Al Amin :
Economists have expressed apprehension that prices of the essential commodities may rise in the current year as the increasing price of fuel oil in the international markets will impact in other sectors.
The continuation of the dollar price hike will also impact on the country’s essential commodities, they apprehended, suggesting the government to monitor the prices of the commodities ahead of Ramadan following the onion price hike.
Government, however, rolled out the apprehension and said that prices of all commodities except onion were stable in the last year. So, there is no possibility of the inflation in the current year, it said.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said, “All commodities except onions were within the purchasing power of the public in the last year. Hopefully, there will be no crisis in the current year. Government will try to keep the prices of the commodities under the public purchasing power.”
Different agencies of the state are working in this regard, he added.
Dr Selim Raihan, Executive Director of South Asian Network on Economic Modeling, said, “The traders may reduce imports as a cautionary measure at this point. The government should remain alert about the stock of edible oil so that a situation similar to the onion price hike does not occur again.”
“The commerce ministry or other government bodies should have correct statistics of demand and supply. They should have a clear idea of how other countries are managing similar situations,” he added.
The prices of all kinds of edible oil have risen by at least Tk 5 per litre. The prices of sugar have also increased by the same amount per kg. Traders have attributed the rise to a price hike in the global market.
“The edible oil market has become unstable globally over the past two months. The market has expanded but there’s the possibility of it shrinking again. Many of the traders have stopped importing edible oil because of that,” said Mohammad Ali Bhutto, General Secretary of Bangladesh Wholesale Edible Oil Traders Association.
City Group General Manager Bishawjit Saha cited the same reason for the price hike of sugar.
“The edible oil price has gone up in the past two weeks. Initially, the distributors did not increase the MRP. Later, they increased the MRP too,” said Habibur Rahman, a grocer in Karwan Bazar.
“The MRP of a 2-litre bottle of Bashundhara brand soybean oil is Tk 202. Earlier, we used to buy it for Tk 180 and sell for Tk 190. Now, we buy it for Tk 190 and sell for Tk 200,” he said.
The retail prices of Pushti soybean oil have been raised to Tk 110 from Tk 100 per litre while the MRP of 5-litre bottles of Bashundhara brand oil remains at Tk 506. Earlier, the distributors used to supply it for Tk 430; now they are supplying it for Tk 455. “As a result, we are selling it at Tk 480 per bottle,” Habibur said.
Since soybean oil is imported, price hike in global market may influence its local price, Golam Khorshed, consultant to the commerce ministry, told the New Nation.
However, the authorities are monitoring whether the companies are wrongly increasing local prices in the name of a global price hike, he said.
The country has demand for 300,000 tonnes of mustard oil, 2 million tonnes of soybean oil, 200,000 tonnes of palm oil, said the official. Apart from these, there is demand for 2.4 million tonnes of edible oil, including sunflower and rice bran oil.
There is no deficit in edible oil stock in the country as the import is continuing, Khorshed claimed.
Economists have expressed apprehension that prices of the essential commodities may rise in the current year as the increasing price of fuel oil in the international markets will impact in other sectors.
The continuation of the dollar price hike will also impact on the country’s essential commodities, they apprehended, suggesting the government to monitor the prices of the commodities ahead of Ramadan following the onion price hike.
Government, however, rolled out the apprehension and said that prices of all commodities except onion were stable in the last year. So, there is no possibility of the inflation in the current year, it said.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said, “All commodities except onions were within the purchasing power of the public in the last year. Hopefully, there will be no crisis in the current year. Government will try to keep the prices of the commodities under the public purchasing power.”
Different agencies of the state are working in this regard, he added.
Dr Selim Raihan, Executive Director of South Asian Network on Economic Modeling, said, “The traders may reduce imports as a cautionary measure at this point. The government should remain alert about the stock of edible oil so that a situation similar to the onion price hike does not occur again.”
“The commerce ministry or other government bodies should have correct statistics of demand and supply. They should have a clear idea of how other countries are managing similar situations,” he added.
The prices of all kinds of edible oil have risen by at least Tk 5 per litre. The prices of sugar have also increased by the same amount per kg. Traders have attributed the rise to a price hike in the global market.
“The edible oil market has become unstable globally over the past two months. The market has expanded but there’s the possibility of it shrinking again. Many of the traders have stopped importing edible oil because of that,” said Mohammad Ali Bhutto, General Secretary of Bangladesh Wholesale Edible Oil Traders Association.
City Group General Manager Bishawjit Saha cited the same reason for the price hike of sugar.
“The edible oil price has gone up in the past two weeks. Initially, the distributors did not increase the MRP. Later, they increased the MRP too,” said Habibur Rahman, a grocer in Karwan Bazar.
“The MRP of a 2-litre bottle of Bashundhara brand soybean oil is Tk 202. Earlier, we used to buy it for Tk 180 and sell for Tk 190. Now, we buy it for Tk 190 and sell for Tk 200,” he said.
The retail prices of Pushti soybean oil have been raised to Tk 110 from Tk 100 per litre while the MRP of 5-litre bottles of Bashundhara brand oil remains at Tk 506. Earlier, the distributors used to supply it for Tk 430; now they are supplying it for Tk 455. “As a result, we are selling it at Tk 480 per bottle,” Habibur said.
Since soybean oil is imported, price hike in global market may influence its local price, Golam Khorshed, consultant to the commerce ministry, told the New Nation.
However, the authorities are monitoring whether the companies are wrongly increasing local prices in the name of a global price hike, he said.
The country has demand for 300,000 tonnes of mustard oil, 2 million tonnes of soybean oil, 200,000 tonnes of palm oil, said the official. Apart from these, there is demand for 2.4 million tonnes of edible oil, including sunflower and rice bran oil.
There is no deficit in edible oil stock in the country as the import is continuing, Khorshed claimed.
