Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi today (8 February) reiterated that there would be no crisis of essential commodities in the country during the Holy month of Ramadan. He said the government usually has to procure essentials for the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) while it has to procure more ahead of Ramadan.
The commerce minister said this after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) held at the Cabinet Divis
ion at Bangladesh Secretariat with Agriculture Minister Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzaque in the chair.
The meeting approved separate proposals for procuring some 1.10 crore litres of soybean oil through the local open tendering method and 8,000 metric tons of lentils through the international open tendering method.
The commerce minister said, “The soybean oil and lentils will be sold among nearly one crore family card holders. Apart from this, LCs are being opened to procure other essential items as the importers are now able to open LCs although there were some difficulties in the initial stage,” he said.
Answering a question, he said that the import of fruits is being discouraged to save the foreign currency reserve as the country is now also producing enough fruits.
Cabinet Division additional secretary Sayeed Mahbub Khan said that the day’s CCGP meeting approved a total of 15 proposals that would cost Tk 1,489.38 crore.
