Bangladesh has raised fuel prices by up to 17.4%, piling fresh pressure on consumers and businesses already struggling with power and gas shortages, as the government moved to stem mounting losses from surging global oil prices and higher shipping costs linked to the West Asia conflict.
Because of regional instability, the Energy Ministry said international fuel prices had more than doubled since March 2026, while freight charges had risen significantly.
The latest increase follows fuel price hikes in April and June, when the government also raised prices to help offset rising import costs driven by higher global oil prices. The Ministry also cited substantial subsidies for liquefied natural gas, saying the government had continued to support electricity and gas supplies despite higher import costs stemming from the regional energy crisis. The Ministry said state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation incurred losses of 228.76 billion taka ($1.9 billion) between March and August and that the latest price hike could cut annual losses by about 100 billion taka, while conserving foreign exchange reserves and curbing fuel smuggling to neighbouring countries where prices are higher.
