DHAKA: Impoverished Bangladesh hiked bus fares 20 per cent on Wednesday following a controversial rise in state-set fuel prices, an official said, as Asia continued to reel from soaring crude oil costs.

The government said the new fares were introduced after some operators had unilaterally raised fares up to 50 per cent following Bangladesh’s biggest hike in fuel prices in about a decade.

“We raised the bus fares by 20 per cent to Taka 1.08 (1.57 cents) per kilometre. The new rates would be effective immediately,” communications secretary Mahbubur Rahman said.

“The bus operators and their unions have agreed to the new rates. The fares have been increased due to the hike in fuel prices,” he said.

The government raised fuel prices earlier this week, saying it could no longer afford to sell petrol, diesel, kerosene and cooking gas at subsidised rates fixed when oil cost $60 a barrel, against over $140 now.

Starting from Tuesday, the government hiked diesel and kerosene prices by 37.5 per cent to 55 taka a litre (0.26 gallons) and petrol prices by 34 per cent to 87 taka a litre.Furnace oil, used in small factories, jumped by 50 per cent, while a cylinder of gas used for cooking went up by 66 per cent.

The price rises are a major blow for the country, one of the world’s poorest where nearly 40 per cent of the 144 million population survive on less than a dollar a day.

Bangladesh is already suffering from surging food prices, with the price of rice nearly doubling over the past year. The official said the government had deployed magistrates and police teams on busy highways across the country to monitor if any bus operators were charging more than the state-set fares.—AFP