Dhaka, Sept. 22 -- Prime Minister's Information and Broadcasting Adviser Zahed Ur Rahman on Tuesday defended the government's decision to raise fuel prices and acknowledged that the hike is causing and will continue to cause hardship for people.

"The move is causing and will cause hardship for people but the government has to maintain a balance between spending on fuel subsidies and other sectors including social safety-net programmes, healthcare and education," he said while responding to questions from journalists at a press briefing held at the Secretariat on the progress of various government activities.

Global oil prices has declined slightly over the past few days but the international market remains unstable, with the possibility...