The government yesterday approved a proposal to buy 33.60 lakh Metric Million British thermal units (Btus) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for $35 per unit, which is cheaper than what it cost just a week ago thanks to a downward trend in global prices.

As per the proposal approved by the cabinet committee on purchase, Petrobangla, a corporation of the energy and mineral resources division, will buy the LNG for a total of Tk 1,186.70 crore from Singapore based M/S Vitol Asia Pte Ltd.

While addressing a press conference after the meeting, Zillur Rahman Chowdhury, additional secretary of the cabinet division, said the fuel cost more than $36.70 per MMBtu when the government approved a separate proposal to buy the same amount of LNG from Vitol Asia on March 23.

The price was previously fixed at $29 per MMBtu just before Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, he added while hoping that LNG prices would return to such levels if the conflict ends soon.

The committee also approved two proposals for purchasing fertiliser.

The first was a proposal from the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) to buy 30 thousand tonnes of Triple Super Phosphate from OCP Group, a Moroccan state-owned fertiliser producer, for about Tk 257.11 crore.

The second was BADC's proposal to buy 40 thousand tonnes of Diammonium Phosphate fertiliser from the same company for about Tk 398.99 crore.

Considering the current cost, Rahman said fertiliser prices have increased a bit.

The committee approved two other proposals as well -- upgrading the Kurigram-Nageswari-Bhurungamari-Sonahat Landport road to a highway and widening the Elenga-Jamalpur national highway.

The cabinet committee on economic affairs yesterday gave policy approval to establish 27 modern microbiology labs with RT-PCR machines from the United Nations Office for Project Services.

However, the committee returned a proposal of the Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) under the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division to purchase the "Porichoy" platform service.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday said no decision has been taken yet on Sri Lanka's request for another loan of $250 million.

In response to a query regarding the issue, Kamal said he was yet to receive the new proposal from Sri Lanka and would only take a decision after receiving it.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday said that cash-strapped Sri Lanka requested a fresh loan of $250 million.

Bangladesh had given a loan of $250 million to the island nation through a currency swap last year.