The Ministry has already worked out a committee led by Bhim Acharya, chief whip of CPN-UML, and is soon forwarding the proposal to the cabinet, a highly place source told Republica on Monday. “The other members in the committee will be invited by the government,” the source added.[break]
The ministry took such a step after it faced problems in managing funds for importing fuel, particularly as NOC´s monthly loss has jumped yet again to over Rs 1.55 billion, even after last week´s hike.
Last week, NOC had raised the price of petrol by Rs 9 per liter and aviation fuel by Rs 10 per liter.
Sources said the government is reluctant to take another price hike decision, as it could draw strong resistance from consumers and opposition parties. It is also not in a position to extend yet another loan to the cash-strapped petroleum import monopolist to maintain supplies.
“Clearly, the government has plunged in a deep dark tunnel. We believed an all party coordination committee could help to work out the solution,” said the source.
The Ministry is hopeful of forging a national understanding to fight the menace, which, if left unaddressed, could invite serious crisis in the market and economy as a whole.
This is not the first time Nepal is facing such a problem though. Unfortunately, the government has consistently paid no heed to suggestions of high-level commissions and experts to liberalize the sector and open prices, adjusting it in line with the international trend.
Amid ad-hoc management of pricing, NOC´s loss on per liter of diesel has jumped to Rs 19. Its loss on a liter of petrol and kerosene too stands more than Rs 4 each. The corporation also suffers a loss of Rs 254.77 on a cylinder (14.2 kg) of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Aviation fuel is the only product that has been generating profit. However, given its low consumption, profit generated from it is too low to make meaningful contribution to its cash flow.
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