Bangladesh is struggling to pay for imported fuel because of a dollar shortage, letters reviewed by Reuters show, with the state petroleum company owing more than $300 million as it faces an “alarming decrease in fuel reserves”.
All import and marketing of fuel in the country of nearly 170 million people is controlled by Bangladesh Petroleum Corp (BPC), which has asked the government to permit domestic commercial banks to settle dues with India in rupees.
The South Asian nation’s dollar reserves have shrunk more than a third since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year to stand at a seven-year low of $30.18 billion by May 17.
