Bangladesh, April 24 -- So the government was finally forced to bite the bullet this week, and raise fuel prices across the board for everything from petrol to octane, by upto 17 percent. Ever since the start of war in West Asia and associated disruption at one of the world's most critical chokepoints for the global energy market, the Strait of Hormuz, Bangladesh has witnessed a crisis-like situation at filling stations, with vehicles lining up for miles outside any station offering petrol, octane or diesel. The government however, consistently dismissed it as a case of panic buying and the market power exercised by deep-rooted criminal syndicates.

Talking to reporters at the Secretariat on March 24, Power, Energy and Mineral Resources M...