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52% fuel price hike sends thousands scrambling to petrol pumps in Bangladesh - Pictures, videos emerge

A fuel price hike of nearly 52% sent people of Bangladesh into a frenzy overnight Friday as thousands flocked to petrol pumps. The 51.7% increase was the highest ever price hike since the country got Independence in 1971. Filling stations in Dhaka suspended operations until midnight to resume under the new prices.

TN Viral Desk

Updated Aug 8, 2022, 08:30 IST

Bangladeshis thronged petrol pumps on Friday after the government announced a 51.7 fuel price hike

Photo : Twitter

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

A litre of petrol now costs 135 taka, which is a 51.7% increase over the previous rate.
The after-effects of the Russia-Ukraine War resulted in losses for the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).
Pictures and videos show crowds outside Bangladesh petrol pumps lined up to fill their tanks up.

Bangladesh: An off-the-charts fuel price hike of nearly 52% sent people of Bangladesh into a frenzy overnight Friday as thousands flocked to petrol pumps.

The 51.7% increase was the highest ever price hike since the country got Independence in 1971, according to local media.

Visuals emerged on social media showing a massive crowd of motorists eager to fill up their tanks before midnight. Hordes of Bangladeshis were seen lined up starting right from the fuel dispensers to well into the roadway, as far as the eye could see.

Besides the video, photos document the dystopian urgency to fill up.

However, the laborious bid to save Taka proved pointless when several petrol pumps in the capital city of Dhaka, including the filling stations in Agargaon, Malibagh and Mohammadpur, suspended operations until midnight after the news broke.

Dhaka Tribune reported that the new prices were to come into effect on Saturday.

Now, a litre of 95-octane gasoline costs 135 taka, which is a 51.7% hike over the previous rate of 89 taka. Petrol prices went up another 51.2% to be priced at 130 taka/litre.

The blatant daylight robbery comes as Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) reported a loss of Tk 8,014.51 crore by selling fuel at “low prices”, according to media reports.

It is understood that the new prices are the administration’s response to losses owing to the direct effects of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Since Russia is the largest exporter of oil and gas globally, it effectively called the shots with retaliatory sanctions that caused gas and oil prices to soar untethered.

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