The government of Bangladesh has raised the prices of Urea, TSP, DAP and MOP fertilisers by Tk 5 per kg at both farmer and dealership levels.
The new rates came into effect on Monday.
The agriculture ministry issued an order in this regard on Monday following a letter sent by the finance department of the finance ministry.
The prices have been refixed aiming to keep the fertilizer import at a rational level amid the hike in its prices at the international level and ensure optimum utilization of fertilizers, said the order.
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At the farmers’ level, the price of per kg Urea has been raised to Tk 27 from Tk 22, DAP to Tk 21 from Tk 16, TSP to Tk 27 from Tk 22 and MOP to Tk 20 from Tk 15.
Similarly, at the dealers’ level, the Urea price has been re-fixed at Tk 25 instead of Tk 20, DAP at Tk 19 instead of Tk 14, TSP at Tk 25 instead of Tk 20 and MOP at Tk 18 instead of Tk 13.
The current price of Urea, DAP, TSP and MOP fertilisers in the international market is Tk 48, Tk 70, Tk 50 and Tk 60 per kg respectively.
As a result, the government is still giving a subsidy of Tk 21 in Urea, Tk 49 in DAP, Tk 23 in TSP and Tk 40 in MOP per kg even after the latest price hike, said a media release of the agriculture ministry.
Fertilizer prices were raised by 3-4 times in the global market in the last three years, resulting in hike in government subsidy in the country four times, it said.
In the fiscal year 2020-21, the amount of subsidy was Tk 7,420 crore while it increased to TK 28 crore in 21-22 FY and in the running 2022-23 fiscal year, about Tk 46,000 crore will be required for subsidy.
From 2008-09 to 2022-23 fiscal years, Tk 1,19,837 crore was spent as fertiliser subsidy.