The government is likely to make profits, for the first time in at least 13 years, from the sale of fuel oil this fiscal year due to declining prices on international markets, officials of state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation said.
The government will also be able to save crores of taka it spends annually to subsidise oil imports, meaning the country’s balance of payments will be healthier.
“We are making some profits now. If the price remains at this level, we’ll surely make profits at the end of the fiscal year,” BPC Chairman Eunusur Rahman told this yesterday.
Import costs of diesel have now dropped more than 30 percent to $80 a barrel, from $120 in June.
The price of furnace oil also came down significantly, to $413 a tonne now from $602 in July. Crude oil price plummeted to a five-year low at $67 a barrel.
According to its website data going back to fiscal 2001-02, the corporation has been incurring losses every year.
