Minister of Commerce Tipu Munshi has said that India has not stopped exporting wheat to Bangladesh. ‘There is a rumour that India has stopped exporting wheat. But I have talked to the High Commission and learned that exports to Bangladesh have not stopped. Imports continue on a G2G basis. Besides, if any Bangladeshi trader wants to import at a private level, that opportunity will be given. Apart from this, there should not be any crisis in the current stock of wheat in the country.’
He was speaking to reporters after the second meeting of the Task Force Committee on the review of commodity prices and the market situation at the Secretariat on Wednesday (18 May).
The Minister of Commerce said that 90% of Bangladesh’s annual demand for edible oil has to be imported from the international market. However, in the current situation, it is being considered to reduce the dependence on the international market i.e. palm oil and soybean oil by increasing the production of rice bran and mustard oil. He said that the issue was discussed at the meeting.
He added that the country now produces 50,000 to 60,000 tonnes of rice bran oil. It can be easily increased to 6 lac tonnes. In that case, the benefits of rice bran should be publicised. Physicians need to talk about this. Besides, the Ministry of Agriculture has also mentioned the possibility of increasing the production of mustard.
Apart from edible oil, prices of onion, wheat, and salt and the supply situation were also discussed at the meeting.
Mentioning the production cost of onions at Tk 20 to 22 per kg, the Minister said that apart from this, a large quantity of onion is wasted. Now what we need to consider is how much we will pay for onions. Farmers also need to be given some incentives so that they can increase production. Last year, the farmers got good prices for onions, and this time they increased the production to 2.5 lac tonnes. We are aware of the market situation of onions. Now the import approval has stopped. If necessary, it will be put into effect.
He said that there was no shortage of edible oil in the country at present. There are enough stocks. Regarding the operation conducted by the Consumer Rights Protection Department, he said that the operation is being carried out only if there is a stockpile of oil bought at the previous price or if there is a complaint of selling it at a price higher than the fixed price. It is not our goal to intimidate traders.
He called upon all to work together to tackle the rising prices in the domestic market in the wake of the rising prices of several consumer goods in the international market.
Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Chairman of the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission Md. Afzal Hossain, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce AKM Ali Ahad Khan, Chairman of the TCB Brigadier General Md. Ariful Hasan, Director General of the National Consumer Rights Protection Department AHM Shafiquzzaman and FBCCI Vice President Md. Amin Helali were present at the meeting.
Earlier, the Minister of Commerce exchanged views with Derek Loh, Non-Resident High Commissioner of Singapore in Dhaka, in his office room at the Secretariat. He called on Singaporean businessmen to invest in Bangladesh’s special economic zone. He said that goods produced here can be easily exported.
The meeting also agreed to set up a working group between the two countries to expand bilateral trade and visits of business delegations to and from both countries.
