Finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on Tuesday said that Bangladesh would face pressure if the current conflict between Iran and Israel became a lengthy one.
Tehran and Tel Aviv traded deadly air strikes for a fifth straight day on Tuesday.
鈥楶ressure will be on us if the war becomes lengthy,鈥� said the finance adviser after a meeting of the advisory council on government purchase at the secretariat in the capital Dhaka.
Responding to a question from a reporter, Salehuddin, however, dismissed the possibility of any immediate price hike of fuel oils on the local market.
The country is almost entirely dependent on war-hit Middle East countries for importing petroleum fuel oils and partly dependent on them for liquefied natural gas.
Price hikes of fuel oils and fertiliser on the global market in February 2022 against the backdrop of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine had hit Bangladesh鈥檚 economy hard, forcing the country to go for a $4.7 billion International Monetary Fund loan programme starting from 2023 amid depleted foreign exchange reserves.
Oil prices on the international market have risen since the start of the current Middle East crisis on June 13.
On Tuesday, Brent crude futures rose further by 82 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $74.05 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 77 cents, or 1.1 per cent at $72.54.
At Tuesday鈥檚 meeting, the advisory council on government purchase approved two proposals to import one LNG cargo, to be supplied by M/S Excelerate Energy LP, USA, at Tk聽612.54 crore from the spot market and 30,000 tonnes of bagged granular urea at Tk 140.26 crore from Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company Limited.
Referring to the rise in energy prices on the global market, the finance adviser said that they were now getting liquefied natural gas and fertiliser at old prices because those were negotiated earlier.
Salehuddin said that they had to take care of the enhanced prices not only of fuel oils, but also of fertiliser.
The major portion of the country鈥檚 fertiliser comes through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway vital to global oil trade, he said.
Iran has already said that they might consider closing the Strait of Hormuz following its current war with Israel.
Iran is the third-largest producer among members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and there are widespread concerns that the fighting could affect exports from there.