Fertilizer subsidy will cost Tk 28,000 crore this year: Agriculture Minister

The landmark decision of the current government to reduce the price of fertilizer 4 points and the issue of subsidies, said the Minister of Agriculture. Md. Abdur Razzak said that in the current 2021-22 financial year, fertilizer subsidy will cost Tk. 28,000 crore.


The minister was speaking as the chief guest at the Shadow Parliament on Saturday morning at the FDC in Dhaka on "appropriate steps taken by the government to ensure safe food".


The agriculture minister said a subsidy of Tk 19,000 crore has been given so far, and another Tk 9,000 crore (total Rs 28,000 crore) will be required by next June. This huge amount of subsidy will be required due to the abnormal increase in the price of fertilizer in the international market and increase in transportation cost. Thus, every year we need 8-9 thousand crore rupees in subsidies.


It may be mentioned that a subsidy of Tk 6,000 crore has been provided so far this year, while Tk 13,000 crore is under process. And by June, another 9 thousand crore rupees will be needed. This information has come up in the review of the Ministry of Agriculture. Meanwhile, in the last fiscal year 2020-21, a subsidy of Tk 7,700 crore was given to Surrey.


 The minister said the government was worried about where such a huge subsidy would come from. If so much subsidy is given, other development activities will come to a standstill. But farmer-friendly and farmer-loving Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said she will not raise the price of fertilizer at the moment for the welfare of farmers and to continue the development of agriculture. Although the pace of other development activities has slowed down, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will continue to subsidize Surrey.


Chairman of Debate for Democracy Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiran presided over the function.