Ministry urges importers to keep Ramadan prices down

The commerce ministry yesterday urged commodity importers to bring down the prices of edible oil and sugar to international levels for Ramadan.
“We have adequate supply of edible oil and sugar to support their prices at a reasonable range for consumers,” Commerce Secretary Ghulam Hussain said at a meeting with top commodity importers at his office.
A total of 14.23 lakh tonnes of crude edible oil and 18.57 lakh tonnes of sugar were imported during the immediate past fiscal year, according to statistics from the commerce ministry.
The prices of both commodities fell in the international market but it is not reflected in Bangladesh, Hussain said.
“The price of edible oil has fallen in the international market,” he said.
“Please cut down the price by at least Tk 1 per litre,” Hussain pleaded to the businessmen, with his hands folded.
Fazlur Rahman, chairman of City Group, a major enterprise of basic commodities, right away acquiesced to the commerce secretary's request.
Currently, four teams headed by deputy secretaries of commerce ministry are monitoring the markets to thwart cases, as is customary during Ramadan, of overpricing by unscrupulous traders.
But from next week, the commerce secretary said, the ministry will step up its vigilance.
To address the issue of intentional hold-up of delivery of edible oil by refiners, he said ministry officials -- and if necessary, joint secretaries or additional secretaries -- will abruptly call in on factories' mill gates.
Hussain also warned vendors of tampering with the price labels on the bottles, as the government will take punitive actions if caught.
The importers and refiners will sit in a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina next week to discuss the overall price and market situation during the Muslim holy month, he said.
“The decision regarding the approval of sugar export might come at the next week's cabinet meeting of the ministers,” he added.
The commerce ministry will allow sugar export if refiners can prove 10 percent value addition and adequate stock of the item for the local market.