THE government has once again raised the price of fuel, and once again by Tk5 across the board for all types. This is the sixth time in case of furnace oil and four times in case of petrol, octane, diesel and kerosene, that prices have been raised in one year. The increase has come only after 48 days of the last hike. This is a record of sorts admittedly, but more importantly the spate of increases exposes the state of desperation of the government, for which it is in a large measure to blame.

The extremely deleterious consequences of the cumulative price hike need no emphasis, but one is at a loss that the wise men that are running the country's economy are not able to see what is coming. The worsthit is the manufacturing sector, bulk of which is run on furnace oil. And this has been hit the hardest by nearly two and a half times rise since the beginning of the year in four installments. Rise in price of diesel, particularly at the beginning of the next cropping season is bound to affect the farmers and in turn the greater portion of the population that are in the middle and low income groups, as will the rise in transport cost. And there is the import bill and inflation to contend with.

For the government the easiest option is to increase the prices of things to offset deficit. And in any case, people do not buy either the excuse of subsidy or the price hike of oil in the international market. If anything, there is downward trend in oil prices and the problem of subsidy could be tackled by other measures.

We believe strongly that fuel price hike is not the answer to the problem. The government should seriously consider other options that do not transmit the pressure on to the common man, like, among other things, cutting down on government expenditures as well as on less