Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
The government has finally set up a permanent cell to monitor prices of essential commodities in domestic as well as international markets, officials said.
They said the new cell will be under the control of Ministry of Commerce (MoC) which proposed the formation of the cell six years back to prevent market manipulation.
Amitava Chakraborty, Additional Secretary and also Director General of the WTO cell of the MoC, has been made the Chief Coordinator of the new cell that will have manpower strength of at least 12 people.
“The cell has already started working officially. It has been set up with the objective of intensify market monitoring so that prices of essentials remain stable in the local market,” Amitava Chakraborty, Chief Coordinator of the Cell told The New Nation on Tuesday.
He said it would prepare market report and commodity price trends on regular basis. It would also make available the information to the Ministry in details on import of various important consumer goods and their prices and quantities, whenever necessary.
“The cell will prepare its own market data to assist the government in its decision making in keeping with the changes in the global and the local markets,” he added.
Amitava Chakraborty further said the MoC has long been assigned to stabilise the prices of essential commodities in the domestic market, but it lacked necessary mechanism to perform the job properly. “I hope formation of the new cell would make the task easier and effective,” he noted.
Officials said, earlier the MoC had to seek data on import and other information on major consumer items like rice, wheat and edible oil from the Bangladesh Bank and the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
Gathering such data remains a problem for monitoring the market and quick decision making process. The obstacles would be removed after establishment of the cell, they added.
The MoC has some more cells, namely, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) cell, textile cell and insurance cell under its control.
The government has finally set up a permanent cell to monitor prices of essential commodities in domestic as well as international markets, officials said.
They said the new cell will be under the control of Ministry of Commerce (MoC) which proposed the formation of the cell six years back to prevent market manipulation.
Amitava Chakraborty, Additional Secretary and also Director General of the WTO cell of the MoC, has been made the Chief Coordinator of the new cell that will have manpower strength of at least 12 people.
“The cell has already started working officially. It has been set up with the objective of intensify market monitoring so that prices of essentials remain stable in the local market,” Amitava Chakraborty, Chief Coordinator of the Cell told The New Nation on Tuesday.
He said it would prepare market report and commodity price trends on regular basis. It would also make available the information to the Ministry in details on import of various important consumer goods and their prices and quantities, whenever necessary.
“The cell will prepare its own market data to assist the government in its decision making in keeping with the changes in the global and the local markets,” he added.
Amitava Chakraborty further said the MoC has long been assigned to stabilise the prices of essential commodities in the domestic market, but it lacked necessary mechanism to perform the job properly. “I hope formation of the new cell would make the task easier and effective,” he noted.
Officials said, earlier the MoC had to seek data on import and other information on major consumer items like rice, wheat and edible oil from the Bangladesh Bank and the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
Gathering such data remains a problem for monitoring the market and quick decision making process. The obstacles would be removed after establishment of the cell, they added.
The MoC has some more cells, namely, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) cell, textile cell and insurance cell under its control.
