As many as 10 million people will get TCB products from June, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi has said.
“There is a limit to how much the government can subsidize. Nearly 50 million people will benefit from the scheme. The number will not be increased,” he told the media on Wednesday.
He was briefing the media on his meeting with the task force dedicated to monitor the prices of commodities.
Saying that there was no chance of prices of daily necessities falling anytime soon, he added: “If prices do not drop elsewhere in the world, they will not come down in our country either.”
Munshi said the Indian ambassador had assured his ministry that India halting wheat exports would in no way affect Bangladesh, adding that the staple would be imported from Brazil as well.
File photo of Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneGovernment mulls rice bran oil manufacture
The minister said the government was mulling producing rice bran oil in the country given the rising prices of edible oils in the international market.
“It is possible to produce 700,000 tons of oil which will meet 24% of the demand,” he said.
He assured that the supply of edible oils had been regularized and the edible oil market was expected to remain stable.
No onion import after 2025
Munshi said after 2025 Bangladesh would no longer need to import onion and production was going on accordingly.
“If onion prices are within Tk25 to Tk30 then it is logical,” he said, adding that there was enough supply of the vegetable in the local market.
The minister added that the current situation had significantly increased the pressure on the country’s foreign reserves.
