Govt to take action against manipulators

The government will take actions against the people responsible for the artificial price hike of lentil, Commerce Minister Faruk Khan said yesterday.
He also admitted that there is a huge gap between the import and retail prices of lentil.
"We are investigating whether the importers, wholesalers or retailers are responsible for it. Intelligence agencies and the commerce ministry's monitoring cells have been engaged in the probe," the commerce minister told the BBC Bangla Service last night.
He said the monitoring system for market has been strengthened and the ministry's monitoring cell would regularly check the market situation and take actions against the persons responsible for the artificial price hike.
He said the government would soon import good quality lentils from Nepal, which has recently withdrawn ban on lentil export to Bangladesh. Lentil is now retailed for Tk 135-140 per kilogram on the market.
Commenting on the recent price hike of rice, the commerce minister said the price of rice has been stable and hoped it would go down soon.
Rice prices increased by Tk 2 per kilogram in the last two weeks.