Army chief verifies prices in market

Chief of Army Staff General Moeen U Ahmed paid a surprise visit to the wholesale and retail markets at New Market in the city yesterday.
He compared prices of rice, pulses, potato and edible oil in both the markets and found differences in prices at the grocers'.
Gen Moeen expressed worries as one retailer was selling potato at Tk 12 per kg while a near by one for Tk 14 a kg.
Finding Swarna variety of rice selling at Tk 30 to Tk 34 a kg, the army chief advised the traders to keep all types of rice in their stores so that consumers could buy the grain in accordance with their purchasing power.
He was unhappy at not finding price lists at any stores in both the wholesale and retail markets and asked the president and secretary of the market committee to ensure that traders hang such lists at shops from now on.
General Moeen called on the traders to stand beside the people by making less profits amid the upward spiral of food prices.
The traders informed him that rice prices would go down once Boro variety of the grain hits the stores within a few weeks.
The army chief also asked the BDR director general to open fair-price outlet at the secretariat building so that government employees could buy groceries at a lower price.