Finance and commerce adviser to the interim government Salehuddin Ahmed on Wednesday said that the country would not face any supply shortage of essential commodities as the government had taken initiatives to keep the import of fuel oil, fertiliser and food items uninterrupted.
He made the remark at a briefing following a review meeting on the supply and price situation of essential products, held at the commerce ministry conference room in the capital Dhaka.
Replying to a question regarding syndicate on the market, the adviser said, ‘We are here for a short time, and we hold no grudge or affection towards anyone. We will not compromise with any syndicate.’
Regarding discussions with the business leaders, he said that businesspeople did not ask for anything unreasonable, rather they mentioned some obstacles to their operations, including issues at ports, and requested assistance to address these.Â
‘We assured them that we would look into those issues,’ the adviser said.
Regarding concerns about difficulties in opening letters of credit, Salehuddin said that the opening of LCs had not decreased on a large scale, but some banks were facing issues.
He said that Bangladesh Bank was actively working to resolve these problems.
‘Imports of daily commodities are not being disrupted, and there is no shortage of essential items such as fertilisers, pesticides, fuel, or food as the Bangladesh Bank is managing the situation as best as it can,’ he said.
Salehuddin also said that the flooding did not affect the supply of essential commodities as the flood affected only certain areas of the country.
‘I know there is plenty of relief available, but we can’t reach those areas. It’s a natural calamity, and the water can’t simply be pumped out by force,’ he said.
The adviser said that transportation along the Dhaka-Chattogram highway was suspended for a few days due to flooding.
In response, the government took the initiative to clear containers from the Chattogram port through Pangaon to maintain an uninterrupted supply chain, he said.
Commerce secretary Md Salim Uddin, food secretary Md Ismail Hossain, agriculture secretary Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian, along with senior officials from the commerce ministry and representatives from top business organisations, were also present in the meeting.
