Govt warns of action against price manipulators

The government yesterday warned of stern action against people engaging in profiteering or price manipulation of basic commodities as it may upset the currently stable domestic market.

Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh reaffirmed the government's stance at a press conference at Bangladesh Secretariat.

The commerce ministry had called a meeting with importers, distributors, wholesalers, millers, and leaders of business chambers such as the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) in the wake of a recent price hike of some basic commodities.

Over the past two months, prices of mainly three widely consumed basic items -- rice, sugar and edible oil -- witnessed an abnormal increase in local markets.

Soybean oil is now being sold for between Tk 140 and Tk 150 per litre while sugar is priced at about Tk 75 per kilogramme, according to data from the commerce ministry.

"We have also noticed that the prices of these basic items increased in the local markets," said Ghosh in reply to a barrage of questions from journalists after the meeting.

"However, the prices of sugar and edible oil increased in the local markets because of price escalation in international markets as we are dependent on import of these two consumable items," he said.

Regarding rice prices, the commerce secretary said his ministry has already given permission to import 7.5 lakh tonnes of the staple food through different companies to tame the soaring domestic prices.

The government has also reduced the import duty on rice to 25 per cent from 62 per cent mainly to scale down the price in local markets, he added.

However, Ghosh declined to disclose the tariff commission's price calculation of the three commodities, citing it as sensitive information.

The meeting was mainly held to review the current market and so, no commodity prices were fixed.

"We are observing the price, supply, import and demand situation of basic commodities in the markets," Ghosh said.

For instance, the state-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh has increased its operations and sales by two-and-a-half times compared to that last year in a bid to tame the soaring prices of basic commodities, he added.

The total domestic demand for different kinds of edible oil currently stands at about 18 lakh tonnes to 20 lakh tonnes per year.

Last fiscal year, some 18 lakh tonnes of edible oil was imported apart from the 1.80 lakh tonnes locally produced, shows commerce ministry data.

Moreover, 6.36 lakh tonnes of soybean seed was also imported the same year.

Similarly, the annual demand for sugar stands at 17 lakh tonnes to 18 lakh tonnes.

Last fiscal year, 69,500 tonnes was produced locally and some 18.85 lakh tonnes of unrefined sugar and around 31,782 tonnes of refined sugar were imported.