply costs by raising prices to withdraw subsidies from gas and fertiliser during a meeting with Finance Division officials on Apr 25.
“They have advised using the money from the subsidies in social safety programmes. The Finance Division said the government will give sufficient subsidies to agriculture, keeping in mind food security. It is understood that they are not considering energy security.
“Don’t they understand that food security can’t be ensured without energy security? We think it is possible to withdraw subsidies without raising energy prices,” Shamsul said.
He described the exorbitant cost of energy supply as “looting” and said the IMF did not recommend putting an end to such malpractices in the sector, which could save Tk 400 billion.
“The IMF will never do it because it is setting a loan trap for the government to turn Bangladesh into an import market of power and fuel,” he alleged.
The CAB adviser predicts the government will soon raise power prices. “People will be plundered. They will never get energy justice.”
Shamsul said many countries sank under loans from the World Bank and the IMF, but there is no example of any country being saved by lenders’ credit programmes.
“Please do not overburden people to meet their [IMF’s] conditions. You’ve [government] done this wrong many times, but don’t repeat it.”
CAB President Ghulam Rahman said the IMF should not have recommended raising energy prices without examining if there were any alternatives.
Former Dhaka University Professor MM Akash, and Prof Ijaz Hossain, a former teacher of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, also spoke at the press conference.
The 13 recommendations by CAB are:
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The government can cut subsidies without raising energy prices, as prescribed by the International Monetary Fund, the Consumers Association of Bangladesh has said.
To back its claim, the association has proposed 13 recommendations, including focus on transparency, frugality and effective management.
CAB‘s Energy Adviser M Shamsul Alam said at a press conference on Thursday that an IMF team visiting Bangladesh under its loan programme recommended adjusting supply costs by raising prices to withdraw subsidies from gas and fertiliser during a meeting with Finance Division officials on Apr 25.
“They have advised using the money from the subsidies in social safety programmes. The Finance Division said the government will give sufficient subsidies to agriculture, keeping in mind food security. It is understood that they are not considering energy security.
“Don’t they understand that food security can’t be ensured without energy security? We think it is possible to withdraw subsidies without raising energy prices,” Shamsul said.
He described the exorbitant cost of energy supply as “looting” and said the IMF did not recommend putting an end to such malpractices in the sector, which could save Tk 400 billion.
“The IMF will never do it because it is setting a loan trap for the government to turn Bangladesh into an import market of power and fuel,” he alleged.
The CAB adviser predicts the government will soon raise power prices. “People will be plundered. They will never get energy justice.”
Shamsul said many countries sank under loans from the World Bank and the IMF, but there is no example of any country being saved by lenders’ credit programmes.
“Please do not overburden people to meet their [IMF’s] conditions. You’ve [government] done this wrong many times, but don’t repeat it.”
CAB President Ghulam Rahman said the IMF should not have recommended raising energy prices without examining if there were any alternatives.
Former Dhaka University Professor MM Akash, and Prof Ijaz Hossain, a former teacher of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, also spoke at the press conference.
The 13 recommendations by CAB are:
Comments