OMS onion now Tk 35/kg
The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has cut the price of onions under its open market sale (OMS) to Tk 35 per kilogramme from Tk 45.
The new price will come into effect from today and sales will continue till further orders, said a TCB press release yesterday.
“We have decided to cut the prices of the bulbs considering the downward trend in the market,” said Md Humayun Kabir, the agency’s spokesperson.
The state-run corporation started running the OMS on September 17 after prices reached record highs resulting from India banning exports to rein in the price in its domestic market.
Bangladesh annually imports roughly 10 lakh tonnes of the cooking ingredient as local production falls short of domestic requirement.
As imports and home-grown stocks continued to decline, retail prices skyrocketed to an all-time high of Tk 250 per kg in the third week of November.
Hundreds of people started queuing behind the TCB’s OMS trucks to purchase the bulbs at Tk 45 per kg.
The government faced criticism for failing to take timely action for increasing supplies and many consumers cut onion use in dishes.
Prices began falling from this month as supply increased through imports and early harvests.
Yesterday, retail prices hovered around Tk 60-120 per kg, down 11 percent from that a week ago, shows the TCB’s market data.
Kabir said the TCB initially offered the subsidised onion in Dhaka city and later expanded to other cities and towns to cool down prices of the popular vegetable.
The TCB is using 175-180 trucks, including 50 in Dhaka, every day for the OMS of onions.
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