Munshi warns against abnormal price hike, stockpiling of essentials
The government will take stern action against businessmen if they are found to be involved in making hefty profit from sales of basic commodities by creating an artificial crisis in the market, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said yesterday.
Businessmen will not be spared if they are found to be involved in stockpiling of basic commodities illegally with the view to making quick profits.
“The government, however, will not harass any businessman illegally,” Munshi said in a statement.
The warning from the commerce minister came after the price of onion, a key cooking ingredient, moved past Tk 100 a kg.
Yesterday, it was sold between Tk 200 and Tk 120 kg per kg in the city markets.
Onion prices had dipped below Tk 100 kg in recent days after the government took steps to boost supplies.
A week ago, imported onion was selling at Tk 50-100 a kg and the new local varieties at Tk 90-100, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB). But the were respectively selling at Tk 70-110 and Tk 140-160 respectively yesterday.
The government is offering various facilities to onion importers so that they can import the bulb smoothly for the domestic market.
“New varieties have arrived and onion is being imported every day. The supply of onion has been normal. There is plenty of supply of local and imported onion, so there is no logical reason for the price hike.”
The government has already strengthened the market monitoring so that manipulators cannot take the opportunity to make hefty money from the sales of basic commodities at abnormal prices, Munshi said.
The government will begin price monitoring of the basic commodities soon to arrest any price spiralling, he said, adding that the commerce ministry will also strengthen monitoring to check the abnormal price hike of onion.
The district and divisional administrations have been instructed to monitor markets strictly so that unscrupulous traders can’t sell basic commodities at abnormal rates, he said.
TCB is selling onion at Tk 35 per kg through 200 trucks across the country. Moreover, various social organisations and importers are selling the vegetable at Tk 45 per kg, the statement said.
Businessmen have been asked to preserve the import price, purchase price and memos so that those could be compared with retail prices. The commerce ministry also suggested retailers of basic commodities put on display the price lists at convenient spot.
Last week, Munshi told importers, wholesalers, retailers and leaders of wholesale markets in Dhaka to make reasonable profit from the sale of basic goods before and during the upcoming Ramadan.
The government will import two lakh tonnes of onion soon to meet the local demand before the fasting month in April.
TCB and business groups City, Meghna and S Alam will import the onion in equal shares. TCB will sell the onion at a fixed price.
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