Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed has said the price of imported onions could rise a little in the local market during the month of Ramadan as authorities in India have doubled the price of the essential item.
“We have decided to import onions from Myanmar and Turkey to stabilise the price in the local market,” Tofail told reporters after a meeting with stakeholders and businessmen at his ministry yesterday.
The minister said there would be no crisis of essential commodities, and prices would remain stable, during the fasting month, which is likely to begin on Saturday.
“Businessmen have assured us repeatedly that there is no reason to hike the prices of essentials,” he added.
The government, meanwhile, has imposed a ban on exporting brinjal, cucumber, green chilly, lemon and coriander leaf during the month of Ramadan, the minister said.
Bangladesh produces about 14 lakh tonnes of onions annually, but the domestic requirement for the essential ingredient is around 16-18 lakh tonnes. The demand doubles during Ramadan.
Meantime, imported Indian onions were being sold at Tk40 per kg, while local onions went for Tk36 per kg at kitchen markets in the city yesterday.
Golam Mawla, general secretary of Moulvibazar Bebsayi Samity, said the price of onions will definitely rise during Ramadan due to the price hike in India. He added that a few importers were now bringing cheap onions from China.
The Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), meanwhile, criticised the minister for announcing possible price hikes in the local market.
M Shamsul Alam, an adviser of CAB, said it was “unfortunate that a minister and top-ranking person of state machinery revealed that the price of onions would rise due to hikes in India. The minister’s statement favours the syndication of the market for increasing prices during Ramadan.”
