The government will make all-out efforts to keep prices of essential commodities stable through measures like lifting all tariffs and taxes on their imports and taking stern action against market manipulation.

The government yesterday increased the price of soybean oil by Tk 5 to Tk 7 per litre, dashing the hopes of the edible oil market in Bangladesh cooling off anytime soon.

The Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) yesterday suggested the commerce ministry review the price of edible oil in local markets as the product’s price is declining globally.

The cost of living has gone up but the incomes of most consumers have not. It is not just the prices of edible oil and rice that are hurting, it’s almost everything they need in the kitchen every day.

After retail and wholesale markets, the Directorate of National Consumers Right Protection (DNCRP) has now decided to conduct drives at the mills and warehouses of millers and corporates to check illegal rice hoarding.

Even though prices of loose palm and soybean oil have dropped in wholesale markets, consumers are not being able to reap the benefits as retailers are still selling those at the government-fixed prices.

The price of potatoes is now on the rise in different markets in Munshiganj in line with the spiralling cost of other essentials.

The edible oil price may come down soon in the local market as its price in the international market has started to decline, said Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi yesterday.

Rice prices continue to rise despite the countrywide drives against illegal hoarding and overcharging.

A mobile court in a drive in Savar today (June 2, 2022) fined two rice wholesale shops for charging curtomers more than the market price.

Hoarding by small traders as well as large business groups has been causing rice prices to soar, giving low-income people a hard time.

More than 11 years ago, the government issued an order for the trade of essential commodities, aimed at controlling their prices and curbing price manipulation by unscrupulous businesses through hoarding and other unfair means.

The prices of fine rice have gone up in the capital’s wholesale and retail markets, aggravating the suffering of the people from middle-income families who are already struggling to meet their household expenses due to spiraling prices of essentials, including edible oil and lentil.

Amid the struggle to cope with the record hike in edible oil prices, a fresh surge in prices of other daily essentials has dealt a further blow to those with low incomes.

The ongoing drive against illegal hoarding of edible oil continued in the country yesterday with another 3,400 litres of oil seized in two districts and hoarders fined Tk1.60 lakh.

The seizure of hundreds of thousands of litres of hoarded edible oil in the last one week has proved the claim that unscrupulous traders created the crisis to be able to sell cooking oil at higher prices.

An annoyed Shovon Das was walking home with a five-litre bottle of soybean oil from Shaheb Bazar in Rajshahi city yesterday afternoon. He had paid Tk 985 for it even though the government set the price at Tk 760.

With the government still struggling to bring stability to the volatile edible oil market, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi yesterday said it was a mistake on his part to trust the businesspeople as they hoarded edible oil and hiked prices abnormally after the Eid-ul-Fitr.

After the new prices came into effect, edible oil companies started supplying bottled, loose soybean and palm oil through distributors from Saturday.

Protesting the decision to hike edible oil price, left-leaning political parties yesterday alleged that syndicates that control the oil market and the government are reasons behind the hike.