Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Sunday said purchasing oil and LNG at an increased price is putting a negative impact on the foreign exchange reserve of the country.

He said this in Parliament while replying to a tabled question of Gonoforum MP elected from Sylhet-2 Mokabbir Khan.
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Momen said that the amount of government subsidy is being increased so that people are not affected due to the increase in the price of fuel and LPG which is putting pressure on the overall budget.

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“In addition, purchase of oil and LNG at an increased price is putting a negative impact on foreign exchange reserves,” he said.

The minister said that the Russia-Ukraine war has affected all the countries of the world and Bangladesh is no exception.

“The negative impact of this war on the global economy is multidimensional, this war also has a multidimensional effect in Bangladesh,” he added.

The foreign minister said that due to the far-sighted leadership and prudent guidance of PM Hasina, the impact of the Ukraine war was much less in Bangladesh than in many developed and more capable countries of the world.

The government was very much able to mitigate the damaging effects of the Russia-Ukraine war, he added.

He said the government has taken various steps to address the crisis caused by the war.

As part of this, he mentioned that imports of luxury goods have been discouraged. Bangladesh Bank has already taken some practical steps to increase remittances.

“In addition, all kinds of exposure visits, study tours, workshops and seminars of government officials have been stopped to keep the value of money against the US dollar reasonable. The same initiative has been taken in the case of bankers.”

The foreign minister said that the price of Brent crude oil in the world market was USD 56 per barrel in January, which has now risen to more than USD 120. The price of LNG has also gone up in the spot market.

In reply to a query from ruling party Awami League MP Didarul Alam (Chittagong-4) Momen said, there are 1913 Bangladeshi nationals detained in different jails in India and Myanmar.

Of them, 1850 Bangladeshis are in India, and the rest 63 are in Myanmar, he said.

The foreign minister said most of the Bangladeshis detained in India, are accused of overstaying due to procedural reasons.

He also said if the concerned authorities were informed about the Bangladeshi nationals detained in the jail or if get information through any other means, the Bangladesh missions in India verify those and confirm about the Bangladeshi detainees.

“The Bangladeshi missions also meet them with the permission of the concerned authorities and provide the necessary legal assistance,” Momen said.

About the 63 Bangladeshi citizens detained in Myanmar, Momen said they are serving different terms in jails for illegal entry.

“They will be repatriated once their sentences expire. Of the 63 detainees in Myanmar, 13 have been confirmed to have Bangladeshi citizenship. The process of confirming the citizenship of the remaining 50 people is underway,” he said.

Responding to a question from ruling Awami League MP, M Abdul Latif (Chittagong-11), Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said the number of female drug addicts has increased as compared to the number of drug addicts receiving treatment at public and private rehabilitation centres in the country.

However, the minister did not say how much has increased.