Dhaka, June 21 -- The finance ministry has turned down a proposal from the Power Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources to convert the Bangladesh Power Development Board's (BPDB) outstanding loan of Tk 566 billion to a subsidy, citing excessive fiscal pressure, according to officials.

The Power Division recently urged the finance ministry to write off the massive loan, disbursed between July 2006 and November 2017, as subsidy support.

However, the finance ministry rejected the plea, arguing that the government is already under substantial pressure from year-on-year budgetary allocations for electricity subsidies.

According to official documents, the BPDB borrowed Tk 431.60 billion from the ministry over the ...