The interim government on Tuesday took a number of measures, including starting the open market sales of essential items and waiving duties on eggs and edible oils, to contain the shooting of prices of essential commodities.聽聽聽
鈥楾he government has taken the decisions to bring relief to the people,鈥� said chief adviser鈥檚 deputy press secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder said at a press conference at the Foreign Service Academy in the city.聽
The interim government鈥檚 measures came against the backdrop of the upward price spiral of eggs in the local market for the past fortnight and demands by local edible refiners to waive duties on import of unrefined soya bean and palm oils.
The deputy press secretary said that the interim government also started distributing some 10 essential items, including potatoes, eggs, onions and green vegetables, at subsidised prices at 20 open market sales points under a programme inaugurated by finance and commerce adviser Salehuddin Ahmed in the city on Tuesday.
He said that the measures reflected the government鈥檚 commitment to control the price hikes of essentials.
The advisers and other officials concerned working relentlessly in this regard, he said.
The interim government is facing challenges to contain inflation because of various economic problems left behind by the Awami League-led regime ousted in the face of a student-led mass uprising on August 5.
Inflation calculated to measure the price hike of essentials has been hovering to a decade-high of over 9 per cent for the past two years amid a shortage of dollars and devaluation of local currency.
On Tuesday, the World Bank released the Bangladesh Development Update saying that inflation would remain elevated in the near term, but would gradually subside in the medium term if the supply-side issues stabilised and prudent monetary and fiscal policies were maintained
Labour and employment adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan warned that strict action would be taken under the Special Powers Act against those involved in syndicates inflating commodity prices.
He gave the warning while speaking at a view exchange meeting organised by the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum at the Secretariat
The interim government has already given approval for the import of 4.5 crore eggs from neighbouring India while director general of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection Alim Akhter Khan on Tuesday fixed price of each egg at Tk 10.91 at the production level, Tk 11.01 at the wholesale level and Tk 11.87 at the retail level.
Earlier in the morning, the commerce ministry decided to submit a proposal to the National Board of Revenue, seeking a 5 per cent duty waiver on the import of edible oils along with a value added tax waiver at their production level.
The decision was taken at a meeting between the commerce ministry officials and representatives of the Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners Association.
Finance and commerce adviser Salehuddin Ahmed presided over the meeting at the Secretariat, according to a press release by the ministry of commerce.
Edible oils business owners said that the proposed cut in duties would enable them to make upward adjustments in line with the recent price hike of the item in the global market鈥攗nrefined soya bean oils by 14.8 per cent and bleached deodorised palm oil by 18.68 per cent.
The country is dependent mainly on import of unrefined refine soya bean oil and palm oil to meet the annual demand of 22 lakh tonnes, according to the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission data.