December 27, 2001	Thursday	Shawwal 11, 1422

DHAKA, Dec 26: Bangladesh on Wednesday announced an increase of between 10 to 20 per cent in the prices of all petroleum products.

The hike, which will come into effect on Thursday, will push the price of a litre of diesel to 17 taka from 15 taka.

A 12.5 kg cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas will rise to 275 taka ($4.8).

Prices of petroleum products last rose in August 2000.

The government said the decision was taken “to create a competitive market condition in the light of the open market economy, to discourage cross-border trade and reduce losses” of the state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Companies (BPC).—AFP