Govt reduces edible oil price by Tk 8 a litre

The government yesterday reduced the price of bottled soybean edible oil at the retail level by Tk 8 per litre to Tk 160.

The price of non-bottle soybean oil was fixed at Tk 136 per litre while a five-litre container of soybean oil was fixed at Tk 760 at the retail level.

Tapan Kanti Ghosh, senior secretary to the commerce ministry announced the new rate of edible oil at a press conference at the commerce ministry office in Dhaka.

The new price will come into effect at mill gates from today and it will take four or five days to be effective at the retail level, Ghosh also said. The new price chart will continue up the Eid-ul-Fitr, he said.

The commerce ministry will fix the prices of palm oil in a meeting on March 22, Ghosh said.

The decision was taken in a meeting with refiners at the commerce ministry office in Dhaka.

Ghosh said the prices of edible oil have been reduced as a consequence of the 30 percent out of 35 percent VAT withdrawal on import of edible oil.

Ghosh also said the mill gate rates of edible oil will be announced soon. Replying to a query, Ghosh said the government cannot give free edible oil to the consumers as the government will have to pay a big amount of subsidies from the revenue.

The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has increased the sales volume of commodities at subsidised rates three folds this year to bring down the prices of some basic commodities in the local markets ahead of Ramadan.

The government will also assess the supply, freight charge and origins of palm oil sourcing countries to fix the palm oil prices in the local markets, Ghosh also said.

Palm oil prices may be much lower as palm oil is mainly sourced from Indonesia and Malaysia.

So, the prices of palm oil may be much lower as freight charge is lower because of the geographical locations of Indonesia and Malaysia, he added.

Mohammad Mostofa Haider, director of TK Group, a leading refiner of edible oil said the supply of edible oil is adequate to address the demand for edible oil in the market up to Eid-ul-Fitr.

Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, senior vice-president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), said it is expected that the new price will remain stable in the local markets up to Eid-ul-Fitr.

The FBCCI will continue the market monitoring of basic commodities along with the commerce ministry mainly to check the anomalies in the prices of widely consumed goods during Ramadan.

Almost every year a section of unscrupulous traders start making a brisk business of basic commodities ahead of Ramadan as the demand soar during this time.

The TCB has started selling edible oil at Tk 110.0 per litre to reach 1cr families to arrest the skyrocketing prices of basic commodities ahead of Ramadan in the local markets.