Staff Correspondent, Dhaka
Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, Adviser to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, said that electricity prices will not be increased even at the request of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) focusing instead on reducing production costs to cut subsidies.
He said these on Thursday in response to questions from journalists at the Ministry of Finance.
It was revealed that under the loan program, the release of the fourth tranche of $645 million for Bangladesh will be presented at the IMF Executive Board meeting on February 5.
If approved, the disbursement is expected by February 10.
To review the implementation of conditions, assess progress and negotiate new loans ahead of the fourth tranche, a 13-member IMF delegation, led by Chris Papageorgiou, Chief of Development Macroeconomics, visited Dhaka on December 3.
The mission concluded with a meeting held at the Finance Division conference room on Thursday.
The adviser emphasized that the government aims to phase out the subsidy culture in the power sector by reducing costs instead of increasing tariffs.
Moving forward, the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) will conduct hearings on price adjustments.
However, there will be no further increases in electricity tariffs, he confirmed.
