No pressure put on agriculture ministry over fertiliser subsidy: Kamal

The finance ministry is not putting any pressure on the agriculture ministry over fertiliser subsidy that has increased to a great extent.

In reply to a question, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal came up with the information after a cabinet committee meeting on public purchase in Dhaka on Wednesday.

The agriculture ministry should continue to sell fertiliser at a subsidised rate so that its price remains stable, the finance minister said.

Earlier on Sunday, at a press briefing, Agriculture Minister Md Abdur Razzaque said the fertiliser subsidy would be Tk 28,000 crore in fiscal 2021-22 as its price on the international market increased several fold.

The finance minister said, “If the agriculture minister hinted at a price hike of fertiliser, I am not informed about it.”

“We will communicate with the agriculture ministry about the fertiliser subsidy along with price hike in the local market,” he added.

When asked for his advice to reduce the subsidy, the minister said, “We have not received any proposal to increase or decrease the price. In fact, maybe we could find out how much money we need. We have to wait for that.”