Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said the government is working to create a stock of six commodity items — edible oil, gram, lentils, onion, sugar and dates — ahead of the month of Ramadan.
Minister was addressing a meeting of the taskforce committee on commodity price review at the commerce ministry on Wednesday.
During the meeting the businessmen demanded a special quota for importing commodity items ahead of the month of Ramadan.
The traders placed their demand in the presence of Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh and Prime Minister’s Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman at the meeting.
While addressing a press conference after the meeting, Tipu Munshi further assured the traders and importers to review demands in consultation with the central bank.
The traders placed the demand in the wake of some conditions imposed on the letter of credit (LC), said the commerce minister.
Endorsing that the sugar price is higher compared to other daily essentials, the commerce minister said the government has taken a step to keep the sugar price under control and it will send a letter to the authorities concerned to reduce import tax on sugar.
In order to tighten the import limit to reduce pressure on the foreign exchange, the central bank fixed the opening margin rate for LC settlement from 100 percent to 75 percent.
Earlier, the central bank allowed the importers to import eight essential items — edible oil, gram, pulses, peas, onion, spices, sugar and dates — to keep the local market stable against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war.
