The government has no plan to raise gas prices in the near term, as such a move could hurt businesses, Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed said on Tuesday.

“We have no plan to increase gas prices at this moment. Rather, we are considering maintaining a smooth supply and better pressure of natural gas for consumers,” he told reporters after chairing meetings of the Advisory Council on Government Purchase and the Advisory Council of Economic Affairs at the Secretariat.

The purchase council approved the procurement of three LNG cargoes from the spot market at a cost of Tk 14.42 billion. LNG prices were finalised between $11.34 and $11.54 per MMBTU, to be supplied by the UK’s TotalEnergies Gas & Power Ltd.

In total, 14 procurement proposals were cleared, including the purchase of fertilisers and textbooks. Among them, three proposals worth Tk 6.03 billion were approved to print 118.92 million textbooks for classes 6, 7, and 8. Another eight proposals, costing Tk 15.35 billion, were approved for importing fertilisers from various sources.

Meanwhile, the Advisory Council of Economic Affairs approved the sale of land belonging to the state-run Latif Bawani Jute Mills at Demra in Dhaka to the Bangladesh Police, at the latest mouza rate.

Three other proposals were withdrawn before consideration—two by the Youth and Sports Ministry relating to a Youth Festival, and one by Bangladesh Railway on upgrading its hospital under a PPP model.