Pea, sugar prices fixed in Chittagong

Chittagong business leaders yesterday fixed wholesale and retail prices of sugar and chickpea for Chittagong markets, aiming to keep the market stable during the Ramadan.

Wholesale price of each kg of sugar was set at Tk 58-60 and its retail price at Tk 62-63, Chittagong Deputy Commissioner Shamsul Arefin announced this after a meeting with the business leaders at the conference room of the DC office.

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Each kg of average quality chickpea, a staple of iftar during the Ramadan, would be sold for Tk 75 in wholesale and at Tk 80 in retail markets, said the DC.

He also added that the wholesale price of each kg of high quality chickpea was set at Tk 80 and its retail price Tk 85.

The new price will be effective from today and continue till Eid day.

Chittagong district administration organised the meeting attended by commodity importers, leaders of different chambers and Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association, leaders of several kitchen markets and shopping malls as well as representatives of Consumers Association of Bangladesh.

At the meeting in the evening, Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mahbubul Alam fixed the prices after discussions with importers and traders.

Though such setting of prices went against the open market system, they made the decision to keep the market stable during Ramadan for the sake of consumers, said Mahbubul.

Abul Bashar Chowdhury, chairman of leading importing firm BSM group, said the Chittagong-based importers were often blamed for making the commodity market unstable, but it was not true because a major portion of commodities were imported by the Dhaka-based importers.

Business leaders alleged that the Dhaka-based sugar refineries had decreased the supply of sugar in the last few weeks, creating a crisis.

In the meeting, the business leaders were urged for taking steps to keep prices of all necessary items reasonable.