DOMINANT ANGLE
Dhaka assumes a managed increase of 20 takas per litre and faces opposition even within the ranks of its own student party.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Diesel prices are rising from 115 to 135 takas per liter (+17.4%) and gasoline from 140 to 160 takas (+14.3%), effective Monday, September 21, according to the Energy Division.
- 02
The Chhatra Dal, the student organization of the ruling party (BNP), has given a local official, Sazzad Hossain Hridoy, a 48-hour ultimatum to explain himself after he protested the price hike on Facebook.
- 03
Economist Selim Raihan (Sanem, University of Dhaka) warns that the increase will drive up transportation and production costs without the government showing an anti-inflation strategy.
ANALYSIS
Dhaka, Monday, September 21, 2026. The Bangladeshi government has raised the administered prices of diesel, petrol, octane, and kerosene by 20 takas per liter, effective Monday. Diesel prices have risen from 115 to 135 takas (+17.4%), octane from 145 to 165 takas (+13.8%), petrol from 140 to 160 takas (+14.3%), and kerosene from 135 to 155 takas (+14.8%), according to the notification published by the Energy and Mineral Resources Division on Sunday evening, September 20. This is the second price hike decided by the BNP government since it came to power in February, after a first increase in April.
The Energy Division justifies the measure by the ongoing war in the Middle East, which has driven up international oil prices and freight, and by the need to reduce the losses of the public company BPC — 22,875.66 crores of takas since March —, to save foreign exchange and limit smuggling.
The decision exposes the government to opposition that spills over into its own ranks. In Chittagong, the central leadership of the Chhatra Dal, the BNP's student organization, has summoned a local official, Sazzad Hossain Hridoy, after he posted a Facebook message on Saturday, September 19, saying he had protested against the price hike, recalling that he had always campaigned against fuel, gas, and electricity price increases. Ordered to explain himself within 48 hours to his hierarchy, he replied that he remains loyal to the organization.
On the economic front, Selim Raihan, executive director of Sanem and professor at the University of Dhaka, warned that the price hike would increase transportation, production, and supply costs, exacerbating inflationary pressure, without the government having presented a clear strategy to contain it. He also points to the lack of discussion on the institutional weaknesses of the energy sector and its taxation, as well as a growing dependence on public borrowing in the face of stagnant private investment.
The Dhaka Stock Exchange immediately reacted: the DSEX index lost up to 27 points in twenty minutes on Monday morning, before stabilizing around 5,569 points, and the DS30 index of blue-chip stocks gave up 9 points, in a market where 190 stocks fell against 118 that rose.
