Government to determine price of 9 essential products

Considering the international market price and domestic production and supply situation, the government will decide the price of nine essential products. They are rice, flour, flour, oil, sugar, lentil, egg, cement, rod from now on. It has also been decided to take legal action against those who sell beyond the fixed price announced by the government.

The decision was taken by the Ministry of Commerce in a meeting with the stakeholders regarding the progress of supply, storage and import process of products in the market on Tuesday (August 30). After the meeting, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi gave this information to the reporters in a briefing.

He said that until now the Tariff Commission used to set the price of edible oil and sugar only. But in recent times the prices of these commodities have skyrocketed, taking advantage of the global instability and appreciation of the dollar in the domestic market. Which should not have happened. The matters have come to the attention of the Ministry of Commerce and to keep it under control, regular operations are being conducted through various organizations including the Directorate of Consumer Rights Protection.

Tipu Munshi said that even though the operation was going on, stability in the market could not be created at the right price in real sense. In such a context, this meeting was held with all the stock holders of the products related to the Ministry of Commerce.

The Minister said that the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission has been given the responsibility to determine what the price of the products should be on an overall basis. They will decide the exact price in the next 15 days after discussing with the concerned holders.

Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission Chairman Mahfuza Akhtar, FBCCI Senior Vice President Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu and Chittagong Chamber of Commerce President Mahbubul Alam, Bangladesh Competition Commission Chairman Mofizul Islam, Director General of Consumer Rights Protection Directorate AHM Safikuzzaman along with senior officials of the Ministry of Commerce were present.