Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Senior Secretary at the Commerce Ministry, said that the Russia-Ukraine war had pushed up wheat and soybean prices around the world. At present, imports of all kinds of goods from Ukraine and Russia are stopped.
He made the remarks at an exchange of views on the prices of essential commodities in the conference room of the deputy commissioner in Faridpur around 11 am on Saturday (21 May).
Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh said, ‘We do not know when the crisis of those two countries will end. As long as the imports from those two countries are stopped, the prices of the products are not likely to come down. It has become a problem not only for Bangladesh but for the whole world.’
‘We have to rely on Russia or Ukraine to import wheat and sunflower oil,’ he said. ‘Until the problems of those two countries are solved, oil, wheat, and fertiliser in our market will continue to be affected. Therefore, everyone should start moving towards economical and alternative products.’
The Secretary said, ‘Indonesia will start exporting palm oil from next Monday. If we get that oil, the price of oil will go down a bit. However, we have to wait another 15 days for this.’
However, we are emphasising mustard, sesame, and flaxseed cultivation in the country. In the future, emphasis should be laid on the production of these grains. But at the same time, we have to keep in mind that the size of our agricultural land is limited.’
Secretary of Commerce Tapan Kanti Ghosh said, ‘We have to work together from our positions without blaming each other. Only then will it be easy for us to overcome this impending crisis.’
