Price of essentials to be fixed during Ramadan: State minister for commerce

State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu has said that the prices of various essential commodities will be fixed taking approval of the cabinet during the upcoming Ramadan.

He revealed the information at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), over supplying agricultural products, between Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) and Prodintorg, the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, at the Secretariat in the capital on Sunday (March 10).

The state minister said, "The United Arab Emirates has issued a state circular prohibiting price hike of 18 essential commodities during Ramadan. We may not be able to this time. But, after improving our supply chain, we will prepare a complete list of essential commodities in the future with the approval of the cabinet. We will increase the supply of the products so that we can fix the prices.”

“After taking responsibility, I immediately sat with those who import and produce the essential products required during Ramadan. We have ensured that imports and production are sufficient,” he said.

Stating that there is no shortage of daily essentials needed during Ramadan in the market, the state minister said, "There was an instability in the rice market in the last one and a half months. But, it is stable now. Now, there is no complaint about the price of rice. We have fixed the price of edible oil. On the occasion of Ramadan, market surveillance will be increased from today (Sunday); so that no one sells soybean oil above Tk 163 per litre, or unbottled loose oil at Tk 149 per litre. We will take strict action in this regard. On the occasion of Ramadan, we will start visiting the market from Sunday (March 10).”

Ahsanul Islam said, “If anyone disrupts the supply chain in the market, strict action will be taken against him. The prime minister and the home minister have also instructed for such action. We are taking steps to improve the market situation which has improved to some extent. We have got approval to import onion from India. Inshallah, onions will also enter Bangladesh in a day or two.”

Claiming that products are available in super-shops less than the fixed price, the state minister said, “When I went to the raw market, I saw that the price of every item was Tk 2-3 higher than the fixed price. At the very retail level, the raw markets are temporary, we have to figure out how to control them now.”