Dhaka, Aug 6 : Bangladesh's retail fuel prices have been hiked to levels not seen since the country's independence in 1971. The Bangladeshi government on Friday night hiked the fuel prices by up to 51.7 per cent with effect from Saturday, reports Xinhua news agency. According to a price notification from the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, a liter of octane now costs 135 taka ($1.43), which is 51.7 per cent higher than the previous rate of 89 taka. The prices of diesel and kerosene have been increased by 42.5 per cent to 114 taka per liter. Also, each liter of petrol now costs 130 taka, a rise of 44 taka or 51.1 per cent, said the notification. Officials said the latest price hikes at the retail level were inevitable to reduce the subsidy burden on state-run distribution companies. Also, fuel prices in the international market are much higher than that in Bangladesh. Experts said the fuel price hike would worsen inflation, which increased to 7.56 per cent in June, the highest rate in about nine years. /IANS