TDS Desk:

Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on Monday said the government has decided not to raise electricity prices for the time being to give people relief considering the prevailing high inflation.

“It is very important to ensure adequate supply of energy and at the same time keep it as affordable as possible to improve the quality of life of citizens and keep the economy running. In principle, we have decided not to increase the price of electricity for the time being in the context of the prevailing high inflation,” he said while presenting the national budget for the fiscal year 2025–26.

At present, Salehuddin said, the amount of subsidies given in the power sector is about 1 percent of GDP, which is very high.

To reduce this gradually, he said, a plan has been taken to reduce the overall cost of power generation by 10 percent.

The adviser said if this plan can be implemented, it is estimated that the cost of electricity subsidy of more than Tk 11,000 crore will be saved.

“We are reviewing the power purchase agreements and have taken the initiative to conduct energy audits to reduce the cost of power generation,” he said.

Salehuddin said a plan has been made to supply 648 million cubic feet of gas from domestic sources within this year and to extract an additional 1500 million cubic feet gas from local wells by 2028.

“Keeping these targets in mind, emphasis has been laid on increasing the capacity of the local gas exploration company BAPEX and necessary funds have been allocated for this,” he said.