Bangladesh raises electricity price to ease subsidy burden

DHAKA, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Bangladeshi government Tuesday again raised the price of power at the retail level.

The retail price of electricity will be raised by 5 percent for the third time since January this year, and the new rate will come into effect from March 1, according to a notice from the ministry of power, energy and mineral resources on Tuesday.

The average retail price of electricity will be 8.21 taka (0.079 U.S. dollar) per kilowatt hour, up from 7.82 taka kWh.

The price was last increased on Jan. 31 and on Jan. 12 before that.

Bangladeshi State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid had earlier said that backlog made due to financial losses in gas import would be likely to overcome to some extent if the power price adjustment is made on a monthly basis. (1 U.S. dollar equals 104 taka).